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Old 24th Aug 2009, 13:54
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These a/c look a bugger to land with the restricted forward viz-a real handful and I reckon any PPl dreaming of getting one of these should not underestimate the skill involved.
Well, if you're learning to fly aerobatics you wouldn't necessarily have to do that in a Pitts, Extra, Cap-21 or similar, initially. There are perfectly normal, basic trainers capable of aerobatics up to Sportsman levels. Robin 2160, General Avia F22, Fuji 200 and Slingsby Firefly are just some of the names. These aircraft have normal carbureted engines and no sustained inverted flight systems (so inverted flight capability is normally limited to a dozen seconds or so). But at the same time you don't have to break the bank to fly them - they will typically cost just slightly more than your average PA28 or C172 per hour. And they have nosewheels so are just as easy to land as the spamcans you were trained on.

One word of warning though: this stuff is seriously addictive.
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