Life happens fast. My first airplane trade. Out with a pristine Scout, in with a beater long wing M7 plus some funds for fun.

My first two airplanes (C180 and 8GCBC) were really too classy for my personality. I found myself hanging out with Husky drivers for god's sake. It feels good to have a massive decrease in responsibility and standing in society.

I kept the 31's so they'll be going on when I get it back to Colorado, and stoked to have it up in AK all summer. It could use fabric, and probably an engine. Maybe some avionics and a bit of interior work. But it seems airworthy. In the past two days I've flown it more than the last owner did in the past 10 years. And I'm only halfway home.

I welcome any M7 advice/techniques. So far I've found it to be more docile than the legends. Only thing I dislike is lack of AoA at 3 point attitude, but big tires and extended gear should help with that.




(It's a 50 footer - the pictures give it too much credit)

To round out the story...

The last hour of being a Scout owner, crossing Chesapeake Bay. In the 10 months I had the Scout, it saw the Bering Sea and the Atlantic. Not bad for an aircraft type that is normally reserved for old men's hangars.


Picking up the M7 at the previous owner's grass strip. I stayed overnight so we could swap wheels, GPS, etc that I wanted to keep. Cool little spot in New Jersey.


Negative flaps over Appalachia. Had never flown a plane with negative flaps but they're great. Instant 5mph boost.

Congrats!

It seems that the M7's with the oleo gear have gotten hard to find and especially with the long wing. Where did they all go?

Enjoy the new plane.

Joe

Nice pictures. I liked the Scout, it looked cheeky. Hope you have as much fun in this one.

From an old guy with a Scout. The best airplane is the one that puts a smile on your face. For me it’s almost always the one I”m flying in at the time. Enjoy the new bird. Just a picture so you can see that not all Scouts are shiny.

Goodyear, I hope you know the whole thread was in jest. The Scout was an amazing airplane, i actually wasn’t really planning on getting rid of it, but all of a sudden I was flying it across the country to deliver it because a guy saw a picture of it from Alaska and just had to have it. The one I had was as fine an example of an affordable late model scout as existed. I think they are massively underrated as backcountry airplanes, but once I got mine, I found many more owners doing badass things with scouts.

At this point, no airplane is a long term thing for me. The act of learning new types is a big part of the enjoyment. Maybe this will lead to me finding the perfect airplane one day. Or maybe this is why I’m still single at 29.


(I also don’t think Maule owners are low-lifes)

When I bought mine from Jeremy Ainsworth, it had the original 6.00-6 tires and I told him the first thing I was going to buy was some big tires. He abruptly told me to fly it till the little tires were completely worn out and then I'd be ready for some of them big tires. I believe he new exactly what I needed to do. I learned to manage my speed to not Kerplunk, and I learned to love to wheel land.

Welcome to the deplorable side of life.

Oh Yeah, How's the vernier?

Nice looking plane...thou the Scout was nice looking....as was the 180! You are on your way to becoming a plane broker!!

Cool plane, always liked them. Are the negative flaps common to all Maules?

wtxdragger wrote:When I bought mine from Jeremy Ainsworth, it had the original 6.00-6 tires and I told him the first thing I was going to buy was some big tires. He abruptly told me to fly it till the little tires were completely worn out and then I'd be ready for some of them big tires. I believe he new exactly what I needed to do. I learned to manage my speed to not Kerplunk, and I learned to love to wheel land.

Welcome to the deplorable side of life.

Oh Yeah, How's the vernier?

It’s hard to resist when the tires are already sitting in the corner but I’ll try haha.

I have 600 hours in bonanzas with the vernier throttle so I don’t really even notice it. Placement on cockpit is better than bonanza so it’s easy to use with palm - no complaints at all. I would prefer a vernier mixture instead of push pull, simply because there’s like 5 knobs that looks exactly like mixture. It’s like a minefield trying to pull cabin heat...

Get some polish on that spinner or you will be a member of the grungy spinner club.

How about that cool Vernier throttle McFarlane sells, that would be pretty darn nice but it all cost’s $$$.

Kurt

aftCG wrote:Cool plane, always liked them. Are the negative flaps common to all Maules?

I think they were introduced with the M6/M7 and probably all planes after but honestly not sure. M4 and M5 never had them as far as I know, but again, could be wrong.

Welcome to friends in low places.

Asa, flyingjack Husky will still hang with ya when back in CO. Although flying Husky to AZ (warm) next week until March.
Stay well.

"It’s like a minefield trying to pull cabin heat..."

Had to laugh at that one; amen, brother!

And thus you will become among the anointed few that can attest that the "snaky" myths surrounding the type are unfounded. They are different than "Cub" types in that the tail is a LOT heavier, so that will affect your expectation about wheel landings vs 3 point, etc. Enjoy your experience and the rest of us low life's are glad to share any nuggets we can.

DeltaRomeo wrote:"It’s like a minefield trying to pull cabin heat..."

Had to laugh at that one; amen, brother!

And thus you will become among the anointed few that can attest that the "snaky" myths surrounding the type are unfounded. They are different than "Cub" types in that the tail is a LOT heavier, so that will affect your expectation about wheel landings vs 3 point, etc. Enjoy your experience and the rest of us low life's are glad to share any nuggets we can.

To frame the following, I of course have about 6 hours now, so every second of every landing is trying not to give the airplane to the insurance company. However, the ground handling feels reminiscent of C180's. Big, long tail that responds to rudder inputs with a slight delay. Unlike the scout and cubs where a jab of the rudder does exactly what you intended, positively and instantaneously. I imagine that once a departure from centerline began, it'd be a handful to get it stopped, however I didn't notice an inherent tendency to depart as legend states.

Very excited to keep learning a new type, and figure out everything I don't know.

Utah Rob on my strip, showing how it's done! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwpVWDk2txc

With some good weather and some bad weather, put 9.5 hours on the M7 today getting it to Colorado with the usual headwinds. It's quicker than I thought, I was seeing about 125 kts TAS at 4500', and then about 117 kts TAS at sea level. Not bad for an old girl with a 1600hr and 37 year old engine.

Just checked the logs. Prior to my purchase, it had only flown 15 hours since 2011. I've put about 17hrs on it. Some things had gotten better over these 17 hours (fuel gauge started working, prop seems to have smoothed out a bit) and some things have degraded (clock stopped working, some new paint flakes).

Fun times

Crossing the Ohio river:


Back in Colorado:

My hangar neighbour just picked up a Maule and is doing a disassembly-paint&fix-reassembly over the winter. Haven’t seen one on 31’s before, a few 26’s. Like Citabrias, they suffer limited AOA on tiny tires and low gear. Gotta love that cargo door after the Scout.

Keep us updated on your journey.