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Aviation History
1959
1959 - 2987.PDF
552 FLIGHT, 13 November 1959 THE PIED PIPERS . . . rudder pedals, which are connected to the nosewheel only when the latteris extended. Flaps are lowered mechanically, and the undercarriage is normally operated from a switch, a white light shining whenever it isup or in transit and a green showing it down and locked. At the same time a stubby, telescopic red handle in the floor moves forward whenthe wheels are down, giving a further position indication. The electric motor operates a single screw-jack for all three wheels and, in case itfails, you put the operating switch to a central position to isolate the motor, rip out a small panel in the floor, and lower the complete gearwith a single sweeping pull backwards and downwards on the telescopic lever. Complete instructions for this are clearly printed on the insideof the small floor-panel and (said Lambert) it looks as if one could do the job without getting oil on the hands. "Sissy," said Pugh.In the Comanche, no flap is required for take-off and the procedure is to point the nose into wind and to open the throttle. The aircraftunsticks at about 65 m.p.h., rapidly accelerates to 95 m.p.h. and will then climb at no less than l,500ft/min. Vigors told us that on theregular trips he and his associates make to Dublin he pushes in the AutoFlite as soon as he is off the ground, flies down the I.L.S. localizerto Birmingham, clears Customs, takes off again, picks up his Dublin V.O.R. radial, slides back the seat, lights a cigar and spends the nexthour looking out of the window. The visibility is, in fact, extremely good in every direction exceptimmediately overhead and immediately below. The impression one gains is that the Comanche is just like a little airliner: very smooth andquiet, restful and comfortable, and it puts the ground behind it at an altogether satisfactory rate. In straight and level flight with 23Jin manifold pressure and 2,400r.p.m. (set exactly by a vernier knob on the pitch-control plunger) the Comanche goes on accelerating for a surprisingly long time and untilthe A.S.I, is indicating 175 m.p.h. During this change of speed the harmonization of the controls changes somewhat, owing to the charac-teristics of the slab tailplane with its anti-balance tab. At low speeds the tailplane is extremely light—in fact, the Lightest of all the surfaces—but as speeds increase it becomes gradually heavier. Lambert found that at cruising speed, control forces for something Like a steep turn becomevery high, and Pugh added sagely that the stick forces per g—the loads in relation to the response achieved—had increased considerably.At its cruising speed the Comanche is stable in all three axes: it is effectively damped in pitch, it is positively stable in yaw and exhibitsjust-positive stability in roll; after the application of 10 deg of bank it will very gradually return to straight and level flight.If, when one is flying trimmed at 175 m.p.h., the wheel is pulled back to reduce speed by 10 m.p.h. the nose stays up until a further 20 m.p.h.are lost and then drops very slowly down for an increase to 185 m.p.h. The nose then comes up again to give 160 m.p.h. All this happens veryslowly indeed and is followed by two or three more very small and slow phugoids. Lambert felt that the Comanche was perhaps a little difficultto trim hands-off. The ailerons are excellent by any standards; they remain crisp down to the stall, although at such speeds the rudder losessome of its effectiveness and directional control requires firm movements. From the comparatively high cruising speed the stall takes a longtime a-coming. With wheels and flaps up the stall-warning Light starts to wink at 65 m.p.h., there is well denned aerodynamic buffet at 60, andat 58 m.p.h. it stalls straight with no wing drop. With the gear and flaps down the stall occurs at much lower speeds but aerodynamic warningis now almost non-existent. At 55 m.p.h. the red stall-warning light starts to flash quite slowly; as the speed drops the break-away occurs atabout 50 m.p.h. There is a slight tendency for either wing to drop if the controls are held hard back but very little height is lost.No great skill is required to land the Comanche satisfactorily. There is a sequence of landing checks to be made on the down-wind leg and thewheels can be lowered at up to 150 m.p.h. With gear and full flap down and power off, the Comanche descends at l,100ft/min at 80 m.p.h.,giving a very useful approach gradient. During our day at Kidlington approaches were made through a verybumpy patch of air off the down-wind end of the landing runway and it was particularly noticeable that the Comanche rode the bumps with amuch better damped motion than did its Lighter sisters. The standard approach technique is to come in over the hedge at about 75 m.p.h.with a Little power on and to dose the throttle slowly during the round- Both authors were enthusiastic about the Comanche cockpit—seen here in 1960 form equipped with radio compass and Narco Omnigator. Controls along the lower edge of the panel are, left to right from the ignition switch: starter, parking brake, mixture, throttle, propeller, carb. heat, primer, AutoFlite, lighter, cabin heat, defroster and cabin vent. Below are the brake lever, flaps and rudder trim out, at 65 m.p.h., where allowance must be made for the now very sensi-tive elevator. If the speed has been a little excessive the Comanche will float but otherwise it rolls gently on to the ground. The undercarriagelegs are very short and the tyres are fat so that the Comanche is perfectly happy on rough grass. Sharp bumps or heavy landings are excellentlyabsorbed, (Who found that one out?—Ed.) The brake lever can be heaved back hard after touch-down.In retrospect, we both feel that this would be our first choice as a personal or business aircraft and respectively nearly missed our lunch(Lambert) and tea (Pugh) going round and round to try it just once more. We both want very much to fly it again, so we hope that nexttime the editor won't send us together; we might fall out over who should fly first. But then, that was where we came in.* •* * The data below apply to the 1960 series Pipers. Apart from the modelsListed, the range now includes the PA-18-A (agricultural version of the Super Cub 150); Super Cub 95; Caribbean (as Tri-Pacer but with150 h.p. Lycoming); Tri-Pacer 160; Comanche 180 and Comanche 250; Pawnee and the Apache and Aztec twins. Vigors Aviation areBritish agents for all aircraft in the series and hold at Kidlington and Dublin spares for the Super Cub, PA-18-A, Tri-Pacer, Apache andComanche to the value of about £12,000. Some used aircraft are also to be imported in order to establish a supporting second-hand market. Newprices were given in Might for October 2, 1959. Most of the Piper types can be supplied with Collins, Lear or Narco radio, for which Vigors havespares available. This is our favourite outside view of the Comanche Powerplant SpanLength ... Height Gross weight (Ib)Useful load (Ib) Baggage capacity (Ib)... Fuel capacity (Imp. gal) Cruise at 75 per centpower (m.p.h.) Corres. fuel consump- tion (Imp. gal/hr) Super Cub ISO Lycoming 0-320 35ft 3|in22ft 6in 6ft 8£in 1,750820 so30 115 n Tri-Pacer 1M Lycoming O-32O-B 29ft 3iin20ft 7in 8ft 4in 2,000 890 100 30+7 opt 134 7* Comanche 250 Lycoming 0-540 36ft24ft Ilin 7ft 3+in 2,8001,600 200 50 181 Hi Not the Comanche's most elegant viewpoint but one that gives an interesting indication of the wrapped skins covering the wing and of the undercarriage in its stowed position
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