Page 1 of 5

New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 1:54 pm
by abraham425
Hello! New DA40 owner. I will be based in Northern Virginia (KHEF). Thanks to the forum members that commented on my pre-buy questions! Special thanks to Colin.

What are common mistakes that new owners make? What do you wish you'd done differently in the first year or two you owned your plane?

Thanks!
-Abe

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 6:12 pm
by AndrewM
Once I was trying to get off at a particular taxiway and applied a little too much break. One wheel locked up for the briefed moment. I was shocked how much rubber came off the tire so had it replaced. So, don't lock it up!

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 7:11 pm
by chili4way
Welcome to airplane ownership! Here are some items to think about, and I'm sure others will have further ideas and recommendations.
  • Decide what accessories you want to add if they didn't come with the plane: e.g. cowl plugs, travel cover, travel chocks, travel tie-downs, travel cleaning kit, portable O2 system, sun/glare abatement items, external power unit, step ladder, gust lock, CO detector. Open up the First Aid kit and make sure it's complete and current. Check for spare oil and a funnel to carry in the airplane.
  • Spend time and get to know what parts & serial numbers are in your airplane and use these to develop a maintenance & registration renewal schedule based on both calendar and tach/service hours. Go deeper than just airframe, engine, propeller, and avionics (including ELT) during your next oil change or annual. AOPA has a webinar on this topic and why it's important for maintaining airworthiness.
  • Make sure your AFM is up to date with the latest Temporary Revisions (which are not very temporary). Reinforce any pages that are tearing out. Read through the AFM with an eye toward developing your own checklist and phase-of-flight operational settings. If you're flying IFR, make sure you have a VOR test log. Develop your passenger safety briefing with the specifics of your airplane. Buy some "passenger discomfort bags".
  • Get to know your maintenance provider; it's a very important relationship. Download and read through the Maintenance Manual to become familiar with the scheduled MX items. Go deeper into other unscheduled MX items as your time and interest support.
  • Decide what cleaning products (non-silicone wash/wax) and applicators (cloths, etc.) you plan to use on the interior/seats, avionics, airframe, and canopy/windows. Also decide what extra cleaning/detailing, tire pressure checks, VOR check, and similar activities you want to do every 28 days when you update your databases.
  • Consider scanning the various airplane logs using a smartphone app designed for scanning and save these to a PDF. Decide how you're going to safely store & protect the original logs.
  • Decide your financial model for airplane ownership and operation, especially if you will generate revenue or have deductible business use. Consider getting professional help for the first year or possibly two -- or longer.

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Mon May 24, 2021 9:04 pm
by dmloftus
Here are a few more, after my first year of ownership:

FUEL PUMP/TANKS: If you're transitioning from a high-wing aircraft like Cessna 172, you likely didn't need to use the electric fuel pump after priming the engine or switch tanks regularly. With the DA40, you need to switch on fuel pump before takeoff and landing, and when switching tanks. Developing discipline about this is important, both turning on and off. Forgetting to turn on the pump can introduce unnecessary risk, forgetting to turn it off (after takeoff or switching tanks) may be an expensive repair as these pumps often fail from excessive use. Took me a few flights and a few Oh S&%t's to remember both.

FLAPS: The flap switch can be easily bumped by an inexperienced passenger. My son accidentally brushed the switch with the long lens of his camera and deployed the flaps as we were descending into Sedona AZ, which would have been a really bad place for a mechanical failure. There is very minor detent in the switch compared to a Cessna or many other aircraft. Luckily we were only descending at ~110kts due to turbulence, but it could have been a really bad day if we were faster.

DOORS: Don't trust anyone other than yourself to latch the rear hatch and ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS look at your Alerts.

AUTPOPILOT: If you have G1000/GFC700, need to remember to adjust selected altitude within 5 minutes of VNAV step, otherwise VNAV won't engage. Also, be really alert when you use VNAV or FLC. If you set an automated descent, pull back power, and get busy doing something else, the plane can descend to selected altitude and start pitching up to hold altitude at the reduced power. Opens the possibility of a trim stall. Early in my instrument training my safety pilot caught this before anything bad happened, but it was enough to scare me into permanent vigilance. Automation is wonderful but you must constantly be on top of it.

