One of the interesting and useful exercises that Rich Stowell demonstrates in a Decathlon is having the pilot land the airplane without the benefit of using the elevator......trim only.....simulating failed elevator control cables. Of course, Rich in the back seat is carefully monitoring and backing up. But, it's interesting how easy it is to flare and land the airplane using only trim.

The Husky is even easier to land using trim only.....again, with a qualified instructor in the back seat. The trim in the Husky is that powerful and as Squash has noted, it takes only small turns of that wheel to accomplish a LOT of effect.

The big "milestones" in Husky development (at least in my mind) are:

Increased Gross Weight. Early Huskys (A-1 models) had a pretty low gross weight of 1800 pounds--not a lot of useful load, considering the 50 gallon fuel tanks. The A-1A was a sort of "transition" airplane from the A-1 to the A-1B models....the A model was a modified A-1 with a gross weight of 1890 pounds, so a little better useful load.

I flew an early Husky (1989 model A-1) for a few years and I ordered a Super Cub front cushion set from Oregon Aero. The owner of Oregon Aero said he'd rather make a cushion set specifically to fit the Husky seat, though the Cub seat dimensions are pretty close. Most of the Huskys since come equipped with OA seat cushion sets, and they are superb.

The model A-1B was introduced as Serial number 2001, which I flew for ~ 1600 hours or so. It had an increased gross weight of 2000 pounds, or 2200 pounds on floats. That airplane was operated on big tires, Baumann 2150 straight floats and Aero 3000 straight skis. It was the lightest Husky I've flown, and a fantastic performer.

Somewhere around there, Aviat developed a large aft baggage compartment to accommodate more room for "stuff". A great mod.

In 2005, Aviat came out with the "new wing" Husky. The ailerons were modified with shorter span, deeper chord and aerodynamically balanced. Since the span of the ailerons was shortened, the flaps were extended outward to meet the new, shorter ailerons. The new wing Husky has a phenomenal roll rate, which is remarkable, since the earlier Huskys have great roll rate.

Also in 2005, Aviat came out with the model A-1C Husky, the primary difference being an increase in the wheel plane gross weight to 2200 pounds. The downside to that mod was that the Takeoff rpm of the engine had to be turned back to 2600 rpm to meet noise certification requirements at that gross weight.

And, the 200 hp model was introduced in 2005 as well. This airplane uses the Lycoming angle valve IO-360 engine, and it is truly a rocket ship. A little heavy on the nose (all the 200 hp airplanes require a composite prop for this reason), but buckets of power, and due to the balanced injection system, it's possible to lean this engine at altitude to actually burn the same or less gas than the O-360 equipped airplanes.

A couple years ago, Aviat changed the landing gear shock system significantly, making a large improvement in shock absorption, for which earlier Huskys are somewhat notorious.....three 1380 HD shock cords on each gear leg, along with hard rubber gear stops, made for a fairly stiff gear on earlier aircraft.

Well known aviation photographer Russ Munson sold his Super Cub and ordered a new Husky a number of years ago, on the condition that the factory install a two piece left window, eliminating the small triangular front window characteristic of all cubs and all earlier Huskys. The factory accommodated that request, and I think virtually every Husky built since has that left window arrangement....called the "Munson Window", appropriately.

Also in more recent years, the factory enlarged the lower door, by widening the bottom of the door, making the newest Huskys MUCH easier for stiff old goats like me to ingress/egress the front seat.

A number of propellers are available for the Husky, including the basic Hartzell 76 inch CS unit, a Hartzell 80 inch prop which requires a harmonic damper assembly (read HEAVY), a couple versions of the MT propeller, both two blade and three blade versions, and now a Hartzell composite two blade prop. I've flown all but the Hartzell composite prop, and I much prefer the MT two blade prop of 83 inches.

Instrument panels are available from very basic and minimal steam gauges up to and including the Garmin G-600 "glass cockpit", and several in between, many of which are IFR approved. Try that in your Cub......

Aviat was one of the first manufacturers to introduce air bag seat belt/harness systems.

One of the things that separates Aviat from most other manufacturers is that they have included many options on the Type Certificate....like tires, for example. Several tire sizes and types are included on the TC, which makes your choice of tires a simple logbook entry. The airplane is approved on floats, wheels, a couple of different straight skis, and a couple different models of wheel/skis. Undercarriage options are great for a utility airplane like this.

