C162 Skycatcher Planning numbers

B

Brad W

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to @kicktireslightfires
or anyone else with experience in one of these.....

assuming the weather and the stars all align, I'm scheduled to work on getting recurrent and doing a rental checkout very soon in one of these.

I'm curious what planning numbers you have found to work well....
such as
cruise speed & fuel burn​
cruise climb speed, climb rate, climb fuel burn​
 
Brad W said:
cruise speed & fuel burn​
cruise climb speed, climb rate, climb fuel burn​
Click to expand...
slow (90kts? don't remember), plan on 6gph
even slower (70kts? don't remember), not great, plan on 8gph
You will be able to get closer to 5gph if you use the big red knob. Don't pull the small red knob conveniently located nearby by mistake.
IMG_0173.JPG
 
I thought we were talking real world / conservative planning numbers. 110 gets chopped down pretty quickly due to the winds at "ideal" altitudes. Or you can fly low and get knocked around because it's a kite, but why spoil the surprise for him? :)
 
Brad W said:
to @kicktireslightfires
or anyone else with experience in one of these.....

assuming the weather and the stars all align, I'm scheduled to work on getting recurrent and doing a rental checkout very soon in one of these.

I'm curious what planning numbers you have found to work well....
such as
cruise speed & fuel burn​
cruise climb speed, climb rate, climb fuel burn​
Click to expand...
I was taught and teach pilots when flying a new to them aircraft to spend time with the Pilots Operating Handbook.

Limitations and emergency procedures are particularly valuable.

I have found value in reading the POH many times.
 
yep, I've always done that too...and have been working my way through this POH... although due to lack of time I'm not as far through it as I would like to be....
and of course I see the published performance charts.... so I only asked because I remembered the thread with @kicktireslightfires flying one of these across the US so I figured he's probably landed on some preferred power settings and actual performance... just to get an idea based on a similar airframe....
GeorgeC said:
Or you can fly low and get knocked around because it's a kite
Click to expand...
ha ha, yeah. I'm really curious how this is going to go. The wing loading on the thing (11#/SF) is slightly more than a cessna 152 (10.5#/SF) and the 150 (10.2#/SF), so I'm hoping the ride is at least as good if not a little better than what I learned in all those years ago....
& The max demonstrated x-wind is the same as the 152(12kts)
so I'm thinking it should be similar

and yeah, I remember the last flight I took solo in a 152 very clearly, even though it was more than 20 years ago. I had been flying mostly 172RG's at the time and it had been a long time since I'd been in a 150/152.... it was a windy day and woke me up for sure!~
 
Vance Breese said:
I have found value in reading the POH many times.
Click to expand...
Excellent advice.

But Lordy how things have changed (Mooney M20C - I think - on the left).

8952196629_cca38cbe4d_c.jpg


In addition, the Cirrus manual on the right was only one of several. Still worth reading, but a far more daunting task than it used to be!
 
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Brad W said:
ha ha, yeah. I'm really curious how this is going to go. The wing loading on the thing (11#/SF) is slightly more than a cessna 152 (10.5#/SF) and the 150 (10.2#/SF), so I'm hoping the ride is at least as good if not a little better than what I learned in all those years ago....
Click to expand...
The 162 is louder due to its minimalist interior and its seats are less comfortable than 150 seats. Fun plane though; short/precise landings demand excellent airspeed control on final.
 
asicer said:
I had to pull the throttle back every time I wanted to talk to ATC.
Click to expand...
Yep. Tweaking mic gain/intercom squelch also helps.

asicer said:
But there's more room to stretch out.
Click to expand...
I suppose, but I don't recommend the use of a gatorade bottle for inflight relief.
 
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FastEddieB said:
Excellent advice.

But Lordy how things have changed (Mooney M20C - I think - on the left).

8952196629_cca38cbe4d_c.jpg


In addition, the Cirrus manual on the right was only one of several. Still worth reading, but a far more daunting task than it used to be!
Click to expand...
ha ha.... yeah I've got copies of a couple really thin ones like that. I think there sure is a happy place somewhere between the extremes. The old ones are lacking some important and useful stuff.... new ones are just all together cluttered with extraneous info that only just gets in the way.....and its not all legal CYA disclaimers, although that of course is a huge part of it
 
When I was exercising sport-pilot privileges in a C162, I found 108 KTAS (71% power) at 6.0 GPH to be a reasonable expectation. I used that instead of the 75% power figure because the nice round number for fuel consumption made range planning easy. My flights included one from the SFO area to (but not across!) the Canadian border. I planned for at least a one-hour reserve in case my range expectations were off.
 

