whifferdill
Line Up and Wait
Had the pleasure of flying a friend's 150 HP Acro Sport I this weekend. It was a hoot. Performance felt in between a Decathlon and my Pitts. Lot more Cub-like than the Pitts. Lower power off descent rate, slower approach speed, and less sensitive on the ground. Roll rate a good bit slower than mine. Was a short flight and just did some loops, rolls, Cubans, hammers, and spins - upright and inverted. Similar to a Decathlon, it took a little work to get a clean spin entry rather than a spiral. CG seems very forward. Power off, it didn't really stall upright or inverted, just sorta mushed along. Spins really nice though, upright and inverted - wraps up nice and smooth (and fairly quick inverted), and recovers normally - within 1/4 turn. Takes a good bit of pressure and stick movement to maintain inverted flight. Had no elevator trim. Lots of fun doing consecutive level rolls. Makes you work a little harder physically than the Pitts. Controls are nicely balanced, and they talk to you. You know intuitively where it wants to be on approach and where you are during the round out and landing. Slips nice too, just doesn't drop out of the sky quite like the Pitts. First hammer attempt was pretty hilarious - more of a tail slide flop. I was waiting for it to start torquing on the upline like the Pitts, but it never did and I got too slow. Sweet little plane. Whole lot of fun for a $20K airplane. This one is one of the nicest in the country. Not many of them around, but these things are a good option for someone looking for a cheap acro ship that could compete up to the IAC Intermediate level.
