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Laytonl

Laytonl

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Feb 5, 2020
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I‘m new to the forum and hope to get tips on owning and maintaining a Citabria. I bought a ’95 7GCBC a couple years ago as my retirement toy. Great airplane!

The airplane is based at a flyin community near Atlanta at, 5GA2, and shares a hangar with my Mooney 201.

lee
 
Welcome to the forum. I’ve always wanted a Mooney but never made it that far not to mention flying like off grass is not that friendly to the pucks. I did have one bought but the weekend I was going to go get it the wife Came home to share the news of my second child so her nick name is my Mooney it was a Ranger hard to think that was 28 years ago. Plane would have cost less but she is worth it.
 
Yeah, welcome. I used to get a final tankfull at Carrollton before heading to Zebulon to visit my buddies.

If one wanted the best of lightplanes, my choice would be a J3 and a Mooney. I had those in the mid 1970s; we took that Mooney everywhere, including in and out of LAX every weekday evening for a month.

Next best is a J3 and a Decathlon - my current stable.

I think it was Carrollton in 1974 or so - the guys at the airport took me to the local high school for lunch. Food was ok, but one of those high school teachers should have been a movie star! Drop-dead gorgeous!
 
Cub is the best second airplane someone can buy! Did an instrument rating in an M20J with a friend, a lot of fun to fly. :)
 
A 201 and a Citabria would be a great combination.
When I was a young teen just waking up to airplanes it was about the same time that Roy LoPresti was working his magic with the 201 then 231.
Years later when I learned to fly I found a place with a 201 to rent. I only got about five hours in it after checkout
Flash forward a ways and I was a CFI at a place with several planes. Where most instructors lined up to check out in the Cirrus 20 and 22, I put my efforts into the 231 we had. I loved that plane and was one of two instructors checked out in it (the other guy checked me out and then let me take all the hours).
Man, the stories I could turn out about those hours.
 
^forgot to say I flew the other planes that used the 200hp Lycoming (Arrow for my commercial and CFI work, then owned and taught out of a Cardinal RG.
Good planes, all. For personal use, for sure I would take the 201
 
Me too! I get 160 kts on 10 gph all day long.

By the by, I have never landed a T-6. One of my students just checked out in one - said it took ten hours. Said it was really squirrelly, compared to a Cub. I had heard from others that the Stearman was more difficult, but I find the Stearman a big Cub. Any comments?
 
I have over a 1000 hours in a Mooney. Great traveling airplane-landed in the dirt/sand at Mulege and San Ignacio. Gear is sturdy. Just likes to have a little length of runway, but Oceano (l52) at 2300’ is easily manageable at gross and warm day.
 
Bob Turner said:
Me too! I get 160 kts on 10 gph all day long.

By the by, I have never landed a T-6. One of my students just checked out in one - said it took ten hours. Said it was really squirrelly, compared to a Cub. I had heard from others that the Stearman was more difficult, but I find the Stearman a big Cub. Any comments?
Click to expand...
This one slipped by me, sorry. I have never flown or ridden in a Stearman or a J-3 so I don't know how to compare directly.

I can say that the narrow gear of the T-6 is where most of its reputation for being squirrely comes from. You are very much required to use aileron input until you are stopped on the other side of the hold short line. Not the usual "positioning of the flight controls for crosswind taxi" thing, I'm talking actively keeping the wings level with the stick when the plane is in motion.

My previous experience was in the BT-13 which had wider main gear but always felt more like it was eager to kill you on short final.
 
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