Question for the cogniscenti

j1b3h0

j1b3h0

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I'm on a quest to find the nicest flying general aviation light plane. It isn't about how fast or what the airplane will carry, I'm interested in the lightest, silkiest, dreamiest most resonsive and well harmonized flight controls. Opinions?
Some of mine are -
Pitts Special, Beechcraft T-34, Stearman, Bellanca Cruiseair.A Beaver flies nicely.
Airplanes I've always wanted to fly:
Sequoia Falco and it's younger sister, the SIAI Marchetti SF260. Fairchild 24, any of the Extras, Pitts Model 12, North American AT-6, Bucker Jungmiester, Whitman Tailwind.
 
All the Bonanzas/Barons/Travel Airs I've flown have beautiful control inputs. Probably the best.

That said, I like how the 310 flies better.
 
Agreed about all the Beech products, even the 18 flies beautifully. 310s are sporty but too heavy in pitch. Nice instrument platform, though.
 
The two best harmonized airplanes I've ever flown are the Diamond DA40 and the Evektor SportStar.
 
Mooney J. But I will admit that the "best" flying airplanes are the ones I have the most experience with.
 
j1b3h0 said:
I'm on a quest to find the nicest flying general aviation light plane. It isn't about how fast or what the airplane will carry, I'm interested in the lightest, silkiest, dreamiest most resonsive and well harmonized flight controls. Opinions?
Some of mine are -
Pitts Special, Beechcraft T-34, Stearman, Bellanca Cruiseair.A Beaver flies nicely.
Airplanes I've always wanted to fly:
Sequoia Falco and it's younger sister, the SIAI Marchetti SF260. Fairchild 24, any of the Extras, Pitts Model 12, North American AT-6, Bucker Jungmiester, Whitman Tailwind.
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Unless you look at experimental also, you are limiting yourself to technology that is 50 years old. Certainly not the latest and greatest. ;)

Slickest, look at a composite.
Easiest to fly and slick, RV's.
 
j1b3h0 said:
310s are sporty but too heavy in pitch. Nice instrument platform, though.
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Yes, but I still like flying it more than the Beech. :)

Actually, Beech controls in a 310 would be pretty hard to beat.
 
Bellanca Viking.....Best
Beech Bonanza.....Pretty good
Lear Jet.....Very nice
Falcon 50......nicest corp jet to hand fly.

You mentioned Beaver. Yes, they have ball bearing controls that are beautiful. But the airplane is pretty lethargic when heavy. Never flew one on wheels though.

I don't know how a Mooney 201 got on this list. Even after owning one, and loving it for its efficiency, one could never say it had any control harmony.
 
Rotor&Wing said:
Bellanca. Early 14 series up through Viking.
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I love my Bonanza, but I have to agree - the Super Viking I have flown has the most remarkable combination of light and responsive controls, and stable hands-off flight, I have experienced.

In addition, I simply love the experience of flying the Diamond DA20 - suspect the same dynamics follow in the DA40 (mentioned by Kent, above).

So many from which to choose! You'll just have to go fly them all, then decide! :D
 
kgruber said:
Bellanca Viking.....Best
Beech Bonanza.....Pretty good
Lear Jet.....Very nice
Falcon 50......nicest corp jet to hand fly.

You mentioned Beaver. Yes, they have ball bearing controls that are beautiful. But the airplane is pretty lethargic when heavy. Never flew one on wheels though.

I don't know how a Mooney 201 got on this list. Even after owning one, and loving it for its efficiency, one could never say it had any control harmony.
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Bellancas fly great. The last time I flew one was in the 1980s, and at the time I was flying turbo Commanders, part 135. The Viking felt like an Alfa Romeo by comparison. I've but 3 or 4 hours in a Lear (spent dangling by the handle bars, as I was fairly inexperienced at the time) and I've never heard any thing bad about Falcons. I've a little time in a Sabreliner 40 and it flies lovely. I never flew a DHC-2 on floats, but flew one on wheels to Alaska and back...it's a big kidde car. With all due respect, the only airplane on the list more absurd than a Mooney is any Cessna. Cessnas have OK ailerons, but have anemic rudders and utilize the both-feet-on-instrument-panel (heavy) method of elevator control. Stable, yes, but not exactly well harmonized. I'd really like to fly one of the Frati designs, which I'm told are as good as it gets.
 
I only have about 5 minutes steering a Bellanca Viking but I would say that I was very impressed. Other that that, the most pleasant airplane to hand fly was a Lear 35.
 
j1b3h0 said:
With all due respect, the only airplane on the list more absurd than a Mooney is any Cessna. Cessnas have OK ailerons, but have anemic rudders and utilize the both-feet-on-instrument-panel (heavy) method of elevator control. Stable, yes, but not exactly well harmonized.
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:rofl:

The Mooney is very responsive and sporty in roll, and pretty stable in pitch - So it's very nice to fly as a traveling bird. But I wouldn't call it "harmonized" either. To me, "harmonized" means that pitch and roll axes respond equally. There are some airplanes that are really fun to fly but aren't well-harmonized, and there's some that are beautifully harmonized and completely boring.

Love the 182, but "harmonized" it is not. Very heavy in pitch, merely lethargic in roll. Stable, yes. Great airplane, yes. Harmonized, no.

Of course, the Piper Cub and its derivatives are actually quite a bit worse. Reasonably responsive in pitch, but... "Roll? You want me to WHAT? I don't wanna!" as you shove the stick into your leg. :lol:

I should add that the Extra 300L and the newer Huskys (2005+) are also nicely harmonized, and both are very fun in their own way!
 
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Everskyward said:
I only have about 5 minutes steering a Bellanca Viking but I would say that I was very impressed. Other that that, the most pleasant airplane to hand fly was a Lear 35.
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I saw a couple of air force guys do an overhead break in a lear 35 and it looked like a lot of fun. They started the break as I was on short final!
 
flyingcheesehead said:
:rofl:

Love the 182, but "harmonized" it is not. Very heavy in pitch, merely lethargic in roll. Stable, yes. Great airplane, yes. Harmonized, no.
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Maybe one of the things I like most about cessna's is the nice big fowler flaps
 
dell30rb said:
Maybe one of the things I like most about cessna's is the nice big fowler flaps
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Definitely. Those big 40-degree barn doors allow me to fly an ILS at 140 knots to 300 AGL and be at 70 knots by the TDZ to land, and approach steeply over obstacles.

But they're still not well-harmonized. ;)
 
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