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ceiling-mounted switches on Piper Archer

KPAO -> KPAO

Aircraft: 1999 Piper Archer (Tail #: N343MM)
Flight hours: 0.9
PIC: Will Nevis
CFI: Garrett Krosse
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Flight and Lesson Summary

Because my last flight was grounded (and I was bugging Garrett to fly), he has me come along on a flight with another one of his students, Will. This is also my first flight in a low-wing trainer – a Piper Archer.

Flight Notes

  • There are switches on the ceiling of the cockpit and a vertically advanced throttle! I want to meet the Cessna ergonomics engineer who argued for centralized controls and a “push pop” throttle and ask him why he doesn’t want me to have fun.

  • There’s only one door on the Piper… and it opens up in gull wing fashion. Are all low-wing airplanes this cool? Have I accidentally picked a boring airplane to train in?

  • Garrett did some unannounced free falls – the coolest thing I’ve experienced in a single engine plane. Since the maximum amount of time that we can sustain a free fall is a couple of seconds, I’ll have to start to save for a Zero-G flight more aggressively now.

  • I had been wondering if I could play music in my headset while flying – Garrett answers this by playing some Ranchero music while Will finishes his final stall for the day. I’m going to push hard for my upcoming stall lessons to be choreographed to Diplo remixes.