Finally, you'd have to search far and wide to find better fabric work than is a characteristic of every new Husky. In fact, when Bob Hoff needed his Beech Staggerwing ailerons recovered, he sent them to Aviat.....their "normal" fabric work is show quality.

As you can see from the above, Aviat has worked hard to continually improve the Husky, introducing a large number of improvements to the airplane over it's production run. Not many manufacturers are constantly refining and improving their aircraft.....it's expensive. The company was started by Frank Christiansen, sold to Malcolm White, and owned for many years now by Stuart Horn. Stu has done a great job in continuing to improve the breed, and this continual development costs money and time.

I no doubt have missed several important features that Aviat has improved upon, so I encourage others to make note of them. It's a great airplane in a lot of ways.

If you get a chance to fly one, go for it.

MTV

MTV, thank you for doing a nice summary of the Husky lineage.

Discussion: I have a 91 Husky A1. Does a lot of things well...but, I’m thinking of options:
Please give opinions (much desired from those who have actual experience with Huskies...I *really* appreciate the input from y’all)....

-sell the 91, upgrade to a A1B? (don’t have the coin to go to a later model...the A1A or A1B is on the outside edge of the bracket...)

-do some mods to my Husky? (thinking of the AOSS gear, the tail brace which increases GW, if I understand correctly...)

discussion appreciated.....

I'm not familiar with the tail brace mod you're talking about. There have been a couple different tail brace attach fittings, the one on the A-1B is substantially stronger than the one on the A-1 and A-1A. I've had a couple lower braces break on the A-1 in ski operations. I wasn't aware that modifying the tail brace got you an increase in GW, though it might.

As I noted earlier, the model A-1A was sort of a "band aid" interim solution to limited useful load till they got the A-1B certified. That 90 pounds additional GW isn't worth the expense, in my opinion. I think I'd look for a good A-1B. There you have the 2000 lb gross weight, and don't have to modify the plane.

I have zero experience with the AOSS gear mod, which essentially installs Super Cub landing gear on the Husky, so you'd have to ask Squash or someone who has experience with that gear if they think it's worthwhile.....BUT, bring buckets of $$$$. Thomas Dietrich in Germany sells what he calls "SGS" for Soft Gear Stops, which replace the hard rubber bumpers on the gear, and relieve some of the hard rebound of the stock gear. Thomas' email address got hacked a while back, but I think if you do a web search for "Snowbird" and Thomas' name, you'll find him. This "mod" isn't STC'd, but it's well camoflaged, in case a fed looks. It really does soften up the gear a bit.

We welded in a small strut at mid span between the main landing gear forward leg and the cabane leg to prevent the cabane leg from bending, which they are inclined to do. This bending isn't catastrophic (in fact, you'll likely not even know when it happened), but they do bend. Skis is a great way to accomplish that.....again, the reinforcement strut isn't approved, but we field approved them.

A composite prop and anything else you can do to lighten one up is about the best mod you can do. An MT prop replacing a Hartzell 76 inch prop loses about 20 pounds right off the bow, which is huge. Lightweight battery, such as the Odyssey SGS 680 replaces the stock POS sealed aerobatic battery, which in my opinion is a total waste of weight. The Odyssey is a PMAd battery. You can install it in the stock location and it'll save you about 10 to 12 pounds over stock battery. Doesn't need a box, since it's sealed. Lots of guys are now using batteries like the Earth X lithium Iron Phosphate batteries, which are even lighter. Not PMA'd, not STC'd. Install and don't ask, don't tell, some folks are doing. If you were to move the battery forward to between the front rudder pedals, you'd also save a LOT of heavy battery cable. Would require a field approval.

Again, there are a lot of places you could save a few pounds on a good solid A-1B. Since your screen name is "Southern Boy" I doubt you'd be concerned about engine heaters, but we installed Reiff engine heaters and wired them to a pilot light and an external, recessed plug in the side of the boot cowl, just aft of where an engine cover would lie, when installed. Drive by in the dark and if the guide light is illuminated, and you know the engine heater is heating. No need to thread your extension cord through the cowl door, to plug in.

