Well Hell, Now I OWN it...

Sundowner a good plane, a little slower than comparable planes, eh big deal. At least there's 2 doors and a lot of room inside. Some have problems with porpoise landings so watch for that. One we had on rental was landed by an ANG F-16 driver and he wiped out the strut. I miss that plane. :(

Don't be this guy! :eek:

 
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mscard88 said:
Sundowner a good plane, a little slower than comparable planes, eh big deal. At least there's 2 doors and a lot of room inside. Some have problems with porpoise landings so watch for that. One we had on rental was landed by an ANG F-16 driver and he wiped out the strut.

Don't be this guy! :eek:
Click to expand...

I did a LOT of research about this. I'm told that most of the problem can be cured by adding some weight in the cargo bin. Two adult males, and fuel pushes the CG forward almost to the limit, it seems.

I guess I'll find out.
 
Those are nice little airplanes, congrats!
 
I have 1/2 hour checkout in a Sundowner before somebody else in the club totaled it. :(

Very comfortable plane. Congrats!
 
First plane? If so, congratulations!! If not, congratulations on the new plane anyway!

But we need pictures!
 
FlyingElvii said:
I did a LOT of research about this. I'm told that most of the problem can be cured by adding some weight in the cargo bin. Two adult males, and fuel pushes the CG forward almost to the limit, it seems.

I guess I'll find out.
Click to expand...

Yep, it's VERY easy to get forward CG in the thing. We almost always use ballast.
 
Great airplane to do your instrument training in. It really takes effort to get behind something that slow :rimshot:

Congrats, they are nice flying planes and built like a brick ****house.
 
Remember to wax the trailing edges of all surfaces to help make bug removal easier!
 
Nice! I considered a Sundowner, but my girlfriend demanded that all airplanes wear pants!
I second EdFred's recommendation of the wax. I just use a spray on/wipe off wax, but it seems to work.
 
FlyingElvii said:
I did a LOT of research about this. I'm told that most of the problem can be cured by adding some weight in the cargo bin. Two adult males, and fuel pushes the CG forward almost to the limit, it seems.
Click to expand...
A little ballast may help (use water in a collapsible container so you can lose the ballast without tossing anything of value plus the water might come in handy some day). But unless you're way beyond the fwd CG limit you can land on the mains is you simply get the airplane slow enough. Most porpoising accidents like the one in the video are the direct result of flying a too fast approach and then letting (or worse yet forcing) the plane on the runway at too high a speed. And just because you can land too fast with some aft ballast doesn't mean you should.
 
I trained on a sundowner and we always had ballast in the back on most flights
 
Looks like you were having a great time! Congratulations.
 
somorris said:
Looks like you were having a great time! Congratulations.
Click to expand...
Went up again tonight. Weather was PERFECT, with an approaching front blocking the late-evening sun.

Getting used to it now, practiced stalls and turns. (and avoiding a Citation in the pattern)
 
Flying along in your OWN plane...priceless!! Enjoy and be safe. :):)
 
All planes fly, and especially land, better as the CG goes aft - well, up to the point of the flat spin, at least.
Fat Albert The Apache has that same issue with lotsa fuel and two in front. Having come from the era of tail wheel airplanes where getting the nose up and the tail down is not optional and then jumped straight into ownership of a 56 Lane, I now have the forearms of billy the bone crusher.
Anyway, the first time I got enough load into the rear of the old sweet potato to move the CG back close to the rear limit, as I flared over the numbers with the usual grunt and bend the yoke yank, the windscreen filled with sky (grey, wet and ugly, not blue) I thought to myself 'self that is that not a bit unusual?' and self replied by screaming, 'lower the nose NOW stupid'
So, with an aft CG I have learned that one can land with fingertip pressure, not actual movement of the yoke - who'd a thunk!
 
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