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Well I finally flew the Skycatcher yesterday. It was fun to get back up there...but my landing sure were horrible. Patterns were pretty good but I had trouble finding the correct power settings.... instructor didn't have any specific numbers to set or fly.... just around this and about that...but mostly I just think I was struggling with my site picture somehow and flaring a bit too high. All things considered though I feel pretty good about it though and nothing that won't clean up with a little practice. 3-1/2 years since I last flew and about 20-1/2 years since I was last highly proficient.

I booked a few more instruction flights...even though the plane is a bit sketchy right now...but when i got home my lovely bride reminded me of some scheduling conflicts for some of the dates, and now in hind site considering the condition of the plane I think I'm going to just re-group for a bit.

In hind site...well actually by about mid flight....I started considering that the plane really isn't all that airworthy.
1) during preflight the instructor pointed out as we were approaching the airplane that the fuel gauges were notoriously unreliable. I'd done enough reading to know that they are just sight glasses, so I was curious....and told him so. Sure enough on preflight they were not indicating correctly.

2) One of the tanks was very low so he called the fuel truck over for a top-up. I ahead a red flag up because with the CFI at 180# we would be about 10# over with full gas.... and the fuelers proceeded to overfill the tanks. I'd read not to fill past the top hole to leave in an airspace. CFI blew it off. I figured the worst thing might be some overflow out the vent...and we'd burn some of that off on the ground. We were still ok on balance envelope and the gross weight was really just an estimate because I didn't have a handle on the stuff in baggage....
anyway, it dawned on me during the drive home, that overfilled tanks are probably causing venting problems for the fuel gauges... causing the bad readings. I'm going to tell them about it tomorrow when I call about the schedule.
& also, I wonder if the fuel isn't feeding evenly out of the tanks.

the worst issues I think:

3) AHRS dropped not long after takeoff. Would occasionally come back but only momentarily. It was only online maybe 5%-10% of the flight! Kinda not really airworthy without any sort of compass! Is this different for LSA?

and 4) The engine idled very roughly... and I'm not convinced that it was developing full power. While in flight I couldn't find reference to full RPM, except for the power settings chart... but I don't believe it was developing full RPM. CFI said something about it being governed.... fishy...

Why is it that all rentals seem to be dogs that are barely airworthy, if even?.... It's sad too....this is the only plane in their fleet, except for the cherokee 6, that has availability regularly on the schedule. Now maybe I know why?
ugh, hard for me to justify getting checked out in something else, that I'm hardly ever going to be able to schedule, unless I schedule it several weeks or even months out....
 
It'll float all day if you're at all fast. What's the checklist say for final?

1. Squawk the sight gauges.
2. It's hard to have full tanks and 2 adults and be legal.
3. Squawk the AHRS. Over 4 years of flying the same 162, I had the AHRS drop out on me once. It can be distracting if it's pinwheeling on you, so learn how to shut off the PFD inflight if you need to. I didn't care for its lack of a compass either, but it was born that way and is legal.
4. Rough idle? Probably crudded up with lead by renters who don't lean on the ground. Ask them to clean the plugs. Full power is whatever you can flog that O200 into turning below redline. 2450-2500 is fine for putting around. Governed? Riiiight. Fly with a different CFI next time.

The 162 I flew had a lot of availability as well and it felt like my own personal plane as a result. Complain until they fix it.
 
I suppose I don't mind the lack of a whiskey compass so much...except if the AHRS is only up maybe 10% of the time, it's not really airworthy. Gotta have some sort of magnetic indicator....

It's a shame, I feel like I could have liked the plane ok if it was in better (at least functioning) condition. I can imagine it being a pretty good economy trainer/time builder. Sweet for basic short cross countries too if it had the optional autopilot

If I fly it again I think I'm going to get or bring a cushion for the seat...at 5ft-9in I felt like I was sitting too low in the seat (partially because I'm height challenged, and partially I think cause the seat foam was about worn out...

I called the school today about scheduling, and tried to pass along my ideas about the fuel gauge problem...and also to squawk the rough idle and probably lack of producing full RPM... I'll see if it goes anywhere....
 
Brad W said:
I can imagine it being a pretty good economy trainer/time builder. Sweet for basic short cross countries too if it had the optional autopilot

If I fly it again I think I'm going to get or bring a cushion for the seat...at 5ft-9in I felt like I was sitting too low in the seat (partially because I'm height challenged, and partially I think cause the seat foam was about worn out...
Click to expand...
Even hand flown, it's fine for the occasional 2.5-3 hour xc, though you will become an honorary member of the iron butt association.
 
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