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.
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Still like the Skycatcher?
Jim