"Gokart" by Cessna

NineThreeKilo said:
How is a chinese built $150,000 plane with next to no payload economical?
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Well, a $150,000 plane that burns 5.5 GPH and can carry a reasonably sized pilot and CFI is more economical than a $307,500 Skyhawk that burns 9 GPH and carries any size of pilot and CFI. It's not "cheaper" than a 150, sure, but looking at the number of 172S's flight schools have, it's certainly a more economical option than that. Gives the larger schools a lower priced option (and LSA training) for students who need it.

I know it's not THE MOST economical way to train, and I wouldn't buy one for personal flying, but it works well to build a fleet of trainers for a school, even if there are plenty of LSA alternatives.
 
Not really, unless you're training rich starving midgets, that plane doesn't work, it gross is so pathetic and for the cost a flight school could get a few 172Ns with G430W, or a fleet of 150s, if youre into small planes. Also 172s are more like 7gph unless you don't lean.

My faith in a chinese built plane is also...well, I've had "made in china" socks that couldn't even stand up to my washing machine, so I really rather not put a load on that chinese airframe.
 
when i flew the skycatcher with a friend we could take about half fuel. interestingly, that is about the exact same amount of fuel as i could take back when i was teaching students in 150's...that is if we wanted to stay below legal max gross weight.

I found it a fun airplane to fly, great climb performance and good cruise speed. nice visibility.
 
iWantWings said:
I wondered why around the airports i've been to i have not seen the Piper Sport LSA - based on the little i know and based only on what i read (never flown one), I always tought they were great. Most of all I liked the looks of the plane ;) And it is one LSA that I could easely comfuse for a high performance airplane based on the looks alone. I would like to one day fly one.
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I think a couple reasons you don't see them around is the 130k-150k pricetag and the LSA wt limits.

During my training, I had the opportunity to fly a PiperSport for about 14 hours after our primary trainer went down off field. A fellow in a neighboring hangar agreed to lease us his Sport to keep the school flying while it looked for a replacement plane.

The Sport was a fun airplane to fly and gave me an intro into the glass panel world. Having said that, I was glad to get back into a Cherokee when the school bought the replacement trainer.

In my opinion, the PiperSport is a great little plane for an experienced pilot who will be gentle with it. They don't really belong in a training environment. They just aren't built to take fifty to a hundred student landings a day. Shortly after we started flying it, the nosewheel bracket cracked and it took 3 tries to get the replacement part. A couple months after that, the whole nosewheel snapped off on taxi to the runway. Our owner took it off line. He said he didn't feel comfortable putting his students in that plane. A couple weeks later, we got our Cherokee 140 to train in.

The other thing that you had to pay careful attention to was the wt limit. 1320lbs total with an empty wt of 768lbs(+/-). Didn't leave much after two adults. The fuel tank held 30 gal (I think), but I don't think I ever flew with it full. And you really didn't need to at 5 gph. For the standard 1 or so hour training flight, fuel was never an issue.

I'm glad I got a chance to fly one, but I'd be leary of taking one up that was in a rental/training situation.
 
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ScottK said:
The Sport was a fun airplane to fly and gave me an intro into the glass panel world. Having said that, I was glad to get back into a Cherokee when the school bought the replacement trainer.

In my opinion, the PiperSport is a great little plane for an experienced pilot who will be gentle with it. They don't really belong in a training environment. They just aren't built to take fifty to a hundred student landings a day. Shortly after we started flying it, the nosewheel bracket cracked and it took 3 tries to get the replacement part. A couple months after that, the whole nosewheel snapped off on taxi to the runway. Our owner took it off line. He said he didn't feel comfortable putting his students in that plane. A couple weeks later, we got our Cherokee 140 to train in.


I'm glad I got a chance to fly one, but I'd be leary of taking one up that was in a rental/training situation.
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This is the aircraft I train in. Our flight school has three of them. I do wish they had purchased a non sport aircraft.

I do really like this plane. It is a lot of fun, but not meant for a heavier person. My problem with the aircraft is the need to use a pad because it was not really built for someone under 5'8" tall.

We have had one that was out after a prop strike, needed new prop, and new main gear. Then a second one, that the nose wheel came off of. We added an inspection on the weld for the nose wheel to verify it is not cracked. It is a little disconcerting, but I still enjoy flying it.
 
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