Morgan aeroworks cheetah sierra 100

[Motobellini1098]

Good morning, I am looking around for a build your own aircraft, and quite like the look and specifications of the Morgan sierra 100. Can any one give me advice for or against these craft, Paul.

 

 

[red750]

Have you checked out the threads in this forum?

 

 

 

[planedriver]

Good morning, I am looking around for a build your own aircraft, and quite like the look and specifications of the Morgan sierra 100. Can any one give me advice for or against these craft, Paul.

to our forums from across the ditch. Not sure about the Sierra, but know a guy who built a Cheetah and flew it a lot. There's sure to be someone here who can give you more info. Gary Morgan seems to have his heart and soul in his products, so I doubt whether you'd be disappointed in any of his offerings.

 

 

[limpee]

Good morning, I am looking around for a build your own aircraft, and quite like the look and specifications of the Morgan sierra 100. Can any one give me advice for or against these craft, Paul.

Hi Paul, I am finishing a off sierra and I have found they are straight forward to build and with the build photo's and video as well as the build manual everything is well explained and they are a dream to fly.

 

I can highly reccomend the Kits and Gary Morgan for support.

 

Greg

 

 

[Guernsey]

Hi Paul,

 

Brilliant aircraft, highly recommend.

 

Alan.

 

 

[ave8rr]

Is Gary still building kits? He is/has moved back to NZ.

 

 

[kgwilson]

Check out the various build blogs in the Morgan Aeroworks Forum threads including mine. Garry Morgan leaves for NZ next week so Morgan Aeroworks in Taree is no more. He is moving to Blenheim and is basing himself at Omaka & has bought a hangar there. There are Sierras flying in NZ. Give him a few weeks to settle in & take a trip to Omaka & talk to the man himself.

 

 

[microman]

I agree that the Sierra does fly very well - excellent performance etc, however we here in NZ have identified a couple of quite major issues - firstly the noseleg is not substantial enough, and this problem is exacerbated by the second issue - the main gear is too far back, meaning that when landing with a load of fuel in the front tank it is quite difficult to flare sufficiently to have the main gear touch first, with the result that the noseleg tends to be placed under undue strain with disastrous results. I know of two Sierras that were damaged in this way, both now repaired and modified and there have been no further problems. Another was recently written-off before the mods could be carried out and the owner/builder was very quick to use the insurance proceeds to buy something else - in fact he stated that the pilot had done him a huge favour! I suggest that Greg does some research himself in relation to these problems before test-flying his build. A great pity in my view that Garry Morgan does not appear to have acknowledged that there are problems.

 

 

[old man emu]

I know of one of these that was built in Sydney. Recognising the weakness in the front gear assembly, the builder modified it somehow so that the assembly was attached to the the cockpit frame. (Sorry that my description is poor, but I cannot picture the modification in my mind so as to describe it. I think I might be able to get some pictures sometime this week and if I do, I'll post them)

 

As for the fuel tanks, this bloke relocated the tanks to the wings. His biggest problem was sealing the tanks which were made from fibreglass. He put a hatch over the space where the tank was originally so he could have a luggage compartment.

 

OME

 

 

[jimmy2shoes]

The new goto man and owner of the Morgan aeroworks is Ray Tolhurst at Camden. While Gary has done a great job designing a fantastic plane I think a fresh set of eyes could be a good thing to maybe make a few of the changes that people have been talking about.

 

Microman have those heavy nose landings only happened with one POB with the front tank full? In that confrontation I would think the c of g would be at its limits.

 

I'm in the build process at the moment and going with wing tanks and the 100l front tank but will probably limit it to 50l up front 1 POB plus I am upgrading to the cougar nose leg.

 

 

[microman]

Virtually all of the landing mishaps have been with 2 POB and at least 1/2 fuel so C of G should have been ok - problem lies with the position of the main gear - the Sierras and a Cheetah here have all been modified to shift the main gear forward 7-9 inches. Problem solved.

 

 

[jimmy2shoes]

Virtually all of the landing mishaps have been with 2 POB and at least 1/2 fuel so C of G should have been ok - problem lies with the position of the main gear - the Sierras and a Cheetah here have all been modified to shift the main gear forward 7-9 inches. Problem solved.

Ok thanks, there seems to be enough nose wheel incidents now to say they can't be all 100 percent pilot error. After shifting the main gear have you had any trouble with it tipping up when loading as a I recall Gary thought that could be an issue.

Cheers

 

 

[microman]

No issue with tipping up that I am aware of.

 

 

[Yenn]

If the C of G is too far forward at landing with 1/2 full fuel, where is it at takeoff? Surely it is further forward and there has to be a lot of back stick to rotate. maybe the whole problem is landing with the nose too low.

 

 

[microman]

Thats Garry Morgan's explanation too, but If it were that simple I dont think there would be the number of landing incidents that have occurred. Three I am aware of happened with very experienced and capable instructors on board.

 

 

[Raytol]

Hello Paul and all.

 

My name is Ray Tolhurst and I'm the new maker of the Garry Morgan aircraft kits.

 

My first landing in a Sierra was a shocker so I can understand the landing issues!

