A flight in the Diamond Star

 Sat at the end of runway 04 at Welshpool, Mid-Wales Airport with the engine at temperature and the systems on, heading for IWM Cosford Air Museum.

 The Diamond Star DA40 has a steep takeoff climb on full power.

 Quick to altitude is good in the Welsh hills, where a shift in valleys can mean a significant change in weather and flying conditions.

 The Star is quite a stable small aircraft.

 Cruising at 110 knots at 2700 feet above airport base level on an easterly heading with ample fuel.

 On this heading, Cosford is just the other side of The Wreakin.  That hill stands proud and can be seen for a hundred miles around.

 Past The Wreakin and the Cold War Hanger at Cosford can also be seen for miles around.  It is a big silver structure which shines on a sunny day.

 With the airfield in site, a call for permission to land and ground conditions is followed by a turn into the flying circuit to approach the active runway (to land into the wind).

 On final approach, throttle back, 2 points down trim and flaps to landing position....

 ... and rotate to make main wheel contact with the runway, throttle off.

 Taxi around the perimeter track at about 15 knots to the assigned parking.

 Brakes on, engine off and fuel valves closed, master switches off - now off to the mess for a cuppa.

The flight simulator also has a flight analysis, which enables the pilot to check their flight patterns.  In this case, I tend to put on a little power and climb in turns.  This shows up clearly on the analysis.  The DA40 has long and thin wings and has a tendency to stall the inside wingtip in slow speed turns, hence the extra power as a regular habit.

The airport scenery seen here is my own design and is not on the Microsoft Flight Simulator X default scenery set.  Adapting the simulator makes the flights a little more visually like the real thing.