Moving Up

Pilots are usually people who have a burning desire to constantly challenge their own abilities. As soon as the ink has dried on a hard-earned license, rating, or certificate, we are searching for something new to try. There is always a sleeker, faster, more complex airplane waiting just around the corner, the siren song of its engine (or engines) calling us to give it a try.

My husband and I succumbed to such a call a few years ago, and fell in love with a 1956 twin engine Cessna 310. The paint job alone hooked my husband. It was pristine white with beautiful deep maroon and pewter accent stripes. The design was based on the original factory paint job, just like the scheme on old Sky King's airplane of the same model and vintage. The interior had been lovingly re-upholstered, and no one had flown the plane since it had been restored - a pilot's dream come true! After we thoroughly examined all the mechanical details and read every page of the maintenance logbooks, we made an offer, and arranged to have the plane delivered to our home airport.

I, as the official family flight instructor, had to be the first to learn how to fly our new beast. I located a friend who was qualified to instruct in the 310, and began the process of acquiring a new set of skills. The first time I sat in the cockpit, I was overwhelmed by the number of gauges and levers I was expected to monitor and master. There were gauges for each engine for oil temperature and pressure, fuel pressure, cylinder head temperature, manifold pressure, RPM, exhaust gas temperature, vacuum pump suction, generator output, and fuel quantity. Levers bristled out of the console for landing gear operation, throttles, fuel mixture, propeller control, and 3-axis trim. After flying our little Cessna 172, I felt like I was tackling an airliner.

I studied the pilot's operating manual, and made up my own set of checklists for every possible procedure and emergency. I sat in the cockpit, the plane parked in the hangar, memorized the steps of each procedure and practiced touching every control with my eyes closed. I crawled around under the plane, examining every nut, bolt, and screw, my pre-flight checklist in my hand. Finally I was ready to actually start the engines.

With my instructor beside me, I carefully performed each item on my start-up checklist. I jumped when the first engine started with a roar, and quickly verified that oil pressure and fuel pressure were within operating limitations, and the RPM indication was steady. The other engine fired up easily, and I heard the stereo sound of two throaty 240 hp engines for the first time with the controls in my hands. I overcame my fear that the landing gear might collapse, and taxied out to the runway. I'm sure my instructor thought I would never complete the pre-takeoff checklist, but at last we were ready to go. He made me brief him on emergency procedures, I made my radio call announcing takeoff, and pulled out onto the runway.

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