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Skycatcher Tour of Michigan

I had such a great time flying around the state of Michigan demoing this airplane. I was very impressed with the amount of people who came out to see the airplane. It is such a great feeling to see such a great interest of aviation in general. I was able to show people what a stable and great little performer the Cessna 162 Skycatcher is.  Like the name states, this aircraft catches the sky. It climbs out at a better rate than the 172 and is a lot of fun to fly. I had the chance to fly with several people ranging from all levels of experience, and the overall impression was very positive.

We were limited to the amount of time we had the Skycatcher, so we scheduled three different events around the state. I did around fifty demo flights, and all I heard were praises. The airplane blows people away when they first see it. It is smaller than the 172, and kind of looks like the other Light Sport aircraft on the market. Most people were skeptical and once they sat in it were impressed by the size of the cockpit, which is larger than a Cessna 206. The determining factor was when they flew the Skycatcher, all of their skepticism was flat out gone. The airplane wears the Cessna badge and it wears it well.

“Yes, this airplane was manufactured overseas and shipped over to the US for assembly.” This is the answer I was giving to nearly one out of five people looking at the plane. I also stated that the aircraft was never flown overseas and was painted in Independence, KS  just like all of the other single engine pistons that Cessna is currently producing. The quality is excellent and the airplane flies just like a brand new 172 from the factory, the only difference is that the parts were manufactured overseas. This is Cessna’s answer to keeping the cost down just like the “Big Three” have been doing for quite some time.

Overall everyone loved the airplane and were simply impressed by the performance. This is the first light sport that Cessna has produced and it fits nicely in with the Cessna fleet. Thanks to everyone who came out to see the Skycatcher and for your support in aviation.

Skycatcher Cross Country

I had a long journey in the air the other day. It all started off going the wrong way. For those of you who have flown on the airlines, you know what I am talking about. My final destination was LaGuardia in New York. I took off out of Manistee, MI and headed west to Milwaukee, WI. Then finally the airlines got it right and flew me east out to NYC. It’s funny, it would have been faster if I had flow the Skycatcher directly to NYC.

Once in New York, I jumped into a car that took me to Lincoln Park Airport, which was west of NYC. It was a quick trip mainly due to the fact that I slept the whole way. I arrived at the Lincoln Park Cessna Service Station, received a solid weather briefing and preflighted the Skycatcher. Everything looked good except for a couple thunderstorms that were scattered along my route. I made my GO decision and hopped in the plane with a water bottle, charts (just incase), and a half eaten deli sandwich.

With three shots of prime, the engine fired right up and I was on my way. I took off out of N07 and headed for KDUH. The weather was awesome and the plane was performing just as it did the first time I flew it. I looked at the little wind indicator on the PFD and it was somewhere around 25kts almost directly on my nose. So I kept climbing and I got up to 3500ft and the wind kept picking up, so I told ATC I was going to go down to 2500ft where I stayed for the majority of the adventure.

I love flying long distances at a low altitude. Again, it brings back the “Cub” feeling. When I received my pilot license about ten years ago all I wanted to do was to fly faster to get to the destination as quick as possible. This all changed when I began flying the family Cub back and forth between KDUH (Toledo Suburban) and KCAD (Wexford Co. Airport) twice a year. This is when I realized how much fun it is to fly low and see the countryside first hand. It is an amazing spectacle that is extremely different than driving across the country. It’s not billboard after billboard, it is lake, after deer, after bald eagle, and the list goes on. This is America at its best, VFR flight with the freedom of class E airspace. All of these things that I have explained are awesome, but as I have said before it is so advanced due to the addition of the G300. Flying the Skycatcher is like eating ice cream, it tastes great and it is fun to eat. Now, flying the Skycatcher with the addition of the G300 it is like eating a banana split with a big ole cherry on top.

I had about five hours to mess around with the G300 on my flight back from N07. I knew that there was some weather along my route, but it was around the middle of the flight. So, I was flying along pushing buttons when I realized what the weather feature had to offer. IT IS AMAIZING! It shows the fronts, and also it will show what is called “animated weather” which is like the loop feature on radar charts.

The G300 is an outstanding tool that fits in today’s world like apples in a pie. (I think I am a little hungry with all of these food references) Be advised that there is a gradual learning curve involved with the “buttonology” on the G300. I took me the whole flight and I still was doing one thing consistently wrong. I kept trying to push the enter button on the bottom right corner, but it is not there on the G300, it is right under the cursor at the top right of both screens.  That was honestly the one difficulty I had learning the G300. Everything else was “Garmin friendly” (which button to push and when to push it). The G300 is something anyone who has used a GPS, especially a Garmin, can learn with ease.

Finally, I made it to Toledo Suburban and watched the sun come down. It was a full day of aviation. I would do it all over again tomorrow if I was given the chance. The Skycatcher is a great little plane to fly. There are more blogs to come, next I explain my experience flying it with 50 different students, renters, possible owners, and friends.

Skycatcher Video

This is such an awesome example of what this airplane is capable of. I guess for future reference a fairway will do for an engine out!

