Echo v Sierra

[Guest Seabug]

I thought I might start this thread off with comments regarding flying Echo verses a Sierra. I have got about 300hrs on the Echo S and have got really comfortable with it. Soon I will be taking delivery of a Sierra and would appreciate feedback on any handling differences. I have flown the Sierra once and my main memory is the control forces are lighter in the sierra. With the Echo’s control forces are so strong she really doesn’t let you get into trouble and is so speed stable you end up flying with the trim. The main external difference is the wing; the Echo has a thick high lift wing that just keeps flying even at high angles of attack. The Sierra has a new symmetrical laminar flow wing. I think this is going to be the main contributor to the flying difference.

 

As soon as I get my hands on a Sierra I shall do some difference training, I just don’t know how different it’s going to be. After a few hours I’ll post what I have found.

 

Any one got any comments

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

G'day Seabug,

 

not a single response - that's not like this forum. I was holding off for better minds than mine but here goes.

 

I've got about 70 hours on an Echo Super and one trip in a Sierra. Really the only thing I noticed about the Sierra was that the controls were slightly more precise than the Echo.

 

If you PM the user Tecnaman on this site (Dave) he may be able to help you as he flies a Sierra - very nice too. If you fail to get him PM me and I may be able to help.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

I've not flown the Sierra yet but I have flown the Bravo which I believe is pretty similar. So I'm no expert but the comparison was like sedan vs sportscar. Less forgiving of any lack of precision so much more finesse required.

 

John

 

 

[blueshed]

Just as easy, just point it in the general direction and it will do the rest, a little slippryer (is that a word?) than the echo, hope you don't have a Solar panel like mine or you will need a large hat as you will now be sitting on it! Sure you will have a great time and much fun!

 

Cheers Guy

 

 

[Guest Seabug]

Thank you for all the feed back, it’s been helpful. On Monday I managed to persuade a Tecnam owner to let me explore the flying envelope on his Sierra.

 

The greatest difference I found was with the take off roll , the Echo would levitate after less than 100m where as the Sierra would stay put until positively rotated. The best technique for the shortest ground roll seemed to be to get the nose wheel off , accelerate on the mains until airborne and continue in ground effect.

 

General handling was very stable , the pitch control was similar to the echo but the roll was quicker than the Echo, steep turns were easy, they looked like 90 deg with the wing pointing at the same spot throughout the turn but probably only 75 deg. The stall was a little bit more exciting with a large wing drop but that could have been me trying to be clever with the rudder, the IAS was 25kts with full flap, probably not accurate but that’s the dial you look at.

 

Landing the Sierra was not a great deal different than the Echo, great visibility over the nose and just hold off until the wheels touch.

 

My Tecnam Sierra arrives soon with a CS propeller, it will be interesting to see how this affects the take off roll and departure.

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

Hi Seabug,

 

what MTOW are you given for the Sierra in the UK?

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest Seabug]

Hello Mike,

 

The current MTOW for the Sierra in the UK is 580kg but it will soon be updated to 600kg to bring it in line with the retract.

 

Robin

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

G'day Robin,

 

thanks for that. Does that come within what we call Recreational Aviation or is it the equivalent of our VH registered GA? Do you need a PPL or the equivalent of a Rec Pilot Cert?

 

Sorry about the qns ;-)

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Guest Seabug]

Mike

 

My new Sierra was delivered today, albeit in pieces as a quick build kit regulated by the Popular Flying association. This means I can customise my Sierra using non certified equipment. But it will take about 3 months to assemble and paint. This is equivalent to a recreational aircraft that can be flown in the UK or Europe on a normal PPL or just in the UK on a National UK PPL. We hope that next year a new European wide recreational licence will be available. The details are just being finalised.

 

Robin

 

 

[Guest Seabug]

New Tecnam P2002 panel