Flight Training - January/February 2025 - 8

PILOTAGE BY IAN J. TWOMBLY
But I think the real reason we
IAN J. TWOMBLY owns a
Piper J-3 Cub, the best
airplane of all time.
ian.twombly@aopa.org
don't malign airplanes is that what we
do is special. If someone has poured
$10,000 into their private pilot training
and $30,000 to $3 million into their
airplane, we want to be supportive of that
investment of time and money. Not to
mention the countless hours studying
and training.
I get all those arguments, and generally
I'm just as supportive as the next pilot
when it comes to encouraging people to
fly whatever they can, whenever they can.
But I think it's time we as a community are
honest with each other and admit there
are some stinkers out there.
The Cessna 150/152 is better than the
GOOD AND BAD
" That's a cool car, " my son said, as it turned the corner in front
of us. I look up, and to my horror, the whip of his affection is a
20-year-old Saturn ION with different colored body panels. The
dad shame was strong and immediate.
In the auto world, we all feel comfortable labeling cars good or bad. Publications
devote special issues to naming the best cars of the year, and Consumer Reports and
others carve out lucrative businesses from telling us what not to buy. Why don't we do
the same with airplanes?
About a year ago I wrote a short story for our sister magazine, AOPA Pilot, giving
examples of a few maligned airplanes. These weren't my opinions; it was a compilation
of airplanes that cost less than their competitors, have poor support, or are odd outliers.
By the passionate way owners responded, you would have thought I shot their dogs.
With few exceptions, most pilots are reticent to declare an airplane bad. It's possible
there aren't any truly bad airplanes. Certification standards are very expansive, and
virtually nonnegotiable, and airplanes must meet them before coming to market.
Established to provide a base level of safety, these rigid certification standards have in
effect created a bland soup that makes most aircraft generally similar in performance.
That is evident by peeking into the world of experimental aircraft, where the lack
of strict regulation allows for more creative designs and a much greater variety of
performance, safety, efficiency, and cost. Yet the mere fact that someone can take the
time and effort (and let's face it, the guts) to build and fly their own airplane dissuades
us from knocking their choice of aircraft.
Then there's physics, which gives us hard limits on knots per horsepower. A hundred
years of tweaking and playing with aerodynamics have given us marginal improvements
in speed and efficiency in the piston world, and nothing like what's happened in cars
and motorcycles.
8
FLIGHT TRAINING JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025
172 as a trainer, for example. The 172 isn't
a bad airplane, but the controls aren't well
balanced, and the stall break is weak and
mushy, which is bad for students who
need to learn how to identify and avoid
stalling. The Piper Cherokee series is
slightly harder to land well, the oleo strut
is more prone to mechanical issues than
the Cessnas, and one door is harder for
student and instructor.
Some of my desire to declare good
and bad is probably a justification for a
situation I got myself in when I decided to
declare the best classic tailwheel airplane
for an upcoming story in AOPA Pilot.
Spoiler alert: I think the best airplane in
terms of numbers is also the worst of the
bunch. I'll be answering those emails for
the rest of the year.
As much as we don't want to malign
each other's airplanes, there are signs that,
privately, pilots agree some airplanes are just
better than others. Look at the used airplane
market and there are clues. Just like that
clapped out Saturn sells for a fraction of a
used Honda Civic, so too do some airplanes
show their desirability (or lack thereof) in
sales prices. Look at a Cessna Skymaster
versus a Piper Twin Comanche, or a Piper
Cub versus an Aeronca Champion. The
Skymaster and the Champ might not be bad
airplanes, but buyers clearly think there are
better choices.
I'm not sure if the Saturn owner
had a fondness for defunct early 2000s
American-made econoboxes or if it was a
marriage of financial necessity, but it's not
wrong to say there are objectively better
choices for the poor sap. Airplane owners
may not say a particular airplane is a bad
choice in mixed company, but they do the
talking with their checkbooks. FT

Flight Training - January/February 2025

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