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At 08:12 AM 12/7/00 -0800, Paul Anton wrote: >----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any >advice in this forum.]---- > >Hi Georgia: > >Don't worry about having your favorite thing bad mouthed here. I want to make it clear... ...my distaste for Skyshlocks is purely a matter of personal taste. Intellectually, I *know* it's a great airplane (a triumph of marketing over aerodynamics, the pinochle of mediocrity oops there I go again). I recognize the type's contribution to GA, blah blah. And there was a time when I could fly a 172 better than anything... ...put it right where I wanted it, land it on a dime and give 5 cents change, all that, while dividing my time equally between PA-28s and 172s. Back then, it was a blast. I guess as a student driver I would have enjoyed a Buick Regal, too. With a bit more perspective from things like the Ercoupe, an Aeronca, Citabrias, a Bonanza, even a Cardinal, the 172 is at the bottom of my list of flying machines. The controls feel disconnected, too much force/ deflection is needed for basic maneuvers, the plane is too slow in the pattern for its size, too much of a 'kite' in crosswinds, has too much 'play' in the controls (which age badly anyway), is too much of a kite in turbulence, and generally lacks the sort of 'feel' that makes flying something like an Ercoupe so much fun. Nowadays, flying a 172 feels to me like phoning it in. Now, intellectually, I also think that Cessna's success with the newer 172s is undeserved. Pretty upholstery and Royalite-free panels aside, the performance and load-carrying ability is off for the same horsepower. If the new single-engine Cessnas weren't being bought as matter of habit (i.e., if they were a newly introduced type) they'd probably be out of production after the first year. Greg __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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