The stall-resilient Cherokee 180

[Cycliste1961]

I did stalling excercises from the Jeppesen Private Pilot Maneuvers Handbook yesterday. This aircraft is indeed very well engineered!

It is difficult to stall. You really have to pull the yoke way back at very low speed with Carb heat on and flaps extended to get a stall. Full ailerons was the only way to get an unbalanced roll. But every time recuperation was easy and fast.

Much better stalling properties than the C172. I am starting to understand why they call it the low wing wonder...

[AKar]

This aircraft is indeed very well engineered!

Just to point out how there are two sides on every coin; often pilots consider relatively poor elevator authority, or "running out of elevator", during landing to be one of the downsides of the PA-28. The two are inherently related, so it is either a flaw or brilliant engineering. Every design is a compromise.

-Esa

[stevekirks]

This aircraft is indeed very well engineered!

Just to point out how there are two sides on every coin; often pilots consider relatively poor elevator authority, or "running out of elevator", during landing to be one of the downsides of the PA-28. The two are inherently related, so it is either a flaw or brilliant engineering. Every design is a compromise.

-Esa

Best thing I learned about flying the Cherokee (a2a) was the discussions of stalls and flaring on landing. I now know more about approach speeds and letting the aircraft settle. It's a Zen thing--let the airfoil help you. I can now nail landings in even my faster aircraft like the Lancair Legacy.

[AKar]

I've never had any problems with lack of elevator authority, probably because I've expected the 'issue', even overcompensated for it. I usually begin a slow and smooth flare at quite high, but with keeping some power. Only when gliding just over the runway, I smoothly retard the remaining throttle and let the plane settle down, pulling the stick back to the stop if necessary. I compensate for the lost runway distance by aiming the steady glide to under the numbers or so.

But back to the stalling: I've got a few nice stalls with reasonably aft CGs. That's fun to try out!

-Esa

[AndiK]

Just to point out how there are two sides on every coin; often pilots consider relatively poor elevator authority, or "running out of elevator", during landing to be one of the downsides of the PA-28.

I can vouch for this, as a former PA-28 pilot. There was sometimes an unsettling experience when you were on your way to a three-pointer just before the stall and just didn't have enough yoke to pull the nose wheel up again before it plopped down three-point.

That can easily start you galloping, so yeah, a few more inches of yoke would have been awesome sometimes. But then again, you could just learn to land properly and be a better flier than I am