Originally Posted by
Captain Smithy
... its a shame though that most of its detractors are talking out their fartpiece as most have never flown one!
Smithy
I flew the first one ever imported into Canada, Sn 31, and by chance got an hour in one of the very last ones built. It was, if I recall, about 25 units from the end of the traumahawk production run. The build quality of the early ones was simply terrible and while the last were a bit better they were still had a very Yugo-ish feel. I think one wing on a C 152 has more rivets than the entire tomahawk and you only have to look at the great long list of major structural Airworthiness Directives as an indication of what a POS this airplane is. As for flying qualities as a trainer, this is a purely subjective area of personal opinions, but as far as I am concerned the C 152 is the clear winner. It is easy to fly but surprisingly hard to fly really well.
In the end it doesn't matter because the market has spoken. The C 152 is significantly cheaper to own because it is so robust. I know of at least 2 major schools in Canada that went from C 150's to Tomahawks but then after 10 to 12 years sold all the Pipers and went back to C152's, a decision made purely due to the relative costs of operation, between the 2 types.