c-172 and p-28 difference in flying
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Daventry UK
Posts: 487
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I fly a PA-28-161 in UK and a C-172-R in the US. Both are 160HP and exhibit very similar performance in almost all flight regimes, as they should. However:
I find the PA-28 low wing comforting over the expanses of cold grey sea that surround these Islands. (Somewhere in my deluded dreams I imagine I could ditch and stay right way up!). And the luggage bay is capacious compared with the Cessna, which will only take a standard suitcase with difficulty. That's just as well as I carry bulky computer kit in the UK that would be difficult to get into the Cessna at all.
On the other hand, the Cessna's goldfish bowl windscreen is a scenic wonder and the expanses of SW desert scenery that I have seen out of that window will stay with me forever. With the seat high and forward the view is like having a personal Imax cinema. (Make sure it's clean before takeoff!) Not so the PA-28 with it's airliner pretend styling and central pillar. And in a forced landing in the desert, I delude myself that the high wing would stay clear of the numerous boulders and and sage brush.
The final decider is fuelling, though. In the UK I have to fuel myself, so low wing is King, whereas in the US it's almost never neccessary and the FBO guy will scrabble with step ladders for you! That clinches it for me. Vive la difference!
I find the PA-28 low wing comforting over the expanses of cold grey sea that surround these Islands. (Somewhere in my deluded dreams I imagine I could ditch and stay right way up!). And the luggage bay is capacious compared with the Cessna, which will only take a standard suitcase with difficulty. That's just as well as I carry bulky computer kit in the UK that would be difficult to get into the Cessna at all.
On the other hand, the Cessna's goldfish bowl windscreen is a scenic wonder and the expanses of SW desert scenery that I have seen out of that window will stay with me forever. With the seat high and forward the view is like having a personal Imax cinema. (Make sure it's clean before takeoff!) Not so the PA-28 with it's airliner pretend styling and central pillar. And in a forced landing in the desert, I delude myself that the high wing would stay clear of the numerous boulders and and sage brush.
The final decider is fuelling, though. In the UK I have to fuel myself, so low wing is King, whereas in the US it's almost never neccessary and the FBO guy will scrabble with step ladders for you! That clinches it for me. Vive la difference!
