Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:35 pm
I'm going to state the obvious first; that which should not have to be mentioned on the internet. But here goes. What comes next is only my opinion.
There becomes a normality to every plane you fly. My 1972 185E just feels normal. Perhaps it felt heavy when I was first getting comfortable with the plane, but now? Heck, it's just my plane. Feels right. Not heavy or 'truck like'. I jump back and forth between the Husky and the 185 and don't even think about it. Both planes feel normal to me. The new wing Husky was once incredibly light in roll, especially coming from a supercub, but I don't notice it really or compare the difference in roll to the 185. Because of my familiarity of each plane, their characteristics have become unnoticeable.
Last week I rented a 172 down south and was swinging the nose back and forth with my feet because the rudder was so much lighter than either the 185 or the Husky AND I was not familiar with the plane's handling because I hadn't flown one for 14 years. But after a few stop and goes, I fell back into the saddle with the plane in which I previously had so much time. It quickly became normal.
In another anecdote to further drive home my point, I flew a Super Cub for about 8 years. Loved that plane. Guess how it felt? Totally normal. Was it heavy in roll? Didn't notice. Then, after flying a new-wing Husky for 5 years, my friend invited me to fly his Super Cub. I told him something was wrong with the plane because the plane was so heavy in roll. The ailerons basically didn't work. My arms hurt trying to fly it. I SWORE something was wrong and told him to get his plane examined. He told me I had been flying the Husky too much. I was incredulous. So I flew a different cub. Guess what? Apparently, if you haven't been flying a cub for a while, the ailerons are incredibly heavy.
So, all that to say, light? heavy? For this class of aircraft, about 90 percent of the control feel is going to become normal to you over time. Yeah, some planes are going to be exceptional in some area, either good or bad. But if you are looking at a Cessna or some other common plane we all fly into the back country, they go up when you pull back, go down when you push forward....you get the picture. Whatever the plane, after 1000 hours, it's gonna feel normal.
Oh, and for the comparison between a 180 and 185 on gas, I fly an injected IO-520D with GAMIs and get 120 kts on 29" AK bush wheels and a baby bushwheel (these actually slow you down) on 11 gph. I don't think flying a 180 saves any gas.
