Grumman Tiger
- Thread starter ChasenSFO
- Start date
TwoTwoLeft
o- - - - - - -l
5 for climb and 10-15 for cruise worked pretty well for hand flying in IMC. For VFR, every 30 would be fine.
z987k
Well-Known Member
You should see a PA-20 with the leading edge cuff in a power on and/or accelerated stall. Power off you run out of elevator authority to stall it, in any other regime it just torque rolls around the engine.
Very first time I did one at full power I was inverted in an incipient spin before I knew wtf was going on.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
That's why people put the super cub tail feathers on them.
z987k
Well-Known Member
Is that an stc or just field approval or experimental?
mjg407
Well-Known Member
I've owned two Grumman Cheetahs. I'll be flying one into SQL. The flaps do nothing for lift (almost nothing) but help slow the airplane down. The AA1 series couldn't recover from a spin so they prohibited spins in the AA5 series. Recommend the grumman gang. Grumman's have a really strong ownership group.I've got a checkout coming up in the AA5B and I'm excited for it. I'm told, however, that there are some odd characteristics to look out for such as issues with pitch control in the flare. Most of my time is in 172s with very little low wing time, just curious what advice you guys may have so I can try and get my cheap ass signed off in one flight.
killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
Does this mean that the AA5 CAN recover from a spin?
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
I believe it is an STC. I know it's not experimental, one of the guys on the field has a certified PA20 on floats with super cub tailfeathers.
z987k
Well-Known Member
Hmm, I wonder if they lengthen the fuselage to.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
Not on that install. Super cub horizontal and elevators bolt right up iirc.
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
z987k
Well-Known Member
I think I'd rather keep the tail feather that are on it and lengthen those longerons. You'd get a longer arm and make them probably just as effective while also getting rid of the undesirable ground handling.
mjg407
Well-Known Member
An AA1 will recover but it would go flat about every 4th spin with the NASA test pilot. Because of this lore on the grumman gang is American General never tried to get the AA5 series certified for spins. The lore is that it can recover, but I'll let someone else try.
StrongEagle
New Member
Because of this lore on the grumman gang is American General never tried to get the AA5 series certified for spins. The lore is that it can recover, but I'll let someone else try.
I realize that this is a rather old post, and, I ran into it why searching for information about the Grumman Cheetah.
I want to confirm that you can spin a Cheetah AA5A, even though it has a placard in it that says it's not certified for spins.
This event occurred decades ago when I first learned to fly. In fact, it was my very first flying lesson, and I didn't know the first thing about flying... nothing, really. We walk out to the airplane and I am taught how to do a preflight, we then climb into the Cheetah and my instructor gives me proper ground control procedures (my FBO was located at Houston Hobby - HOU - and I quickly learned big airport ops).
I get the right permissions, squawk the right codes and pretty soon we've taxied to 13L (now 12L) for a takeoff. I get the plane up to speed, pull back on the wheel and we are off! Of course, there's this high pitched buzzing sound but my instructor doesn't seem very concerned and we're headed for the skies. I was later to learn that the buzzer was the stall warning indicator and that I had a rather steep angle of attack. It was my first lesson in a Cheetah... you can take off pretty close to the edge without problems.
We head south of town and climb, and finally level out. No more buzzing... hey!... this is fun. After a while my instructor starts a conversation that goes like this.
Him: OK, I want you to pull back hard on the wheel.
Me: OK. (I pull back, the nose starts rising, the buzzer starts going off again). Hey, it's buzzing again.
Him: Don't worry. Just keep pulling back. (The nose keeps going up, the buzzer keeps going off, and the airplane is starting to shudder a little bit).
Me: It's beginning to act a little bit strange, real strange, actually. (Airplane really starting to shake and shudder... on the edge of a stall).
Him: Yeh, OK, we'll fix that. Push all the way down on your left rudder pedal. (Whoops! Wow! Zowie! What happened? It's a spin).
He then explains to me how to stop the rotation, then drop the nose and pull out of the spin. Pretty soon we're flying level again. He says, "Now, you never, ever want to do that by accident, OK? And, you never want to let this airplane rotate more than 3 times before you stop the spin, or you won't be stopping it.
We then spent the rest of my first training hour repeating the same stall, spin and recover routine until he thought I could perform the tasks properly.
That was my very first flight. Looking back, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to spin the AA5A, but this instructor taught me so much about what the limits of an airplane are that I have always been thankful. If I had a question as to what the airplane would do, we'd go try it.
Jimmy_Norton
Well-Known Member
Kind of like the person that takes a non-pilot up for their first little airplane ride and tries to scare them and/or make them puke.
D
Deleted member 27505
Guest
IMHO, the Tiger should be the most popular and ubiquitous light single trainer. It's a delight. It has its differences (faster, quicker, tighter, more speed sensitive, etc.) from the 172s and Cherokees, but there is nothing alarming about it. The flare is not wonky in any way. Just manage your speed and hold the nose off. The only thing that is "weird" about it is how much more fun it is to fly than any other trainer of its era. So go have fun. Oh, and as has been mentioned, remember to switch tanks every 1/2 hr or so if managing fuel is something you're not used to doing.I've got a checkout coming up in the AA5B and I'm excited for it. I'm told, however, that there are some odd characteristics to look out for such as issues with pitch control in the flare. Most of my time is in 172s with very little low wing time, just curious what advice you guys may have so I can try and get my cheap ass signed off in one flight.
killbilly
Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
This. Terrific airplane. Tremendous bang for the buck.
ChasenSFO
hen teaser
I had a ton of fun flying it for about 2 years until the owner decided no more club flying for that airplane. Would love to fly one again, or even own one, honestly.
