EL
Seems like the 'have nots' are mounting up !
Just a couple of views on the Aerobat for what it's worth. In the States the aircraft is used as an ab initio trainer for aeros, as well as the Citabria and Super Decathlon. Its not a spectacular aeroplane and it doesn't do aerobatics that well but have you ever heard of one falling to pieces in mid air or that they are difficult to maintain ? What about expensive to run or hard to land ? How about difficult to recover from a spin ?
I own a Super Decathlon which too received a fair amount of derisory comments before people flew it and saw the light !! As always with aerobatics there are a lot of armchair experts out there who can't wait to share their opinion however one of the only times I saw a crowd silenced by an aerobatic display was at Old Warden by a chap in an Aerobat who sparkled and didn't lose height.
I did my aerobatic instructors rating in the 152 Aerobat rather than the Decathlon because it taught me so much about energy management and proper control harmonisation. Its also more importantly a hoot. Most aeroclub Aerobats are dogs as is most of the uk hire fleet so try to fly a good one to get a fair comparison.
Finally the British Aerobatic Association has a Cessna trophy and look at what won one of the beginners comps recently.
Finally if you don't think they are fun try this in your Chipmunk or Bulldog !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laPklVfCdAI or have a look at
www.aceaerobaticschool.com.
Good Luck. CPC
