The forecast called for a thin but stubborn cloud deck, low enough that I doubted we’d make it into Stockerau. With that in mind, I lined up Plan B: Bad Vöslau (LOAV). Unlike Stockerau, Bad Vöslau offers an RNAV (GNSS) approach to RWY 31—a reliable “cloud breaker” that could give us a fighting chance to get underneath the layer. I called ahead before departure, and they reassured me: “Shouldn’t be a problem” (or “Passt,” as they said in Austrian-German).
A seemingly trivial error in tuning in to the right frequency left us cut off from the Greek control tower and without any responses from the Cypriots. Modern electronics surrounded us, but their benefits remained elusive, mainly due to our unfamiliarity with Garmin’s intricacies. The vast blue of the Mediterranean below and the open skies above became our only constants.
Everything looked good: positive rate of climb, gear up, and I pulled back power to 92% as I have done many times before, getting ready to relax and prepare for the Alpine crossing. And then something seemed weird. It took me a second to see it: one engine would not go down in RPM, still well in the “yellow,” although the throttle was now well below the usual power setting.
And now, I had them both—a plane and all the ratings that go with it. And, of course 400 hours or so, which made me that “great” pilot. And so it was time to take it all to the test. I took two friends and off we flew to Geneva, Switzerland, a breeze of 1.5 hrs with the DA42. The mission: to attend the yearly car show, of course!