Skycatcher, in Michigan?

Well, I finally got my first taste of the Skycatcher. Jeremy Schrag, the Senior Instructor Pilot from Cessna flew into Suburban after I had been tracking him for two hours or more from the Chicago area. Instead of always hearing “Skyhawk” on the radio, as I am used to, I finally heard “Suburban traffic, Skycatcher 5201K left downwind runway 27” it was one of those wow moments, the infamous Skycatcher was actually in the pattern at Suburban. When he pulled up I was in the lobby snapping pictures left and right. As I stood there in the lobby, it was like I was in a trance, staring at the plane that had been talked about for so long and it was actually parked in front of Suburban’s FBO. Woody, our chief flight instructor snapped me out of the daze and we ventured out to see “number 10.”

Once we got to the plane, Jeremy, who greeted us, was surprisingly energetic to get in the classroom to do some ground. The evening was upon us and in order to do the flight the two hours of ground had to take place. The ground went by really fast due to Jeremy’s ability to keep it upbeat and not dry like most ground classes tend to be.

Finally, it was time for the flight. I was up first, so Jeremy and I jumped in the plane and got the pedals set in the right spot. Surprisingly enough, the inside is really roomy, and actually quite a bit wider than that of a 172. I got the plane started and we taxied with the doors open. It was quite the experience, taxiing with the doors open was much different than taxiing with a window open in a 172, it took a couple of seconds to get used to the feeling.

After a quick run-up we took the runway. In the back of my mind I was recalling Jeremy saying that the 162 had a better climb rate than the 172, so I was excited to see if it was true. Well, let me tell you, it climbs like a champ. We were climbing out at 1000 fpm, with no problem. One thing that took me a few seconds to get used to was the pitch control, which is a little sensitive, but only takes a couple of pitch changes to get used to. We climbed out to the northwest practice area at Suburban and did slow flight, a power off stall, a power on stall, and two steep turns to top it off.  All of the maneuvers were just like the 172, very stable and the plane did everything I told it to do.

Once through the maneuvers we headed back to the airport for some takeoff and landings. The first landing was normal, full flap landing. This was a little different than the 172, I was a little fast and I found that the 162 likes to fly in ground effect. Just one or two knots will keep the 162 in the air for a couple extra seconds more than the 172.

For the second landing, Jeremy had me do a 25 degree flap landing. Considering the fact that the 162 has 40 degrees as full flaps, it was a noticeable difference without the full 40. The third landing was a no flap landing, which was like any other airplane, I had to watch the pitch angle on decent and took it right on in, crossing the fence at 60 knots.

The final landing was what Jeremy referred to as “The Dark Tube of Death,” which he told me was Kriby Ortega’s (Cessna Aircraft’s chief pilot for piston airplanes) name for this landing. For those of you who are unaware of this landing, join the club, this landing simulates a full electrical failure. Jeremy shut off both G300 screens and had me land without any instruments. Unlike the 172, the 162 has a fully integrated cockpit, so there are no standby instruments in the plane. The stall warning horn works just as well as an airspeed indicator would. This landing had a couple of challenges, one of them was determining when to deploy the flaps. Jeremy had me get the stall horn to chirp and then begin deploying the flaps. The other challenging part about this landing was keeping my eyes from cheating and looking down at the G300 screens.

Overall this airplane was a blast to fly. I am really excited to begin instructing in this airplane. I think this is bringing the original feel of aviation back while at the same time integrating new age avionics for the full experience. I fly a J-3 Cub on a regular basis, and the Skycatcher really reminds me a lot of the “feel” that the cub has, and enhances it substantially with the G300 avionics package.

Twenty Five Years…a brief history

Against the advice of my dad, I bought the newly named Toledo Suburban Airport, formerly known as Wagon Wheel, in July of 1984. General aviation was on it’s back in 1984 and proceeded to get worse when we joined Cessna Aircraft in 1986 as a Cessna Pilot Center or CPC. I remember well the new Cessna Skyhawk taxing up with an energetic young man ready to give us all of the virtues of becoming a CPC. It would be the last time we were to see him as Cessna pulled back and laid off much of their workforce, similar to today.

Cessna continued to support the CPC network through all of the tough times, a testimony to their commitment to pilot starts that are so critical to our industry and to their well being as an aircraft manufacturer. After many years as a CPC, we grabbed the opportunity to become a Cessna Service Station offering factory service, with hopes of an opportunity to sell new Cessna aircraft someday.

Tort reform was achieved and Cessna committed to a new start of Single Engine production. We were quick to throw our hat into the ring and become a Cessna Team Authorized Representative or CSTAR in late 1996. It has been a real treat to be a part of the Cessna team as Single Engine production and marketing was built from scratch with a new plant in Independence, KS, new designs and a new marketing and distribution plan.

Today, Suburban Aviation is the forth largest Cessna dealer in the world. In 2008 we delivered our 200th new Cessna, becoming the forth dealer to achieve such a distinction. With new designs and light sport aircraft, we are excited and committed to Cessna Aircraft, our partner since 1986.

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