poadeleted3
Pattern Altitude
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2005
- Messages
- 2,055
I'm going to take back some of what I've written regarding the take off distances of Tigers. This weekend I put to use some of what I've learned from folks like Anthony and Ron Levy from these boards, as well as from talking with a pilot here at work, about flying the planes. Mostly about the need for a much more positive rotation than I'm used to in Skyhawks, and about how much braking is or isn't needed at the beginning of the takeoff roll.
In the Skyhawk, I just apply a little back pressure on the yoke around 55 kts, and the plane will fly off quite happily around 60-65 kts. Doing the same thing in a Tiger will result in the plane quite happily trundling along till you hit 70 or 75 kts. OTOH, if you give a distinct pull and actually get the nose up a bit at 55, it'll break ground quite nicely, and in a noticeably shorter distance.
Last time I flew the Tiger, I was using the right brake from the time I rolled in power until I hit 20 or 30 kts. This time, I tried using just rudder from the get go, and that worked well for the morning flight. Didn't work so well when I left Wings in the afternoon with a good deal more wind, but a couple quick stabs until rudder became effective worked just fine, instead of riding the brakes as much as I did last time around. No doubt, it's easier on the FBO's budget also. I don't know how much runway I actually used leaving Wings, but I doubt it was near half of it before I broke ground, and I intentionally let the speed build a bit before lifting off.
It's not the short field bird a Skyhawk is, but I'm confident now that with a bit more work I'd be willing to use a 2000 foot field at the lower elevations around here, assuming a lack of obstructions, or even a couple shorter ones like Andover, NJ. 2000 feet isn't even a sweat in a Skyhawk, but short fields aren't really what the Tiger was built for. If I can get happy with 2000 ft, I'll like the Tiger even more.
In the Skyhawk, I just apply a little back pressure on the yoke around 55 kts, and the plane will fly off quite happily around 60-65 kts. Doing the same thing in a Tiger will result in the plane quite happily trundling along till you hit 70 or 75 kts. OTOH, if you give a distinct pull and actually get the nose up a bit at 55, it'll break ground quite nicely, and in a noticeably shorter distance.
Last time I flew the Tiger, I was using the right brake from the time I rolled in power until I hit 20 or 30 kts. This time, I tried using just rudder from the get go, and that worked well for the morning flight. Didn't work so well when I left Wings in the afternoon with a good deal more wind, but a couple quick stabs until rudder became effective worked just fine, instead of riding the brakes as much as I did last time around. No doubt, it's easier on the FBO's budget also. I don't know how much runway I actually used leaving Wings, but I doubt it was near half of it before I broke ground, and I intentionally let the speed build a bit before lifting off.
It's not the short field bird a Skyhawk is, but I'm confident now that with a bit more work I'd be willing to use a 2000 foot field at the lower elevations around here, assuming a lack of obstructions, or even a couple shorter ones like Andover, NJ. 2000 feet isn't even a sweat in a Skyhawk, but short fields aren't really what the Tiger was built for. If I can get happy with 2000 ft, I'll like the Tiger even more.