Cougar - any comments?

[hugh flung_dung]

I'm probably going to be ferrying a Cougar tomorrow and would welcome any comments as I haven't flown one before. It seems to have a good POH but it would still be useful to know of any particular foibles.

HFD

[HN1708]

Had a couple of the starter buttons fail on me, and they fail in the on position, so the starter remains engaged until it burns out. If this happens in flight i think you have no choice but to shutdown the affected engine. I recall the fuses being flush fitted, so you can't pull the fuse on the affected starter, which means it will operate continously with the master on!
Single engine performance is pretty much the same as all other light 4 seater twins, basically you won't climb with any drag and any climb you do get is pretty poor. If you put 2 average size folks up front and full tanks you will be at MTOM, so if you carry anyone in the back seats you need to trade fuel.
I felt it was better than a lot of aircraft in crosswinds, hence why the CAA amended the POH from a 15kt to a 25kt crosswind limit.
Hope this helps.

[hugh flung_dung]

Thanks!
The battery was dead so it had to be postponed :-(

HFD

[TopBunk]

I remember it as being a very capable performer, bearing in mind the 160hp(?) engines.

I did my Night 1179 in 198X from AAA-BBB-AAA with 4 males on board. The single engine performance was still 200-300 fpm on the go-around. Now clearly we did not carry full fuel, but retrospectively I suspect that a load and balance calculation would have made us illegal!

Sittin gin the back while the others did their 1179 bits was 'interesting'

Overall, I thought of it as a very benign handling and capable aircraft.

[Kit d'Rection KG]

Caution

First, I would caution most severely against flying practically any aircraft without proper training; accidents often result. A real shame to break an aeoplane or lose your life so needlessly, perhaps.

Second, TopBunk is trying to lead us badly astray with:

The single engine performance was still 200-300 fpm on the go-around

This is almost certainly a result of the instructor setting a hopelessly high simulated zero thrust on the 'inoperative' engine; at MTOW, the typical flying school Cougar will struggle to go up at all.

But what should we expect from one who acknowledges:

retrospectively I suspect that a load and balance calculation would have made us illegal

The time to establish that, was prior to the flight, which you should well have known, if at 1179 stage.

Certainly, if you fly any piston twin without proper training, you are most unlikely to be able to handle an engine failure near the ground and fly the aircraft accurately at blue line speed whilst doing the drills.