Today was an awesome day to get my high performance check out. I had a chance to meet the chief flight instructor at another FBO in Daytona Beach operating out of Daytona Airport called Air America. They basically are a Cessna Pilot Center so that's what they particular fly. I visited them yesterday to setup a ride today and get checked out before Adelle and Corinne come by in about 12 days.

I decided to get checked out in the Cessna 182T because it would qualify me for a check out in their 172s and 152s just in case I would want to rent those planes as well as give me a high performance checkout. I won't be able to get the G1000 Cert. until I end up finishing up my Instrument Course at CAPT, but hopefully I'll be able to get more time with the system.

It is am amazing avionics display. With instant repeats of radio calls (2 minute buffer), Terrain awareness, man, I don't want to list that many things. There is just so much that this system has to offer. I don't see why other planes just don't come with this stuff now. I know that it is totally expensive, but damn, it is worth it. Got to practice some takeoffs and landings at Flagler and even a Cross Country to Orlando Executive Airport. At Orlando, we rented a courtesy Ford Excursion and made our way to the Mercedes Benz ML Tour. It was fun and I totally got a good shot at driving both the ML500 and the ML350 on a twisty "intro" course. I floored it, braked hard and even turned hard. I think that it is definitely a great SUV. The one thing missing though was the Airmatic Suspension. But afterwards, we flew back to Daytona Beach (via Auto Pilot) and I had a chance to play w/ the G1000 some more.

Background: The Garmin G1000 is a Glass Panel Display that is situated in front of the pilots of a small airplane. It shows all the engine instruments, com radios, navigation aids, etc. Even the Transponder located within the Primary Flight Display (PFD). In the picture below, they are the 2 LCD screens in front of me and Mark.

The 182T isn't that bad of a plane. It totally cruises nicely at 140ish. And yes Andy, not as great at your Mooney 201.