Smyrna, We Have A Problem

Perfect day today for a flight.  We were scheduled to take the 2007 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N362DC).  My pre-flight check went smoothly. And I taxied it to runway 10.  I was making good progress and taxing it smoothing when all of a sudden, the plane started bouncing a bit on the left side.  I wasn’t sure what had happened, but my CFI knew instantly that we had a flat tire.

Apparently this happens often with the Diamonds.  I was told there was nothing I did to cause this, nor anything I could have done to spot it early.  My CFI said this was his fourth flat tire in two years.  Similar to a bicycle tire, it has tubing underneath the rubber tire that can sometimes give out.  It is filled with nitrogen, because regular air has moisture which can freeze at high altitude.

So, I asked the question: “what would have happened if we discovered the flat on a landing instead of taxing?”  I was told it would not have prevented the landing, but landing on a rim would have made it more difficult to control.  Of course, it would not have been ideal, and we may have been stranded at an inconvenient airport.

We got out of the aircraft and had it towed back to the hanger to get it repaired it in the morning.   

Next I pre-checked the 2009 Diamond Eclipse DA20-C1 (N322DC), and all was good with this plane.  We took off to the northeast at  a cursing altitude of about 2,500 feet above mean sea level.  Our destination was the Lebanon Municipal Airport (M54).  Google maps say it is about 23 miles away and should take around 32 minutes.  Our GPS said we were approx 16 miles away (as the crow flies), and traveling at about 100 knots, it took us just a few minutes. 

The Lebanon airport is a very unassuming airport with just one runway.  It is uncontrolled, which means there is not ATC at that airport, so the pilot self announces their position and intentions.  Oh, there is also a seldom used grass runway there as well.  The Lebanon airport does have corporate planes from the Cracker Barrel there, as Cracker Barrel’s headquarters are in Lebanon, TN.

We practiced several take offs and landings at M54, and this really raised the challenge level.  It was a smaller runway than I’m used to, no ATC to help separate aircrafts, TN-840 was right before the runway, and they did not have a precision approach path indicator.

After spending some time in the pattern at Lebanon, we returned to my home airport of Smyrna, and continued to practice more take offs and landings. 

At landing number 10, my CFI demonstrated a landing in which he let the plane float a few feet above the runway for several yards before reducing the power to idle letting it drift onto the runway.  The method I had been using was attempting to place the plane on the runway as soon as feasible, thus it was not as smooth.  On landing #11 and #12, with this new method, I was very pleased with the results.

This was one of the “ah-ha” moments that I think will make me a better pilot for years to come.  I’m not sure why I was opposed to using more of the 5,000 or 8,000 feet of the runway, but now it just seems silly.  It is no safer to land on the first 500 feet than it is to take 3,000 feet of the runway, and it creates a much smoother landing.

Flight time: 1.50 hours

Cost:  Plane rental - $180.00, Instructor Fee - $60.00