The Breitling Watch Source Forums

For those pilots on here, I am going to start my flight training for a ppl in early June 2010 (it feels like so far away ) My question is should I learn in a Piper Warrior or a Cessna 172? What are the flight characteristics of both, and is one better than the other? I am later going to get my IFR then a twin piston rating, which will be in a Seminole.

The 172 that they have...


The Warrior that they have...

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NavitimerNut

Can't comment on the Warrior but I learnt on a 172 and it was incredibly forgiving and very easy to handle.

This was my bird

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Piper

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"It's not how it's written it's how it's read"

I'd take the piper, in fact, I did!

The 172 is nice, nothing wrong with it at all, its perfect for sight seeing as the high wing allows better vis when looking down the side of the aircraft, but this is of no real benefit when you're training. But what the high wing giveth with one hand, it taketh away with the other! The high wing stops an efficient lookout being maintained, you'll have to 'lift' each wing in turn to look underneath them every so often, and whenever you want to make a turn, you'll have to look 'under/behind' the other wing before you can turn. I find this frustraiting to say the least! The Warrier on the other hand has the low wing, which is not as much fun on your first couple of flights, as all you want to do is look down! but I find this can often be for the best as it keeps you concentrated on the lesson! When it comes to navigating some people will tell you that the high wing will make things easier as you can see towns etc as they pass under you, but the truth is that you should never be look directly below you! Use of proper technique would have you looking into the distance, identifying your checkpoints as you approach them, not as they pass under you..

The warrior is a good old bird in my eyes, I instruct both ppl and cpl on them these days too. You can't really go wrong with either choice though, they're both stable and reliable, they're equally easy to manoeuvre. The major difference will be the cockpit enviroment, seating and dial layout. If you can afford it, have a flight in both. If not, just sit in each of them, see if you find one 'easier on the eye'. This is a question that will keep instructors debating for years!

Much like a watch, one of the aircraft will 'speak' to you!

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Men are from Mars, women are from Hell.

Thanks, my flight school is a Cessna Training Center. They have several new (2003-2009) Cessna's, and have a Cessna training kit in which you watch the lesson before you actually fly it. Do you think that this would be annoying since you learn how to fly in a Cessna, but then do the lesson in a Piper, or would this give you an oppertunity to be proficient in both planes? Also, is the lack of power flaps ect. annoying in the Piper?

-Caleb

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NavitimerNut

If they have a facility like that, I would use it. IMO power flaps aren't all they're cracked up to be, it doesn't take much to manually lift the flap lever, and i'd go as far as to say I feel I have more control when operating manually. But the ability to actually watch the lesson before each flight sounds good, i've never actually seen that before, but I can't see how it would be bad really!

I wouldn't worry about trying to become proficient in both types, for ppl, just concentrate on learning one aircraft. Once you have your licence then you can start to experiment on other types, but for the training period, why make it harder than it needs to be?!

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Men are from Mars, women are from Hell.

The only advantage a Cessna has over a Piper is you have a dry place to stand when it is raining Whereas you don't need a ladder to fuel a Piper

I love my old Piper Cherokee. My wife thinks it is the other woman in my life. She's close to being right. I've logged a lot of cross country time in the old bird.

It is very difficult to spin one. They just mush out on a stall. It is a very stable and predictable airplane. Of course, stupid pilot trick still kill people in these as well as other makes.

The older Pipers with the Hershey Bar wings are a little more diffcult to learn to land because they will try to drop suddenly (stall) at low airspeed during roundout and flare if you get the nose up too high. I continue to be amazed at the ability of the Piper engineers to build the plane so that I could not drive the landing gear up through the wings! Seriously, the landing technique had be mastered with a little practice. You just have to pay close attention to airspeed and descent rate on approach, roundout and flare.

The Piper is quieter when flying in the rain. The Cessna, for some reason, sounds like you are inside a barrel when it is raining.

Each make has a loyal following and the debate will continue as long as they are still flying.

Best of luck to you in whichever one you choose. There is absolutely nothing else in the world like it!

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Not a pilot but have been an A&P Mechanic and IA for over 17 years. Go with the high wing Cessna, its more forgiving and has better visibility, meaning you can see what is below you.

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Garfield411
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