cfiaime@ihnp4.UUCP (Jeff Williams) (07/10/85)
Last weekend I had the pleasure of flying several different training airplanes from several different eras. It is interesting to see just how far aviation has progressed in the last 40 years. Airplane 1: Fairchild PT-19A This open cockpit trainer certainly is not a small airplane. It tips the scales at almost 2800 pounds fully loaded. The Ranger engine is 200 horse power in the one that I was flying. Cruise speed is about 105 mph. There is little conversation between the cockpits without a "gosport" speaking tube installed. (This airplane did not have one.) In order to fly, you need a person to crank the starter while another person builds up fuel pressure with the wobble-pump. The PT-19 is a fun airplane to fly, rather blind from the back seat, and is easy to land. Fuel consumption was around 10 gallons per hour, oil consumption was about 1/2 gallon per hour. Airplane 2: North American SNJ-5 Talk about a strong airplane. And a blast to fly. Blind from the back seat, however. Cruise was around 160 mph, when we were cruising. Aerobatics were quite fun and very precise. Inter-cockpit communication was with an intercom. No fuel or oil consumption figures available. Takeoff and landing was interesting, to say the least. The gear is quite narrow, and the airplane wants to ground-loop with any cross wind. Airplane 3: Cessna 152 Not as gutsy as the military trainers, but a much better training airplane. The instructor can see the student and can see to land the airplane. Not my first choice for impressing an airshow crowd, but my first choice to teach in. Just an observation... jeff williams AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!cfiaime
brent@phoenix.UUCP (Brent P. Callaghan) (07/11/85)
The Cessna 152 is fine if you intend to move up to bigger
Cessnas once you have your ticket. But if your line is populated
by Pipers, I recommend the Piper Tomahawk as a trainer.
- The tanks on a low wing are *much* easier to fill and inspect.
- The low wing allows better visibility when taking the active
and doing turns in the pattern.
- The T-tail doesn't get in the way of the preflight walkaround ;-)
- The cockpit has much more shoulder and leg room.
- The fuel management is the same as the larger Pipers (electric
- fuel pump & tank switching).
- Manual flaps (electric blecchh!)
I guess we're all a little biased by the experience of
the aircraft we trained in.
--
Made in New Zealand --> Brent Callaghan
AT&T Information Systems, Lincroft, NJ
{ihnp4|mtuxo|pegasus}!phoenix!brent
(201) 576-3475