What really unusual/different/old/new/exciting aircraft have you flown?
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Vancouver Island
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Fixed wing:
Smallest...........Mooney Mite. Biggest..........Airbus A320
Rotary wing:
Smallest ..........R22 Biggest........... Siskorsky S61
Most demanding to fly......... Grumman turbo Goose.
My favourite............. The PBY Cat.
Cat Driver:
Smallest...........Mooney Mite. Biggest..........Airbus A320
Rotary wing:
Smallest ..........R22 Biggest........... Siskorsky S61
Most demanding to fly......... Grumman turbo Goose.
My favourite............. The PBY Cat.
Cat Driver:
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: 30 West
Age: 65
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Aisa I - 115 Paparra - Spanish training aircaft like Chipmunk
Beaver on floats around Vancouver Island
Visit to the Martin Mars (sadly only toured it and didn't fly)
Aeronca Champ at 11,000ft in wave - had been going backwards since 9,000ft !
Beaver on floats around Vancouver Island
Visit to the Martin Mars (sadly only toured it and didn't fly)
Aeronca Champ at 11,000ft in wave - had been going backwards since 9,000ft !
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: UK
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Chuck Ellsworth
Cat Driver - did you see the program on the Cat on Ch4 on Thursday? It was stated on there that the Cat is 'difficult' to fly. I'd have thought, true to her name, that she'd be a pussycat?
One guy mentioned heavy controls and the constant need to re-trim, another said that becuase there were no flaps, landing was a problem. Well, I've flown plenty of aeroplanes without flaps and not found it a problem. This latter statement was accompanied by a film of someone holding a Cat off too high, then stalling into the water and bouncing up again.
What's it really like to fly??
Oh, and nice to see so many agree that the Chippy is one of the best flying experiences there is....
SSD
Cat Driver - did you see the program on the Cat on Ch4 on Thursday? It was stated on there that the Cat is 'difficult' to fly. I'd have thought, true to her name, that she'd be a pussycat?
One guy mentioned heavy controls and the constant need to re-trim, another said that becuase there were no flaps, landing was a problem. Well, I've flown plenty of aeroplanes without flaps and not found it a problem. This latter statement was accompanied by a film of someone holding a Cat off too high, then stalling into the water and bouncing up again.
What's it really like to fly??
Oh, and nice to see so many agree that the Chippy is one of the best flying experiences there is....
SSD
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Vancouver Island
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S.S.D. :
The Cat is not difficult to fly as long as you understand its habits.
Yes it is very heavy on the controls and constant re trimming when required makes it easier, but that holds true for any airplane.
As to hard to land.......... On land it is very straight foward and not having flaps does not pose any problem whatsoever. The secret to a good landing on the runway or grass is to land in a high nose up attitude, and hold a high alpha attitude until elevetor effectiveness decays and the nose goes down. That will ensure that you do not develope nose wheel shimmy which all Cats are prone to. Also the high alpha gives excellent aerodynamic braking.
On the water the Cat is very demanding, unless the touch down attitude is correct it will porpoise and unless corrected will quickly become uncontrollable.
The touch down attitude must be slightly nose high, you have five degrees of attitude change to work with.
To high a nose attitude will result in the far aft portion of the hull to contact the water first and it will slam nose down resulting in a bow wave popping the nose back up like a cork popping out of a bottle. Each occilaton becomes more violent and the third one will result in the aircraft destruction.
To low a nose down attitude is the most dangerous due to the fact that if the touch down speed is high enough ( 80 Knots or more ) the nose wheel doors can peel their skins and the airplane will break up, usually killing the crew.
Having said the above, properly flown the Cat is a wonderful machine.
I waterbombed for fifteen years and we did thousands of water landings without wrecking any Cats. As well as the waterbombing I have several thousand hours of other types of flying including airline flying with them.
Like all aircraft, fly them the way they are designed to be flown and no problem.
Cat Driver:
The Cat is not difficult to fly as long as you understand its habits.
Yes it is very heavy on the controls and constant re trimming when required makes it easier, but that holds true for any airplane.
As to hard to land.......... On land it is very straight foward and not having flaps does not pose any problem whatsoever. The secret to a good landing on the runway or grass is to land in a high nose up attitude, and hold a high alpha attitude until elevetor effectiveness decays and the nose goes down. That will ensure that you do not develope nose wheel shimmy which all Cats are prone to. Also the high alpha gives excellent aerodynamic braking.
On the water the Cat is very demanding, unless the touch down attitude is correct it will porpoise and unless corrected will quickly become uncontrollable.
The touch down attitude must be slightly nose high, you have five degrees of attitude change to work with.
To high a nose attitude will result in the far aft portion of the hull to contact the water first and it will slam nose down resulting in a bow wave popping the nose back up like a cork popping out of a bottle. Each occilaton becomes more violent and the third one will result in the aircraft destruction.
To low a nose down attitude is the most dangerous due to the fact that if the touch down speed is high enough ( 80 Knots or more ) the nose wheel doors can peel their skins and the airplane will break up, usually killing the crew.
Having said the above, properly flown the Cat is a wonderful machine.
I waterbombed for fifteen years and we did thousands of water landings without wrecking any Cats. As well as the waterbombing I have several thousand hours of other types of flying including airline flying with them.
Like all aircraft, fly them the way they are designed to be flown and no problem.
