First Ga Experience

[HeadInTheClouds]

Hey everyone.

 

Been a while since I have flown due to me living away from home for uni but today I decided to indulge a bit and took a flight with the local GA flying school, in a Piper Warrior or Cherokee 140 to be specific.

 

It was an interesting flight, you can definitely notice the difference when the type you are most used to is the Foxbat. It was the first aircraft I've flown with more than 2 seats, even if you need to be a contortionist to get into the back seat.

 

Startup seemed a little more involved, and loud with those gyros spinning up. Taxiing was also a bit harder than the Foxbat as I found it easy to let the speed build up. The strange thing was that the trim was in the roof and you wound the lever around in circles to adjust trim.

 

We backtracked and lined up, then I applied full takeoff power. My immediate thought was "Is that it??!?" as we slowly picked up speed. I couldn't believe how much runway it used to get off the ground! But then again I am used to the Foxbat mainly where you're airborne in about 5 or 6 seconds. Even the LSA 55 had a much shorter ground roll than this.

 

In the air was nice, seemed to sit very nicely, not need much rudder and I was liking the view with the whole low wing setup. After a bit of a flight we returned for a couple of circuits. Another major difference is the necessary use of power on approach - on my solo flights in the Foxbat it worked out that I would pull the power to idle turning final and not touch the power lever again all the way down. A powered approach was definitely needed in the Cherokee and power needed to be left on right down to the flare.

 

I actually found landing fairly easy, a lot of back pressure needed but it seemed to land nicely with minimal effort involved.

 

Overall I enjoyed flying the Cherokee, and would love to fly it again but I think I'll focus on trying to get my RAA cert in the meantime! It is actually within reach now!

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

Well done Jake! I've only flown a Warrior once while my Cheetah was in for maintenance. The Warrior and Cheetah are comparable aircraft - both low wing, 4 seat, Lycoming O320..... That's the extent of the similarities though. When I got out of the Warrior (after waiting in the heat for the instructor to get out - it was my BFR), I felt like I had just driven my husband's old J3 Bedford Truck, or maybe our 1928 Pontiac (both with Arm-Strong Steering). I later flew the Cheetah again and it was like driving a modern sportscar - light steering, wonderfully responsive and I only needed power on final when I encountered a bit of sink just short of the runway, as I almost always do. Also love my slide-back canopy :)

 

 

[dazza 38]

Hi Jake, the cherokee 140 is a bit under powered and old school with the trim on the roof.You will find a Archer or cherokee 180 a bit better,with the extra HP. Having said that, Jim Davis owns a cheerokee 140 in RSA, he has had it since new and it has approx 19 000 airframe hours.He likes the roof mounted trim lever. Jim loves pipers.:)

 

 

[metalman]

I did a couple of hours in a Cherokee 140 a few years back and thought it was an under powered sh!tbox, since then I've got a few hours in warriors and some in an Arrow, they certainly get better with horsepower. Recently I've been flying a Superdecathalon and a Eurofox , I took a Warrior up for a flying comp at our field and couldn't believe how sloppy it felt , deadset I reckon it had bungi cords instead of control cables. Still they are very easy to land and It was still the best thing I'd done all week.

 

Met

 

 

[red750]

All my flying was done in GA - my last flight (except for Jetstar/Virgin) being in 1986. I have never flown in an LSA aircraft. I learned in a Beech B19/B23 which was slow by GA standards (cruise around 95kt), but very solid. I then moved to Warrior, Arrow and Bonanza. You have to keep your wits about you flying the Bonanza or it will get ahead of you. Take off too soon after a slower aircraft and you could find your prop chewing up his rudder. It's like moving from a four cyclinder sedan to a V8. However I found it a delight to fly and land. I remember one flight when I took some guys from work. I stood a cigarette on its filter tip on the instrument panel combing and rolled into a 30 degree bank. The cigarette sat there like it was glued. I found it easier to make a good landing in the Bonanza than in a slower and lighter aircraft. In an obstacle clearance approach you can come in high, drop it like a lift, and kiss it on like a feather.

 

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[Guest Nerb]

Hey everyone.....

It sounds to me like you have just gained a critical piece of flying knowledge. Good work and thanks for posting.

 

 

[Guest avi8tr]

A Cherokee 180 would be noticeably more powerful. Pity that your fist GA experience was in a bit of a slug, they certainly aren't all like that, but many of them are!

 

 

[HeadInTheClouds]

A Cherokee 180 would be noticeably more powerful. Pity that your fist GA experience was in a bit of a slug, they certainly aren't all like that, but many of them are!

I still enjoyed it though!

 

 

[dazza 38]

Back in the day Piper had the 140 at the same retail price of a cessna 150( well very close). Even though under powered, you got more aeroplane for the money.:)

 

 

[metalman]

was chatting to a guy the other day ,he'd had a few 140's and reckon they go well if you know how to fly them,,,,must be magic ,cause I couldn't get the little bugger to climb any better than a three legged spider!

 

 

[Guest DWB]

Good stuff Jake!

 

 

[Guest avi8tr]

Well Jake, the important part is you realised that GA and the PPL aren't the holy grail that many people seem to think they are. It's not much of a step up to GA and the skills are cross-transferable in every way so your RAA experience is quite useful for you. PPL is almost the only way to get yourself into Controlled Airspace these days, so do consider upgrading one day as it's always a good idea to up-skill if you can afford to and it opens so many doors for you. Just by having a PPL I get far more opportunities to fly in a range of aircraft than in RAA alone - ferry flights, going as a passenger with someone who isn't confident, taking people into CTA, dropping off people, picking up people, test flying and all sorts of stuff!

 

 

[bas]

My hangar mate just took delivery of his newly imported Scottish Aviation Bulldog and indicated he's open to private hire once put back together and on the register. To to take that PPL check flight I have been putting off.

 

It's like avi8tr says: a PPL opens up possibilities. I'd never choose a C172 or Warrior for day to day flying, but there's some great aircraft that you can fly in great locations and at great attitudes using a PPL. :)