Originally Posted by
BEagle
ETPS reckoned that the C-130 would be a good lead-in trainer for the wretched Jetstream.... It was an UTTER piece of crap with dreadful control harmony - light and unresponsive in roll, heavy and sensitive in pitch. Abysmal, absurdly overcomplicated engine and propeller systems, a primitive autopilot which wasn't even integrated with the flight director, nosewheel steering which was almost impossibly stiff in cold weather, every method of generating electricity bar the Van de Graaf generator and Wimshurst machine
You really don't like the Jetstream BEagle, but your memory is starting to fail you. The Harmony is wonderfully awful, but the other way round. Very heavy and physically tiring in roll, but sensitive in pitch.
The Heron ones had better autopilot and instruments, but I'd take the astazous any day despite the noise. Bulletproof, reliable stress free and with a decent flight idle stop that let you actually control the aircraft rather than being mollycoddled in the landing. The early jet streams also had a decent amount of flap.