Cat Driver:
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Bristol and Forest of Dean
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Chuck
You mentioned that you had flown the Mooney Mite - what are your impressions? It has long been my dream to go buy one in the States and bring it back to the UK. I'd love to turn up at the PFA rally in one.... and G-MITE is still available - Mmm.
Mooney Mite Web Stie
Kingy
You mentioned that you had flown the Mooney Mite - what are your impressions? It has long been my dream to go buy one in the States and bring it back to the UK. I'd love to turn up at the PFA rally in one.... and G-MITE is still available - Mmm.
Mooney Mite Web Stie
Kingy
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: UK
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Chuck
Many thanks for the Cat info. I've got a video of 'The Last African Flying Boat', about checking out the possibilty of using a Cat to follow the Empire flying boat route in Africa.
Some lovely airborn and water-landing shots. But it wasn't a good hot and high performer!!
SSD
Many thanks for the Cat info. I've got a video of 'The Last African Flying Boat', about checking out the possibilty of using a Cat to follow the Empire flying boat route in Africa.
Some lovely airborn and water-landing shots. But it wasn't a good hot and high performer!!
SSD
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Vancouver Island
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Kingy:
Two word answer.............. Buy one.
S.S.D....
The problem that pilot was having with the Cat porpoising was he had the wrong attitude.
Go back and look at his take off, he had to abort because he had the nose to high trying to force it to fly...he got it porpoising because of to high a nose attitude.
Classic misshandling of the airplane.
Cat Driver:
Two word answer.............. Buy one.
S.S.D....
The problem that pilot was having with the Cat porpoising was he had the wrong attitude.
Go back and look at his take off, he had to abort because he had the nose to high trying to force it to fly...he got it porpoising because of to high a nose attitude.
Classic misshandling of the airplane.
Cat Driver:
Gliders:
Meise (1930s vintage)
Blanik (metal)
Bocian
K-4
K-6 (1st solo aerotow, ahhh! Compton Abbas)
K-8
K-13
K-18
K-21
Prefect (1st solo)
Mk III
T-21
Slingsby Eagle
Choppers:
Whirlwind
Wessex
Chinook (threw up!)
Gazelle
Eurocopter EC-135 (to bottom of Grand Canyon and back to Vegas)
Single Jet:
Jet Provost Mk5
Twin Jet:
Canberra (did practice approach into St Mary's on the Scillies, that woke them up!)
Tri Jet:
Trident
DC-10 (utterly horrible)
Four Jet:
Nimrod
VC10
Single prop:
Bulldog
Chipmunk
Beagle Husky
Super Cub
Auster 5
Tripacer (at night, landed with goosenecks)
Beaver (never landed in one, jumped out all 10 times!)
Motor Falke
Twin prop:
DH Rapide
Lockheed Neptune
F-27 converted for Fisheries Patrol
Tri prop:
Trislander (utterly horrible)
Four prop:
C-130
Viscount
Airship:
Skyship 500
Plus all current Boeing/Airbus/BAe/Embraer airliners
Meise (1930s vintage)
Blanik (metal)
Bocian
K-4
K-6 (1st solo aerotow, ahhh! Compton Abbas)
K-8
K-13
K-18
K-21
Prefect (1st solo)
Mk III
T-21
Slingsby Eagle
Choppers:
Whirlwind
Wessex
Chinook (threw up!)
Gazelle
Eurocopter EC-135 (to bottom of Grand Canyon and back to Vegas)
Single Jet:
Jet Provost Mk5
Twin Jet:
Canberra (did practice approach into St Mary's on the Scillies, that woke them up!)
Tri Jet:
Trident
DC-10 (utterly horrible)
Four Jet:
Nimrod
VC10
Single prop:
Bulldog
Chipmunk
Beagle Husky
Super Cub
Auster 5
Tripacer (at night, landed with goosenecks)
Beaver (never landed in one, jumped out all 10 times!)
Motor Falke
Twin prop:
DH Rapide
Lockheed Neptune
F-27 converted for Fisheries Patrol
Tri prop:
Trislander (utterly horrible)
Four prop:
C-130
Viscount
Airship:
Skyship 500
Plus all current Boeing/Airbus/BAe/Embraer airliners
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Horsham UK
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Hmmm
Oldies
Luscombe 8A (there's an aeroplane that'll teach you to land)
Beech 18 (that'll teach you to taxi)
Newies
Q400 (bags and bags and bags of grunt)
717-200 (kinda boring actually)
ATR72-500 (nice manners)
If we can count sims...
Space Shutte App and Landing trainer at JSC (there's a toy that'll teach you energy management...glides in exactly the same way a brick doesn't)
Oldies
Luscombe 8A (there's an aeroplane that'll teach you to land)
Beech 18 (that'll teach you to taxi)
Newies
Q400 (bags and bags and bags of grunt)
717-200 (kinda boring actually)
ATR72-500 (nice manners)
If we can count sims...
Space Shutte App and Landing trainer at JSC (there's a toy that'll teach you energy management...glides in exactly the same way a brick doesn't)
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: UK
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Kingy: I have it firmly in my mind that some while ago — we could be talking 10 years — someone brought a Mite into the UK from the USA. My memory tells me it came as a 'makeweight' in a container with something bigger. It has never been registered here, but if I'm right it might (no pun intended) still be around somewhere. It would certainly be good to see one in the UK. To the best of my knowledge, apart from this one — if it exists — there's only ever been one M.18 in Europe, in Germany back in the 1950/60s.