MIXTURE: With prop and mixture levers so close together, watch that you don't accidentally lean the mixture as you're pulling back the prop RPM.

BTW, I keep a personal log I call "Past Mistakes to Avoid" which I review fairly regularly to avoid making the same mistake twice (or thrice ;-). And spend a lot of time browsing this forum. It's an incredible resource for a new owner.

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 12:48 am
by Colin
but it could have been a really bad day if we were faster
On my first solo flight in my new DA40 (115hrs, I guess it wasn't BRAND new), I neglected to retract the T/O flaps. So I can assure you that you can fly at cruise speed, and even descend quite a bit above that white arc, without the slightest issue.

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 1:14 pm
by Lou
In addition to the usual briefing, I caution rear seat passengers that a bag strap or sleeve can hook the door latch, and if it happens not to try and close it.

Enjoy your DA40!

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 5:12 pm
by Soareyes
dmloftus wrote: Mon May 24, 2021 9:04 pm AUTPOPILOT: Also, be really alert when you use VNAV or FLC. If you set an automated descent, pull back power, and get busy doing something else, the plane can descend to selected altitude and start pitching up to hold altitude at the reduced power. Opens the possibility of a trim stall. Early in my instrument training my safety pilot caught this before anything bad happened, but it was enough to scare me into permanent vigilance.
With regards to FLC, your post is a good reminder why it is a good practice to use FLC (Flight Level Change) for climbs, VS (Vertical Speed) for descents.

Another potential gotcha: Small items like a cell phone can get wedged at the base of the stick, limiting control movement.

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 7:55 pm
by waynemcc999
Magic words: Tire Pressure

In the first 3 years I owned our 2008 DA40 I had 3 flat tubes/tires (mains). Shop diagnosis... under-inflated. So I went to checking tire pressures to every 3 weeks... and found that the stock tubes/tires were losing about 10 psi over the 3 weeks. Made these changes:
-- set initial pressures higher by about 3 psi over POH values (I now use 39 psi for mains and 32 psi for nose)
-- upgraded tubes to Michelin AirStop
-- upgraded tires to a higher ply

Since these changes I still check pressures every month, but average loss has been about 2 or 3 psi per month. In the 3 years since the above changes... no flats (knock on wood).

Enjoy your DA40... it's an awesome aircraft!
Wayne

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Tue May 25, 2021 7:59 pm
by Mdm0515
Early in my post PPL checkride days I was distracted during preflight and neglected to remove the pitot cover before takeoff. Obviously no airspeed thereafter and made a successful turn in the pattern and landed with no issues, though a lot of embarrassment. I could have caught during ground roll and aborted but did not. Unfortunately, this was the first time my wife had gone up with me post checkride in a rental plane :thumbsd:

So...don't do what I did

Re: New DA40 owner | First Plane | what are common mistakes?

Posted: Wed May 26, 2021 12:35 am
by Rich
Definitely right on the leak proof tubes. I've had Michelins and now have a different brand (too lazy to look up which) and way better than the original ones. I have had exactly.one case of a low tire (obvious on preflight even with wheel fairings in place). This was years ago. I pumped it back up. The same tire/tube are still in place and it never happened again. A true mystery.

My pilot-side seat developed a large enough gap between it and the left interior sidewall that it could easily swallow a data card or a smart phone. On a related note, front seats aren't particularly difficult to R&R, once you figure it out. :D

If you can manage it, owner-assisted annuals (and even other work) is highly beneficial if you can manage it. A mechanic/IA partnership with yourself is priceless. On those occasions you farm out work to a specialty shop (like for avionics or composite work), stay on top of what they're doing. I experienced real blunders made as part of my recent Aspen install due to ignorance on their part of some of the vagaries of Diamonds. The corollary is it's beneficial to not have such a shop be far, far, away. In my case, though it's not at my home field, driving to said shop is a mere hour away.