Grumman Cheetah

[Bill_Carter]

Took the Harley for a spin today out to my local St. Ghislain airport. Just wanted to see if any "N" aircraft were out there and enjoy the scene of a few take offs and landings.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a C172SP with an N on the tail. The guy in the "control tower" (I use that term loosely) said it was privately owned. However, he said the flying club there owned a Grumman Cheetah that was N reg.

I didn't get to look at it due to it being on a XC trip, but the control tower fellow is going to get me the info for the club (no one was around, they were all out flying I guess). He said it is just like the one in the pic. The 172 is in this pic too, I guess it has some maintenance issues.

So, who on MooneySpace has ever flown a Cheetah? I can't wait to fly the thing and just get in the sky.

[Bill_Carter]

Second part of this adventure was seeing this plane. Anyone know what it is?

[29-0363]

I did my training in the Grumman AA-1B and most of my early flying was in the AA-5A and AA-5B. They are easy to fly, light and responsive on the controls and steering on the ground is a little quirky for some because of the castoring nose wheel and differential braking to steer. For what they are they are a great airplane.

In answer to the question of what is the airplane: it's an Avion Robins. My one and only experience doing aerobatics was in one of them just out of Stratford-on-Avon in the UK - also very nice to fly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avions_Robin

[Bill_Carter]

They had a pic of it on their website. Here it is.

[gregwatts]

I have many hours in a Cheetah. They are nice.....great visibility. Fun to fly.........but not a Mooney. The climb is enemic........about as fast as a Warrior.......but great for sightseeing.

[Bill_Carter]

Thanks 29. I can't wait to get that thing off the ground. I have to get a current physical now that I have found something to fly.

[Bill_Carter]

I have many hours in a Cheetah. They are nice.....great visibility. Fun to fly.........but not a Mooney. The climb is enemic........about as fast as a Warrior.......but great for sightseeing.

That actually sounds just perfect. I need to build some time and experience. I have about twice as many hours as I can prove. I flew a lot when I was a teenager. I have no idea where that log book went or how to recreate it. Doesn't really matter though, that teenage experience I got was really, really, rusty when I started flying again in my 40s.

[Bill_Carter]

In answer to the question of what is the airplane: it's an Avion Robins. My one and only experience doing aerobatics was in one of them just out of Stratford-on-Avon in the UK - also very nice to fly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avions_Robin

It reminded me of an F4 or an old Corsair. Looked kind of neat though. When I first pulled in out at the airport I saw a plane doing some aerobatics. I would have sworn it was a Mooney, but when it got closer, I realized it was not. Sure looked like it from so far away though.

[dooleypster]

I've flown the Tiger, which is a 180 HP version of the Cheetah (with a few other small differences), In fact I owned the plane.  Very nice plane to fly....very light and direct on the controls, handles somewhat like a Mooney.......slower, but a fun plane to fly.  Tom Cruise canopy that you can even have open in flight with some restrictions.  Good on gas (the Cheetah is 160 HP)......slightly less GW, but physically almost the same airplane.  Fixed prop, fixed gear, it doesn't get any more simple than this.  I hope you get to take it up for a spin.

 

[Awful_Charlie]

The AA5's are in many ways similar to an equivalent powered PA28, just a bit better at most things, except arguably the aesthetics!  The low powered ones are not true 4 seaters unless you carry midgets due to W&B, but no worse than the PA28 version.

 

You'll see lots of Robins around Europe - they're made in France, and the wood and fabric wing is tremendously efficient, although this does mean they need to be hangared.  They are peaches though - the load carrying and performance on small engines will make just about every other conventional aircraft in class look inferior.

[Bill_Carter]

Just looked up the registration. It is current and the plane is a 1978 AA5A with a 0-320 Lycoming in it. So far so good.

[Cris]

The Cheetah was my first plane that I flew following my PPL and I put a100 hrs on it before transitioning to an Piper Arrow. Think of it as a high performance 172. It looks cool and is great on the ground. It has a free castoring nose wheel so you steer it with the brakes but once you know the drill it can be parked in really tight spaces. Best of all you can fly it with the canopy open. If you like the Mooney you should like the Cheetah. But I'd rather have the Tiger as the Cheetah is a bit a anemic in the climb unless it has the climb prop. It is also glued together so some have had issues with maintenance.

[OR75]

Second part of this adventure was seeing this plane. Anyone know what it is?

that looks like a french built Robin DR-400

they are very neat and fun to flyvand the visibility is great

the covering is fabric