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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0146.PDF
146 FLIGHT, 3 February 1961 Sport and Business PIPER COLT in the Air BY MARK LAMBERT No 139 of the Series THOUGH the Piper Colt was first announced as recently aslast November the first demonstrator is already in thiscountry with its American C of A validated and its public- transport category C of A virtually complete. About a dozenColts were ordered even before the machine arrived and prospects for many more sales look rosy—principally because the standardversion costs only £2,795 fly-away Kidlington, which is several hundred pounds cheaper than its nearest rival. The standard Colt has dual control, heater, ventilators, genera-tor, battery, starter, Sensenich fixed-pitch, metal propeller and 15gal fuel tank, but only basic instruments and no ignition screen-ing. The Custom model, costing £2,995 in Britain, also has igni- tion screening, night lighting, turn-and-slip indicator, cigarettelighter and an arm-rest on the left wall. The Super Custom, at £3,281, has full blind-flying instruments, landing and taxi lights,eight-day clock and o.a.t. gauge. Piper Auto-Control autopilot and radio may be fitted to the two custom models; and spats, asecqpd 15gal fuel tank and strut fairings and tie-down rings may be added to any of the three models. The load-carrying abilityof the Colt is exceptional. For example, the Super Custom can qarry two people, 30gal of fuel for six hours' endurance, 721b ofbaggage and 171b of radio. The one I flew had only a single 15gal fuel tank, but everything else except autopilot and radio. To justify the Colt, and other aircraft like it, for training andbasic flying, one must state what to the hardened sheepskin and tailskid types may sound like a heresy. There is absolutely noreason why flying training should be in the least uncomfortable— nor why the learner should have to handle an aircraft that is inany unnecessary way difficult to manage. No modern aeroplane will get away with a rough stall, or without adequate stall warn-ing. A pupil should learn to know the stall, and to recover from a spin; but, once trained, he should not be expected to live per-manently in the shadow of these incubi. Nowadays, men who have the money to fly need and expect comfort. They want to dosomething with an aeroplane—to visit places with their families or keep business appointmnets; to enjoy daring exploits with thewind in their faces is vieux jeu. America's so-called trainers fulfil these modern requirements adequately and they often also per-form the very important function of inducing the learner to buy for himself a bigger aircraft from the same manufacturer. The Colt is therefore both an ambassador for flying and anappetizer for Piper aircraft. Also, it is using fully amortized Tri- Pacer jigs and tools and much of the stocks of parts still on handnow that production of this ubiquitous little aircraft is coming to an end. All this has been pointed out by Mr William T. Piper,whose personal idea the Colt was. So here we have an efficient, capable two-seater with all mod.con. and the ability to carry autopilot and airline radio—as well as night lighting, full panel, cabin heater and ventilator, ashtray andcar-type interior trim. That little Lycoming 108 h.p. engine and metal fixed-pitch Sensenich propeller really give it some usefulurge, with an initial climb, at light load, of well over l,000ft/min, and a sea-level cruising speed of 108 m.p.h. at 6gal/hr. It is clearedfor spinning, but I found it to be quite strongly stall-resistant. Piper have spared no effort to keep the price down, but the Colt does not look or feel cheap. External appearance is similar to thatof the Tri-Pacer, but the hump for the rear seats is gone and the wing-span is slightly shorter. There are no flaps. Access isthrough the single door on the right, and everything can be easily located. Switches and plungers are distributed along the bottomof the main panel, beneath the push-pull control wheels. The on/off fuel cock is on the left wall. The central brake-lever andparking catch of the Tri-Pacer are retained, but the key-operated "1, 2, BOTH" ignition switch now has a fourth position for starting,just as in modern cars. Fuel gauge and ammeter are on the right of the panel, and a Piper trim-crank in the roof adjusts tailplaneincidence. Behind the seats is an enormous cavern for luggage or freight, but no separate baggage door. The seats are individuallyadjustable. I flew the Colt in marginal weather—about 2,500yd visibilityin haze, an indistinct ceiling, and the ground just visible from about 900ft. There was a light wind at right-angles to the grassrunway and ground-level temperature was exactly 0°C—very unpleasant to stand about in. So I climbed in as soon as possible,primed and started the engine and pulled the cabin heat control fully on. Even before the engine had warmed up, the cabin wasat an agreeable temperature and demisting air was keeping the windscreen clear. The seating position was comfortable andvisibility over the sloping nose good. The wing-roots protrude well forward like blinkers and the side windows are fairly shallow,so visibility for an all-round look-out or for poor-weather circuits is frankly poor, though no worse than from other aircraft ofthis configuration. The nosewheel is permanently linked with the rudder pedalsand provides the only means of steering, the brakes working together only to stop the aircraft. But I found pedal forces lighton the ground and I could turn about one wing-tip on wet grass. On squashy turf, with plenty of deep ruts, the ride was welldamped, but roughish and noisy. Throttle and brake response were all one could desire. I was at first a little nervous of thehigh-geared steering, especially with the prospect of "steering small" when rolling fast after touchdown; but I finally concludedthat the Colt has one of the best steering arrangements I have yet met. The aircraft pitched only moderately on rough groundand did not roll. On take-off, full throttle gave about 2,500 r.p.m. of the maximumpermissible 2,600 and the nosewheel lifted a little unwillingly at about 40 m.p.h. At 50 m.p.h. the Colt left the ground andaccelerated very fast. I was alone, with a single tank full and no baggage, and noticed l,400ft/min in one initial climb at70 m.p.h. Creeping down die Woodstock Road south of Kidling- ton at a few hundred feet, I immediately noticed three Colt charac-teristics. The ailerons were very light and responsive (they are not coupled with the rudder as they are in the Tri-Pacer); longi-tudinal stability was just about right, with a distinct trim-change following power and speed variations; and the rudder stayedwherever it was put without any tendency to return to neutral. This aircraft had only flown 13hr and would loosen up a bit, butColts apparently all have this non-centring rudder. Though it is easy to fly along skidding, the fact is distinctly noticeable ny
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