Am I an idiot? Low experience; high performance

On Aug 28, 3:52 pm, wrote:
I am contemplating buying an airplane mostly for business trips, but I
know a 172 or something like that will not stand the test of time
since I frequently travel to Wichita and the headwinds are brutal
sometimes.

I have been thinking about a Mooney or Bonanza but I wonder if I am
setting myself up for trouble since I have less than 100 hours logged.

Do you think I would be less safe in such an airplane, or would some
extra training be sufficient?

You might be an idiot, but no worse than a lot of the rest of us. :-)

Seriously, a lot of people do their primary training in Bonanzas and
Mooneys. Insurance companies are more tolerant if you own the plane,
but they will probably require that you get some minimum number of
hours of training in the aircraft before you fly it by yourself.

That said, the Bonanza is called the "fork-tailed doctor killer" for a
reason. Fast planes can get you into trouble in a hurry. They are less
tolerant of incompetence. If and when they do go down, survivability
is much lower because of the higher stall speeds. If you do not fly it
enough to stay sharp, a fast airplane just might end up being a
suicide machine.

My son learned to fly in a twin, constant speed props, gas heater,
hydraulic gear, etc... Since he didn't know any better he thought the
plane was just like a single, with an extra knob or two... When he
finally did go out in a Warrior he said it was almost frightening.
He kept worrying he had forgotten something because there was almost
nothing to do but push the throttle and point the nose..

denny

On Aug 29, 4:39 am, Denny wrote:
My son learned to fly in a twin, constant speed props, gas heater,
hydraulic gear, etc... Since he didn't know any better he thought the
plane was just like a single, with an extra knob or two... When he
finally did go out in a Warrior he said it was almost frightening.
He kept worrying he had forgotten something because there was almost
nothing to do but push the throttle and point the nose..

denny

LOL. I had the same experience after an extended period of flying
nothing but Seminoles. It is a real hoot sometimes checking out
airline pilots in a Cessna 172.

"cjcampbell" wrote in message
LOL. I had the same experience after an extended period of flying
nothing but Seminoles. It is a real hoot sometimes checking out
airline pilots in a Cessna 172.

I heard a story of an instructor who let an airline pilot fly his 172
without a checkout. He overran the runway and rolled it up in a ball. He
walked away, but the plane was a total loss.

No insurance on the plane, so the owner saw no reason to tell the FAA or
NTSB about it.

On Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:59:15 -0700, cjcampbell
wrote:

On Aug 28, 3:52 pm, wrote:
I am contemplating buying an airplane mostly for business trips, but I
know a 172 or something like that will not stand the test of time
since I frequently travel to Wichita and the headwinds are brutal
sometimes.

I have been thinking about a Mooney or Bonanza but I wonder if I am
setting myself up for trouble since I have less than 100 hours logged.

Do you think I would be less safe in such an airplane, or would some
extra training be sufficient?

You might be an idiot, but no worse than a lot of the rest of us. :-)

Seriously, a lot of people do their primary training in Bonanzas and
Mooneys. Insurance companies are more tolerant if you own the plane,
but they will probably require that you get some minimum number of
hours of training in the aircraft before you fly it by yourself.

I had 375 hours in a Cherokee 180. They required 25 hours of dual.
About the first half of that was getting used to the speed difference.


That said, the Bonanza is called the "fork-tailed doctor killer" for a
reason. Fast planes can get you into trouble in a hurry. They are less

One reason is because pilots land them too fast. Land a Bo like a
Cherokee and it'll probably do well. Other than the Bo is easier to
land.

tolerant of incompetence. If and when they do go down, survivability

That it is. I think the airplane is sentient and knows when to dish
out a dose of humility.

is much lower because of the higher stall speeds. If you do not fly it

Now what do you suppose the stall speed of an F33 might be?
It's far lower than most think. The way I fly mine it's around 57 MPH
with gear and flaps down. 63 *MPH* at gross. With the tip tanks and
gaps seals it's actually lower than that.

enough to stay sharp, a fast airplane just might end up being a
suicide machine.

The only difference is the Bo is a slippery airplane. Not that it has
a high stall speed. From a stall with power on and the nose let drop
it'll accelerate around 20 MPH per second. That means if you don't get
it straightened out soon, or get it slowed down it's not considered a
good thing.