lou@sunne.uucp (Lou Alvarez) (05/24/85)
I am in the market to purchase a light twin for training purposes. I have been considering a cougar or a duchess but an open to any and all suggestions. If anyone has any knowledge of the reliability, ADs, or any short- comings on any of these planes, I would appreciate an answer. If this deal does not pan out, I have a chance to pick up a 1979 Tiger. Other than the normal complaints about this being a too "hot" of an airplane to be used as a trainer, I would like the same info. Thanks :w :q
cfiaime@ihnp4.UUCP (Jeff Williams) (05/28/85)
> > I am in the market to purchase a light twin for training purposes. > I have been considering a cougar or a duchess but an open to any and all > suggestions. If anyone has any knowledge of the reliability, ADs, or any short- > comings on any of these planes, I would appreciate an answer. > > If this deal does not pan out, I have a chance to pick up a 1979 > Tiger. Other than the normal complaints about this being a too "hot" of an > airplane to be used as a trainer, I would like the same info. > > Thanks Having flown both the GA-7 Cougar and the BE-76 Dutchess, I would be rather inclined to suggest the Cougar as the better airplane. Let's face it, a twin with Vmc below stall speed (both Vs0 and Vs1), range to go from Houston to Denver nonstop with good reserves, 160 horse Lycomings, and easy handling has got to be a good airplane. Except. Parts. Ever since Alan Paulson pulled the plug on the light Grumman/Gulfstream-American line, parts have been a real pain. Only 115 of these machines were built. Paulson dumpped the line for production space for the Hustler single/twin (later known as the Perigran(sp?)) and still not produced. The remaining parts were bought by Wag-Aero. Oh, sure, Paulson will still build you parts, at a premium. Ah, the Cougar brings back fond memories. I got my multi-i in one. Serial number 15. Played around with the last one built, too. She was screaming yellow, with full King equipment, 3 axis george, r-nav, and anything else you could possibly want. You could do a bunch worse than the GA-7. As for the Beech, the one I flew was rather clapped out. Beat to (uhhh) yes it was. Serial number 6. Strange little airplane, developed from the Serria. Beech just never got the little airplanes right. Anything less than the Bonanza line just doesn't seem to be a good flying airplane. Sure, high quality, but last in it's class for performance. And EXPENSIVE. Olive Ann doesn't sell cheap airplanes. If you want a cheap airplane, buy an Apache. That's right, the "Toad." Heck, you pay for the engines, and get the airframe free. Like any twin in the little class, it won't climb on one engine, is cheap to put fuel into, and the payments won't eat you out of house and home. Get an expensive one and you pay around $16,000. Shoot, the other airplanes in the class go for $30,000 and above. Good airplane. Just get a GOOD annual the instant you get it home. But that is good advice for any used airplane. Well, you wanted opinion, and you got it. Keep it low, slow, and within gliding distance! Jeff Williams AT&T Bell Laboratories ihnp4!cfiaime