 

I found the forward visibility from the nose low flying attitude to be a real treat for a low winged aircraft. The flip side was not being able to judge the flair from this attitude.

 

I hit really hard on the nose wheel and bounded into the air! My worst landing ever! I was sure I had broken something but an inspection afterwards showed no sign of

 

anything untoward!

 

I also had not flown for a while and perhaps should have followed on the controls while a more experienced pilot did the circuit and landing.

 

I am interested in hearing from experienced and newby Morgan Aeroworks builders and flyers on this forum with a view to improving your experiences with these wonderful

 

aircraft.

 

Ray

 

 

[jimmy2shoes]

Thats Garry Morgan's explanation too, but If it were that simple I dont think there would be the number of landing incidents that have occurred. Three I am aware of happened with very experienced and capable instructors on board.

I agree, plenty of other Rec planes out there landing from all sorts of heights, angles and speeds that survive so if shifting the gear forward helps then I think it's a no brainer.

 

 

[facthunter]

Wheels too far to the rear will throw the weight onto the nosewheel, and not a lot can be done about it if it's set up like that. If you manage to get the nose high prior to contact, the "fall" onto the nosewheel may impose loads that may deform it. Nosewheels are not built any tougher than needed. It will also adversely affect being able to lift the nose to rotate for lift off. Same is if nose heavy, and compounded if both conditions apply at the same time. Nev

 

 

[DrZoos]

Georgeous looking aircraft, but i cant help but notice the large length between the fierewall and screen. To me that must contribute to why Gary wanted the wheels futher back. Putting the wheels forward Looks like it would put it at risk of tipping when the front tank is empty or any load carried behind the pax.

 

 

[SDQDI]

A tailwheel version would fix the tipping back bit:thumb up:

 

I do think a longer tail would look pretty nice though, would that also help with elevator authority?

 

 

[Camel]

Thats Garry Morgan's explanation too, but If it were that simple I dont think there would be the number of landing incidents that have occurred. Three I am aware of happened with very experienced and capable instructors on board.

Thats Garry Morgan's explanation too, but If it were that simple I dont think there would be the number of landing incidents that have occurred. Three I am aware of happened with very experienced and capable instructors on board.

I trained people on the MORGAN SIERRA and it has its characteristics but not that it needed any alteration, pilots who tried to three point it with a castering nose wheel were going to get into trouble no matter what !

 

the fuel tank when full made it nose heavy but still not a problem to flare on landing. I saw someone bend a nose leg and it was a shocker of a landing driving it straight down on the nose leg, Correct landing does not hurt the nose leg and for those that land any aircraft three point or on the nose expect damage or problems !

 

The Sierra flys beautifully and has very stable characteristics and has a great top speed and a low stall speed, it also can be a bit floaty on landing due to the low stall speed encouraging pilots to drive it on TO THE NOSE LEG !!!!! The plane is a great design and a pleasure to fly, it may have some improvements that could be made but name something that doesn't ! I enjoyed flying the plane very much and always felt safe. I have enough hours in these aircraft to consider my comments very valid also I'm suitably qualified to comment and speak the honest truth. Modify the aircraft to suit low performance pilots is not the way ! it is train pilots to perform properly ! ,

 

 

[Yenn]

Have alook at the accident, incident reports posted by RAAus. I think you will find that there are a lot of bad landings, causing nosewheel damage. Why? I leave you to answer that/

 

 

[ClintonB]

A tailwheel version would fix the tipping back bit:thumb up:I do think a longer tail would look pretty nice though, would that also help with elevator authority?

all the South African guys said the same thing about my Bushbaby, lose the training wheel when it broke.

 

 

[graham brown]

Camel has the explanation right. I have 40 hours in mine now over the last 12 months. I don't have any trouble with any weight configuration in mine and I put the shock absorber on the nose leg. I also lowered the nose 2 inches. The photo is before I lowered the nose. I cut 2 inches off the vertical bit of the leg. Maybe the mods will help make it better and I'm sure Ray Tolhurst will take all this on board.

 

Great aircraft but probably not a trainer.

 

 

 

[revgazza]

Good morning, I am looking around for a build your own aircraft, and quite like the look and specifications of the Morgan sierra 100. Can any one give me advice for or against these craft, Paul.

G'day Paul,

I built a Cougar. I heard about the nose-leg issues and have no such issues due to the extra struts that connect the leg to the engine frame. Whilst I haven't flown a Sierra, I chose the Cougar after having flown all sorts of small aircraft. It is fantastic and solid as. I also wanted a four seater.

 

The build is pretty intense as there is little provided pre-made (mostly some fibreglass bits like winglets, the bubble canopy and the solid steel central frame. The joy in the construction was made much easier by Garry's guidance throughout and his unending patience. Even with his move to NZ, he is still only an email away and I'm sure that if Garry has entrusted his work top Ray, then he will also be a great asset.

 

In the end, the proof is in the pudding.

 

Garry has designed a fantastic aircraft. And I reckon when you look at bang for bucks, you won't be disappointed.

 

Garry (Hardingham...not Morgan)