Bryan Wood
Well Known Member
Have you flown a production plane since finishing your RV? By chance this weekend I got to fly two different high performance complex production planes belonging to friends. One I got about two hours left seat, (V-Tail Bonanza) and the other about 40 minutes at the controls from the right seat. (Turbo Lance)
Certainly the Bonanza was the premier single for what 45 years or so and the dreams of many. From doctor killer, to slippery, to fastest, to luxurious these planes have been something that you work you way up to and are not to be flown by low time pilots according to insurance companies. While quiet and smooth it also felt heavy and sluggish in the air. The take off roll seemed to be about triple that of my RV while climb was less than half. For a cruise speed similar to that of my 9A gas was flowing thru at a rate of 14 gph and I found my eye finding it's way back to the fuel flow guage often. At current prices this puts fuel over $50 an hour to fly this plane. Landing was easy, maybe even as easy as the 9A once the brain accepts and corrects for the very heavy pull to flare. Takeoff also takes a heavy control inputs. While finding myself looking out the windows at the wings and the cool shape of the cowl top and thinking wow I'm flying a Bonanza, there was also the realization that this plane is simply for transportation. Jumping into it after having flown an RV for the 400 hours now the fun factor just simply isn't there! Don't get me wrong here, while it is fun to be flying, the Bonanza simply has no "WOW" factor after the RV.
Next the Turbo Lance. As a passenger on takeoff and landing for this plane my friend was talking me thru what he was doing. He has plans to talk me into selling my RV and buying into his. I keep telling him that his plane is very nice, but I lived in my garage for almost 3 1/2 years to have an RV and this transaction will never happen. With that said, off we went. On the runway with brakes locked he brings power up to 22"s and releases the brakes. As we started to roll he is face down and we are screaming down the runway as he brings power up to 33". By the time he looks up and calls 60 knots we are past the control tower and there is no sign of impending flight. It has been years since I've been in an airplane at this airport and accelerating with so little runway ahead of us. As I begin to sit up very straight and begin to wonder if we will be driving thru the fence and into the busy street he called 80 knots and pulls back. We veer left and then the big plane starts to come off the runway. We cross the fence around 30 or so feet in the air and I am thankful there are no semi trucks crossing at the time. Now the trees and the mall rushes under the wings at what feels like 50', but could have been 75'. At this point I breath realizing that I'm acting like my wife did the first 2 or 3 flights in the RV. My friend sets up for a nice cruise climb and engages the autopilot. The mixture is set for a nice 28 gallon per hour burn as we climb out at 500 fpm.
We level off at 3500' and he sets power to 24 squared and leans for around 18 gph. I told him that he didn't need to run it so hard to impress me if he wanted to save some gas and he showed me a chart claiming 65% power with this setting. I had trouble believing this, but then again I'm not familiar with turbos so I just accept what he says. At this point I realize how the Bonanza got the reputation of being sporty. As he turns the plane over to me we went over to the coast and just played. Again, this plane is built for traveling, not playing. It has a Garmin 430, MX-20, traffic avoidance, etc... As we cruise around at 18gph the ground speed never exceeded 150 knots. What did impress me was the smoothness of a six cylinder and a 3 bladed prop. Also the mufflers were fantastic! This could also be said for the Bonanza. The reduced noise levels inside the planes were a wonderful feature.
So what did I learn from these rides? First I learned that Van has ruined flying if it means going back to production planes. I can't even imagine flying a production plane again that isn't high performance and possibly complex. I also learned that the gear coming up and going down adds absolutely "0" to the fun factor!!! For some reason I always wanted a retract, but I'll take twice the climb any day and the wheels out in the wind. Third, if a 4 place is a must have along with speed, and comfort a 10 is the only answer for anybody who has flown RV's for any length of time at all.
What do you think, have you jumped into a production plane lately?
I love my RV!
Certainly the Bonanza was the premier single for what 45 years or so and the dreams of many. From doctor killer, to slippery, to fastest, to luxurious these planes have been something that you work you way up to and are not to be flown by low time pilots according to insurance companies. While quiet and smooth it also felt heavy and sluggish in the air. The take off roll seemed to be about triple that of my RV while climb was less than half. For a cruise speed similar to that of my 9A gas was flowing thru at a rate of 14 gph and I found my eye finding it's way back to the fuel flow guage often. At current prices this puts fuel over $50 an hour to fly this plane. Landing was easy, maybe even as easy as the 9A once the brain accepts and corrects for the very heavy pull to flare. Takeoff also takes a heavy control inputs. While finding myself looking out the windows at the wings and the cool shape of the cowl top and thinking wow I'm flying a Bonanza, there was also the realization that this plane is simply for transportation. Jumping into it after having flown an RV for the 400 hours now the fun factor just simply isn't there! Don't get me wrong here, while it is fun to be flying, the Bonanza simply has no "WOW" factor after the RV.
Next the Turbo Lance. As a passenger on takeoff and landing for this plane my friend was talking me thru what he was doing. He has plans to talk me into selling my RV and buying into his. I keep telling him that his plane is very nice, but I lived in my garage for almost 3 1/2 years to have an RV and this transaction will never happen. With that said, off we went. On the runway with brakes locked he brings power up to 22"s and releases the brakes. As we started to roll he is face down and we are screaming down the runway as he brings power up to 33". By the time he looks up and calls 60 knots we are past the control tower and there is no sign of impending flight. It has been years since I've been in an airplane at this airport and accelerating with so little runway ahead of us. As I begin to sit up very straight and begin to wonder if we will be driving thru the fence and into the busy street he called 80 knots and pulls back. We veer left and then the big plane starts to come off the runway. We cross the fence around 30 or so feet in the air and I am thankful there are no semi trucks crossing at the time. Now the trees and the mall rushes under the wings at what feels like 50', but could have been 75'. At this point I breath realizing that I'm acting like my wife did the first 2 or 3 flights in the RV. My friend sets up for a nice cruise climb and engages the autopilot. The mixture is set for a nice 28 gallon per hour burn as we climb out at 500 fpm.
We level off at 3500' and he sets power to 24 squared and leans for around 18 gph. I told him that he didn't need to run it so hard to impress me if he wanted to save some gas and he showed me a chart claiming 65% power with this setting. I had trouble believing this, but then again I'm not familiar with turbos so I just accept what he says. At this point I realize how the Bonanza got the reputation of being sporty. As he turns the plane over to me we went over to the coast and just played. Again, this plane is built for traveling, not playing. It has a Garmin 430, MX-20, traffic avoidance, etc... As we cruise around at 18gph the ground speed never exceeded 150 knots. What did impress me was the smoothness of a six cylinder and a 3 bladed prop. Also the mufflers were fantastic! This could also be said for the Bonanza. The reduced noise levels inside the planes were a wonderful feature. So what did I learn from these rides? First I learned that Van has ruined flying if it means going back to production planes. I can't even imagine flying a production plane again that isn't high performance and possibly complex. I also learned that the gear coming up and going down adds absolutely "0" to the fun factor!!! For some reason I always wanted a retract, but I'll take twice the climb any day and the wheels out in the wind. Third, if a 4 place is a must have along with speed, and comfort a 10 is the only answer for anybody who has flown RV's for any length of time at all.
What do you think, have you jumped into a production plane lately?
I love my RV!
