Ideal grass strip a/c?
 

Apart from the venerable 172 and 182 can anyone suggest other 4 seat a/c well suited to grass strips?

Ideally, single engine, fixed u/c, plenty of oomph and respectable cruise.

Ideas would be welcome.

Wilga 2000 is fantastic but a little short on the knots. Masses of fuel or payload - very ruggedly built.

'Unusual' looks are the only downfall - but you can tow two(!) gliders at once if you want.

Taildraggers make the best grass and short field aircraft due to excellent prop clearance and their ability to perform STOL. From personal experience, the C180 is ideal, has plenty of power and has a very respectable cruise speed. And yes, the Wilga is a VERY unsuual aircraft.

Kermie :p

The MS880 Rallye and 4-seat Robin DR400 spring to mind.

However, I'd suggest that your ability to store the aircraft safely at the strip is often a bigger factor than the field performance alone. I'm having to sell a composite single-seater which has no trouble with out 410m runway, but there's inadequate protection from the elements for.

G

Jodel D140 every time!

Most bangs for the buck a MAULE 0-540 LYC.
Just make sure you get one with the odd wheel at the right end.

Like the Cessnas you mention, the Archer is pretty bulletproof. But for the same money you could get something with real character like a Hornet Moth. A bit slower, engine needs a bit of TLC, but you'd have a proper head-turner. That's oomph in my book. Or you could wait fo Van Grunsven to bring out his long awaited 4 seater - the RV10 or whatever it will be. If that goes to form (and the formbook pretty much guarantees that it will) you will have an all-things-to-all-men aeroplane that will ove grass strips and have as much performance oomph as you could ever wish for. It'll maybe take you 5 years to build it though...

I Have Control - Build a four seater that's not a Jodel - the PFA (British EAA only 50 years out of touch :D ) would have nothing of that old chap - far too dangerous !

A Robinson R44 :D

It's short field performance is second to none :cool:

IHC- A 4 seat Hornet Moth, that WOULD turn heads. The Fox turns them well enough in my book AND 5 seats instead of 4, mind you, a bit isolated for the pilot, but lovely to fly.

I Agree with most definately with wysiwyg. A Jodel D.140 (late model) beats all the others hands down. Great short field performance, can lift its own weight in payload and a respectable cruise too. Alan Bramson said it all when he did a flight test in 1982. "it makes a monkey out of the Cherokee 180 of similar vintage"! Who can argue with that?
Apart from that, a Maule M6-235 takes a lot of beating, although the engineering is a bit suspect in places. Make sure you get one with the little wheel at the back , and not one of those horrid nosewheel examples built for pansies who cant hack the tailwheel stuff. :D

As a recent (last week) convert to Austers, try an Autocar or an Aiglet. Four seats, reasonable short field and semi-aerobatic for when you get bored. Vintech can get all the bits for the engines and there's nothing in the airframes that a decent engineer can't fix. Relatively cheap too (around the £15k mark for a good one).