2/24/14
1.3h – Piper Cherokee PA-28 140
I actually did it. I scheduled a flight in a Piper Cherokee. The Cherokee is one of the top contenders on my used aircraft shopping list along with the C-172, so I wanted to have an informed opinion of the PA-28 before committing to it as an option. I had a pleasant flight out of Aurora State Airport with Sylvia Manning of Willamette Aviation. Sylvia grew up flying her father’s Cherokee so had some insight to offer on the model. The purpose of the flight was primarily to evaluate the aircraft, but we did some steep turns and touch-and-goes to add to my repertoire.
Walking up to the aircraft, the first impression is that it is bigger than the 150 I flew for my first lesson. The second thing you notice is that the thing only has one door! Sylvia had done the pre-flight beforehand since we were short on time, but the low wings would obviously make it easy to check and add fuel compared to a 172. Large cowl covers also make pre-flight inspection of the engine compartment easy.
To enter the aircraft you step up on the passenger side (right) wing and in through the single door, pilot first. It’s quite a bit roomier than the 150, but comparable to the 172 which I’ll touch on later. The method of entry and low to the ground sight picture make it feel a bit like a mid-size coupe.
Every cockpit is a little bit different, but the big things were the fuel selector/fuel pump, and the method the flaps were deployed. Because it is a low wing design, the fuel cannot be gravity fed to the engine. There is an electric boost pump that is used for startup and critical phases of flight. Relatedly, the wing tanks were separately sourced. There was no “both” setting on the fuel selector. The flaps in this Cherokee were actuated with a manual Johnson bar control. Having tried both electric, and manual flaps now, I am actually fonder of the Johnson bar. You can completely raise flaps in one smooth motion during go-arounds, and it seems, in my opinion, simpler and less likely to fail.
Another minor difference was that the throttle, mixture, and carb heat were all levers rather than push-pull knobs. I liked the aesthetics of the lever controls, but having used both I think I prefer the push-pull style better because you can use a finger on the panel as a reference when making fine adjustments. As a general note about panel layout in small planes, I am disappointed by the number of widgets that are blocked from view by the yoke. I know the space is limited, but you really have to stretch to be able to see some of them.
Starting up the engine immediately felt more powerful than the 150, no surprise there. The nose-wheel had good authority during taxi and I had to do little differential braking. The improved visibility was already apparent during taxi. It’s nice being able to keep an eye on the sky for situational awareness. My only complaint during run-up is that there is no way to see the tail besides the very tips of the stabilator. You just have to trust that the rudder is working correctly.
Aurora is a bit of a crazy airport. After waiting for a gap in traffic we rolled out to runway 35 and put in full throttle. It tracked down the runway with little effort on my part. Rotation speed is 60-65. Pulling back for rotation on the other hand took a surprising bit of effort. Climb out speed is 85. At 85 we saw 900 feet per minute of climb. Not too shabby.
After climb-out we turned to the South and did some basic climbs, turns and descents. The visibility in flight is the best part about the low-wing design. You can’t see the landscape as much for sight-seeing, but as a pilot I’d rather see the NORDO headed right at me. Plus, the low wings give a sense of being held up by something substantial, which passengers might like. We moved on to slow flight, a stall demo and some steep turns. The Cherokee in trim is almost completely hands off. To prove this Sylvia had me trim it out in a 45 degree turn and let go of the yoke. It held the bank and altitude solidly on its own for a good few seconds. I gave in before the plane did. Awesome! Rudder inputs are almost non-existent after takeoff. I would have to be careful about this. It could make you a really lazy pilot. Slow flight is comfortable. Stalling it is incredibly difficult. Even at full up trim you have to basically use two hands on the yoke to get it to properly stall.
Having covered all the basic maneuvers we headed back to KUAO for some touch-and-goes. It is going to take me awhile to get used to the approach angle in an airplane. The 3 degree normal approach in an airplane seems incredibly shallow compared to the 15 degree normal approach I’m used to in the R22. Touch-and-go procedure is straight-forward and logical: Raise flaps to reduce drag, carb heat off for max power, and advance throttle to full.
That was about it. We did a couple more touch-and-goes and taxied back to Willamette. Talking with Sylvia afterword, she is a big fan of tailwheel aircraft like the Citabria and Decathlon. Her second favorite are the 172s, with the Cherokee taking third. I talked her into letting me sit in one of the 172s just to get a feel of the ergo and sight picture before meeting with the aircraft broker on Friday.
My impression of the 172 is that it feels like an extended cab Ford Ranger or similar. You step up into the cockpit. Things are tight, but not necessarily cramped. There is a sense of carrying capacity. The panel and sight picture are pretty much identical to the 150.
I learned a couple additional things from talking with her and independent research since then. The high-wing aircraft are much cooler in sunny weather because they have built in shade. The 172 also has fully opening side windows, not just a vent. Fuel related accidents occur almost twice as often in low-wing aircraft which require a pump, and source management. The nose wheel of the Cherokee is of a much different design than the Cessnas. It is tied directly to the rudder pedals which gives it greater authority while taxiing, but can cause problems while landing if you don’t center it before lowering the nose. Cessna on the other hand always points straight until weight is applied to the Oleo strut, so landings issues are mitigated at the expense of limited steering range during taxi (requiring more differential braking).
What a day.