AFTER THE SKYCATCHER’S door opened in flight, Cessna designed a second latch mechanism that solved the problem. With a castoring nosewheel, differential braking is used for steering. ordered. Once in use, the club swapped the metal prop for a composite one, a weight savings of 12 pounds —“two more gallons of fuel,” as Robine described it. The large vertical tail surface affects ground handling in wind and includes a dorsal fin that can strike the runway if one tries a full-stall landing. The Flyers added a skid to the underside of the dorsal fin to help protect it. The Skycatcher was successful in attracting new members interested in acquiring a Sport Pilot rating. As expected, almost all of the prospects were older men who were uncertain whether they could pass an FAA medical exam. The unintended consequence was that many of those men also were packing more than a few extra pounds, which meant some of them could not take advantage of the airplane. When the first student got ready for his checkride, a problem arose: There were no approved examiners in the Detroit area svelte enough to fly with the applicant and carry more than about an hour of fuel in the airplane. Robine contacted a slender designated examiner she knew and convinced her to go through the FAA hoops necessary to be approved to administer checkrides in the 162. TAKING CARE. With the light airframe there was serious concern about the ability of the airplane to stand up to a rental and student environment. The club aggressively taught its members about care in handling the airplane on the ground, yet it expected reports of dented STEVIE BLYER 68 | AOPA PILOT January 2013