Haven't flown in nearly a month. Decide to get trained on the one remaining Paramus Flying Club aircraft, a Cessna 182RG (retractable gear).
I've actually been weighing my various options. The commercial pilot certificate requires that part of the checkride be done in a complex, retractable gear aircraft. Unfortunately, the plane I was training on---the school's 172RG Cutlass---is no longer available. In fact I was just a few sessions away from being ready for the checkride, so that was a considerable setback. There aren't a whole lot of retractable single engine aircraft around anymore---most aircraft manufacturers have found that given advances in aerodynamics, pulling up the gears gains you little in terms of performance, but adds quite a bit in terms of pilot training and insurance. The school managed to get access to a Piper Arrow, but that won't come on line for a while, and having flown nothing but Cessnas, I'm not wild about having to spend a lot of (expensive) time getting comfortable with an all new aircraft. Some of the area schools have Cutlasses, but that would require getting checked out, and possibly establishing a working relationship with another instructor. So, I decided that getting checked out on the 182RG was the logical thing to do---I could use it for the commercial checkride, and then have access to the 182RG for use later would kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Unfortunately, I discovered that the 182RG is a very different plane from the 172RG. The controls feel much heavier. Everything is slightly larger. The view out the windshield is a bit different. It's much faster, too, topping out at 160 knots cruise. But I have to go through 10 hours of training to satisfy the club's insurance requirements, so I have plenty of time to get used to the plane.