Also, there are a number of mods that can be done to the cabin heat system of the Husky. Lots of heat there, you just have to get more flow. And, I installed heated seats in two Huskys, and would go there again. Simple install.....go to a good automotive modifier, buy a couple sets of seat heat elements. Remove the zippered seat covers, and glue the heat elements to the seat base and back cushions. Replace the seat covers, and run the wires from the heat elements to one plug on the left side of the seat, with enough slack to reach the left sidewall. Have your mechanic install an appropriate plug on the left side panel, and run power to the plugs. Plug in your seat heater, including the control head, and off you go.

Don't know how you'd get air conditioning, except opening the left side and right side window gives a lot of air circulation....

MTV

Stan,

I will try to call soon, been real busy.

Kurt

Stan,

If you can get to Kalamazoo Michigan you can fly my A1-C, it has all the new stuff Mike mentioned in his summary. New gear, 3 blade MT prop, new wing, new door and so on.

kurt

Stan,

Have your girl try landing with 2 notches of flaps instead of 3, less muscle required and the touchdown speed is still slow.

Like Mike said, the trim system in a Husky shouldn't be a big deal, I love the Husky trim system. Learn to fly it and it is great.

Fiberian Hufkys

Southern Boy wrote:I bought a Husky about 6 years ago...What has everyone else’s experience been with them?

Stan, I've never flown a Husky but check out the results in the Bush class over the last three years of the TX STOL Roundup, pretty impressive.
http://www.texasstolroundup.org/past_events.html

Southern Boy wrote:....Discussion: I have a 91 Husky A1. Does a lot of things well...but, I’m thinking of options: Please give opinions (much desired from those who have actual experience with Huskies...I *really* appreciate the input from y’all)....
-sell the 91, upgrade to a A1B? (don’t have the coin to go to a later model...the A1A or A1B is on the outside edge of the bracket...)
-do some mods to my Husky? (thinking of the AOSS gear, the tail brace which increases GW, if I understand correctly...) .....

You might look into whether Aviat can / will upgrade your A1 model with some of the later models features.
Since they're the manufacturer, I imagine that would be possible-- whether it's approving changes, or "converting" your A1 to a later model (A1A or whatever).

hotrod180 wrote:

Southern Boy wrote:....Discussion: I have a 91 Husky A1. Does a lot of things well...but, I’m thinking of options: Please give opinions (much desired from those who have actual experience with Huskies...I *really* appreciate the input from y’all)....
-sell the 91, upgrade to a A1B? (don’t have the coin to go to a later model...the A1A or A1B is on the outside edge of the bracket...)
-do some mods to my Husky? (thinking of the AOSS gear, the tail brace which increases GW, if I understand correctly...) .....

You might look into whether Aviat can / will upgrade your A1 model with some of the later models features.
Since they're the manufacturer, I imagine that would be possible-- whether it's approving changes, or "converting" your A1 to a later model (A1A or whatever).

The factory did at one time offer the conversion from A-1 to A-1A. I don't know if they still do so, but I've heard they don't. But, it is not feaseable to convert an A-1 to an A-1B, nor is it practical to convert an "early wing" A-1B to a "new wing" airplane, even if it remains an A-1B. We tried that one with a seriously damaged Husky, and it wouldn't work.

So, if you want to upgrade to later model features, the best plan is to sell the one you have and buy a later airplane.

MTV

maybe the “tail brace mod” is the conversion to an A1A...(or maybe I have vivid dreams...who knows...)


I appreciate the discussion...helps me think about “what to do”. Of course, the reality is the Husky, just as it sits, is a fun plane that is very capable.

Its a service bulletin to get the upgross to 1890# for your A-1...call Aviat for current parts prices.

http://aviataircraft.com/wp-content/upl ... /hsb13.pdf

Get over to flyhusky.com, it is a very good forum with all of the info you are seeking.

I worked an A-1B, mostly on floats and low level. I think they are a fantastic tandem plane with awesome takeoff and climb performance, as well great efficiency. That said I am a lot less worn out after 8hrs behind a Cub stick compared to the Husky. However, when sitting on a small alpine lake at gross weight, I'd prefer a Husky any day!

yep, that’s the mod I was thinking of. thanks...