On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 5:25 AM, Torsten Dreyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi all
>
> I just had the oppertunity to be as copilot in a C425 Conquest I on a trip
> from Hamburg, EDDH to Graz, LOWG. This was my first trip in an aircraft of
> that size and being propelled by a turboprop. Following the tradition of
> "my
> first..." real life experience reports, here is my story.
>
> The day started like a typical end-october day in Hamburg, a temperature of
> 8
> deg C, gusty westerly winds and moderate rain. After the preflight
> walkaround, the pic and I were soaked and we were happy to enter the
> Conquest. Shortly after drying and preparing ourself and copying the ATIS,
> we
> received our startup and enroute clearance: "Startup approved, you are
> cleared to Graz via AMLUH 5G departure, flight planned route, squak 7665".
> The smooth startup and running of a turbine powered prop is amazing,
> compared
> to the shaking and rumbling of a piston engine.
> Moments later we had our taxi clearance to the active departure runway 33.
> On
> our way, we performed the items on the checklist and got our "cleared for
> takeoff" when we reached our holding point 33 in taxiway K. The moment we
> did
> the line up, the rain increased and the far end of the illuminated runway
> disappeared in the mist.
> Never mind - we were fully ifr equipped and certified for flights into
> known
> icing. Setting takeoff power smoothly and quickly accerlerates the 3.5to
> Cessna to 60, 80 and than 100kts: rotate and off we were!
> We had the departure route punched into the GNS530 which was coupled to the
> autopilot. After performing the after takeoff items and contacting the
> departure controller we waited for the autopilot to do the first heading
> change of roughly 30deg to the right when passing the 3DME reading from the
> ALF DME, but nothing happened. We pretty soon recognized that neither the
> heading nor the nav mode of the autopilot was working. Meanwhile we had
> completely entered the shower, our Conquest was shaking and rocking, and
> outside visibility went down to zero. I remembered, what I once learned
> about "crew coordination" and we quickly devided the workload. The pic was
> flying and I did all the radio, navigation and paperwork. Just a few but
> interesting minutes later, we popped out of the clouds at roughly 15000ft
> and
> the sun greeted us with her bright smiling face. We continued up to FL230
> and
> had a gentle flight for the rest of the trip. Clouds disappeared in
> southern
> germany, giving way for a fantastic view of the alps.
> Although our destination was in sight, we decided not to cancel ifr or to
> do a
> visual approach since the ATIS had some few clouds at 200ft in the report.
> The approach controller vectored us for a 7 miles final into runway 35
> where
> we touched down a little more than two hours after our takeoff in Hamburg.
>
> Sorry for the long posting - if you made it so far, you might like some
> pics:
> http://www.t3r.de/flightpics/graz/
>
> Greetings, Torsten
>
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It sounds like an exciting trip, atleast immediately after take off.
Congratulations.
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