Madeleine and I attended the AOPA Convention in Palm Springs, where we got to take a close look at several airplanes. In particular, we talked to Tony Settember of Foothill Aircraft Sales, located at Cable Airport, just north of Ontario Airport in southern California. He was exhibiting the Symphony 160, which is a 160hp 2 seater manufactured by the German company OMF. He said that he would be giving demonstration rides the following Sunday, if weather permitted. The weather in southern California that weekend was rather cool and cloudy; we even saw some light rain in Palm Springs on Friday night. On Sunday morning, we started driving back to the LA basin, passed the large windmill farm in the Banning Pass. The sky was cloudy, but we decided to go to Cable anyway, because it has a restaurant, and is not too far out of the way toward Riverside. Cable, in the town of Upland, is indeed on the slopes of the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, and the sky was not completely occluded there.

We located the small office, and Tony had just completed one demo ride and was ready to allow me a chance. His demonstrator was parked next to the wind tetrahedron, and we got in, which is accomplished by grasping a structural steel tube just inside the upper edge of the door, inserting one's rear end into the semi-recumbent seat, and then pulling one's legs in after.

The Symphony is approximately the size of a C-152, has aluminum wings and tail, a steel tube structural frame, and a fiberglass body covering, which gives it a smooth, clean appearance. The engine is a 160hp Lycoming O-320, and the nose wheel is free castering (i.e. not steered by the rudder pedals).

The instrument panel was the familiar "6-pack", a large red rocker master switch, and a row of white rocker switches, including Fuel Pump, Avionics 1, and Avionics 2. The center of the panel is an IFR certificated Garmin moving map GPS with matching radio and audio panel. The right side of the panel is a large LCD screen containing the engine gauges, which were very easy to read. The throttle and mixture controls were pull rods, and the flaps are controlled with a 3 position toggle switch, with flap position indicated on a electric meter. The dual rudder pedals include toe brakes, which are used for steering during taxi, and dual sticks for aileron and elevator control.

The startup was similar to a C-152, except for the Fuel Pump switch and watching the GPS go through its boot-up. Although the Symphony is a high-wing, it has a header tank just behind the seats, and a fuel pump to transfer from the header tank to the engine. The fuel switch below the instrument panel has only ON and OFF positions (i.e. no Left/Right). After moving us away from the tetrahedron, Tony gave me the controls and I tried to get used to the castering nosewheel. It takes a little brake to initiate the turn, and I was making it harder because I had the stick all the way back. This was a reflex reaction, because the only experience I've had with a stick was in a tailwheel Cub. The steering worked better when I allowed some weight to rest on the nosewheel. After a quick run-up, I turned a circle to check for traffic in the pattern, and then Tony demonstrated that it is possible to turn a much tighter circle by holding one brake down hard.

Take-off was fine, and the stick control forces seemed very light. We departed the pattern and I climbed to 6,500'MSL, steering between big cloud banks. Once on top I did steep turns left and right, and observed that when I initiated what a thought would be a standard rate turn, it was always more than that; the roll response was much livelier than the C-172 or Tampico that I'm used to.

Tony then demonstrated power-off stall, and it was benign, starting to bob the nose, without any tendency to drop a wing. He then showed that even large aileron inputs, with no rudder and the stick full back, still allowed controlled flight, although we were descending in a stall at 700fpm. He then showed that a cross-control stall will finally cause a wing to drop. The Symphony is not approved for spins. The tops of the wings include stall fences and vortex generators, which contribute to the very nice stall characteristics.

Tony then started a vigorous descent, saying, "I'll take it because I know where we are." Once below the clouds, he indicated where to look for Cable Airport, and gave it back to me. The approach and setup were easy, but include turning on the Fuel Pump switch. My first landing was OK, and then I experienced some difficulty taxiing, until I realized that once again, I had the stick in the pit of my stomach, by reflex.

We went around the pattern again, and I made the mistake of turning off Avionics 1 instead of Fuel Pump, because the switches are right next to each other. I put in a big slip on final, which worked fine. The Symphony is very easy to land, similar to a C-152. We parked by the tetrahedron, and I went into the office to sign the book.

I was impressed. The Symphony 160 is a nice airplane. Claimed performance is 850fpm climb and 128kcas cruise. The price is $120K VFR and $140K IFR, which is too much for me to write a check for, but if I had a suitable partner, I'd be very tempted to do so.