Originally Posted by
Shaft109
As my handle implies I did my ab initio training on the Grob G109b Vigilant with the VGS.
I know some people think it was the wrong aircraft for the job but I am confident when I say learning in a taildragger with a 57’ wingspan and no glass cockpit meant it was easy to fly but hard to master.
Adverse yaw meant you needed plenty of rudder co ordination, good lookout was drilled in naturally and it had real but safe stall characteristics such as clean breakaway and wing drop.
i found any other type easy afterwards and agree a trainer should be just that with enough bite to keep you on your toes.
I was on the team that certified the Vigiliant T1 for the Air Cadets - at the end in the leading technical role. None of us thought it was the right aeroplane for the job at the time - but some Air Officer had decided to order the fleet, *then* it got handed over to Boscombe Down to assess.
The main deficiencies were in turnaround times (due to the heating/cooling characteristics of the engine), ground handling (the sheer wingspan), control forces for the prop pitch, and the reliability of the engine. The basic handling characteristics weren't all that bad.
I still think to this day that a larger fleet of much cheaper 3-axis microlights would have been better however.
G