The "Flying" Experience vs "Pilot" Experience

I have flown/owned airplanes on both ends of the general aviation spectrum, learning to fly in a Cessna 150 and building a couple hundred hours (plus) in that, and now flying a Twin Comanche, also closing in on a couple hundred hours. I'm at the point now that the Twin Comanche is second nature to me to fly, just like the Cessna 150 became for me. I have all the checklists committed to memory (don't worry I still pull them out and verify each time) and few challenges present themselves during the flight. The exception is of course the landing, there is ALWAYS room for improvement there.

That being said I still immensely enjoy every second of the flight. I still get a kick out of pushing the throttles forward during takeoff and seeing the runway disappear beneath me on the climbout.

This is another post reflecting on the differences between flying a Cessna 150 and a Twin Comanche. There are certain advantages to each when it comes to the pleasure flying aspect. I'm not sure if I would state either class of airplane better, just difference. I was thinking the other day how flying a Cessna 150 allows one to enjoy the visual experience far more. There is still no view that I have experienced so far that beats looking out the window 3000 ft above the earth with no wing to obstruct your view. Its fantastic. Generally in the 150 there'd be no point in climbing much higher then a couple thousand ft above the ground.

When I was cruising in the Cessna 150 with no more checklists to go through or nobody to talk to I found myself looking outside, at the ground, or of course, ahem, watching for traffic (that is of course the textbook answer). I'd watch the cars and smile that I was up here and not down there, marvel at the hilly terrain, and more or less just enjoy being above the earth. I find my time-wasting habits in the Twin Comanche are a little different in comparison. Now when I have no other pressing piloting duties I find myself more focussed on the airplane. I'll fiddle with prop controls trying to sync them better or tweak the mixture controls, or examine the rivet patterns on the wing. In the Comanche I sit directly on top of the wing, so the view to the ground isn't nearly as good, and typically I'm flying more in the 8000-10,000 ft range (ever obsessed with fuel efficiency), and of course the ground goes by much faster as well. These things don't lend themselves to sightseeing quite as well as a Cessna 150's qualities do.

I would say the Cessna 150 gives a better "flying" experience, while the Comanche gives me a better "pilot" experience. I still love the feeling I get when I fly the Comanche, and I'd never trade back (permanantly at least), but I do miss the chance to go sightseeing in the Cessna 150.

I also think I tend to have some sort of psychological "go fast" addiction when I fly the Comanche. I'm obsessed with seeing how soon I get get there and find it very difficult to pull the 2 black levers back, fly a little closer to the earth (even if its not as fuel efficient), and let the earth scroll by a little slower. At my own defense the Comanche is much less stable at slower speeds, and its nicer to fly at speeds above 150 mph indicated, but still, is it just me or is there natural pilot tendency to just get impatient when we know our machine can go faster then its currently going?