Originally Posted by
India Four Two
Or fly a glider.
When I take a power pilot for their first glider ride in my club's DG-1000 (20 m span), I get them to try a medium turn, using ailerons only. They are often very surprised by the 30º yaw in the opposite direction!
I've flown an SR-22 and I found it quite easy to fly - perhaps that's because of my glider background. I felt I would be comfortable flying it after another hour or two of slow-flying and circuits. The electronic systems were a whole different matter. I figured I would need multiple hours of study and airborne practice.
On my one SR-22 flight, I found myself often sneaking glances at the steam gauges below the display!
Same exact reaction, was not comfortable with the Garmin glass cockpit at first, would have taken some delving into, and was confused by the airspeed and altimeter bands scrolling up and down.
Gave a glance to those emergency clock gages below and finally was able to fly straight and level again; It's so much easier to glance at a needle position than to pinpoint scrolling numbers. Glass cockpit aircraft are often coupled to autopilots, they are not meant to be flown for hours manually, which would be tiring.
Plus the side stick feels strange, though aircraft flies nicely and is very reactive with only 2 fingers gently holding it.
Needs gentle precise inputs, pure joy. Perhaps it's too sensitive and unforgiving for those not used to it. Just a matter of training, It's a high performance aircraft and needs to be treated as such