Grumman Tiger/Cheetah for a low time pilot?

Tram

Tram

Well-Known Member
A good friend of mine is thinking about picking up a Tiger or a Cheetah. He's a low time guy, roughly 100 hours.

Well, another friend of mine heard me talking to someone about my other friend buying a Tiger/Cheetah and he was all Chicken Little about how the Grumman's are hard to fly, etc.. I know my pops used to want one and flew one a good bit, I asked him as well and he told me a story about how he rented one from an FBO and the guy was pretty much Chicken Little'ing my pops as well. Told him all about how hard they were to fly and asked how much time my dad had in one, etc as they were tough to fly for low time guys..

I've never been in one and can't imagine it'd be much more complex than a 172, but I thought I'd see what you guys thought..
 
I've got about 5 hours in a tiger, at the time all I had flown was various cherokee's. It was fantastically easy to fly. Fixed gear/prop, but actually cruised at a much better speed than an archer(Comparable, both having o-360s), and it certainly was no harder to fly. Climb and approach around 80 or so. Maybe that is too fast for mr chicken little. :cwm27:
 
How is the free-castoring nosewheel? I've never flown an A/C that has one, seems like it might take awhile to get used to. I sometimes wish I would have sprung for a Tiger/Cheetah back when I was in the market for a plane.
 
It has been a long time, but as I remember, other than the castering nose wheel, it was just another airplane.
 
I've got a couple hundred hours in the AA5A/B and I would highly recommend them to both low and high time pilots. The toughest part of the airplane is putting your seatbelt on and setting the seat...Systems are as simple as they come, there are no "gotcha's", visibility is fantastic and you cruise at arrow speeds while burning 10 gallons per hour. The free castering nose wheel won't take you more than 20 seconds of taxiing to get used to. If you have any questions PM me. Again, I highly recommend them, and with all due respect, anyone that says this isn't an airplane for a low time pilot, well...They really have no idea what they are talking about.
 
I only have one flight in a Cheetah, but didn't find anything that would make it particularly hard to fly. Very fun and sporty in-fact for an airplane with the wheel at the wrong end.
 
I know a kid that got his PPL and has all of his time in a Cheetah/Tiger. He never complained about it.

Lane Wallace swears by them.
 
My dad's first solo was in the original AA1 with the 'death wing'- he's still around ~35 years later.
Wasn't the original Yankee where the rumors came from, not the AA5's?
 
I had a Cheetah for a while, it was a lot of fun but after the price of meat went up I was forced to return him to Africa.
 
MikeOH58 said:
I've got a couple hundred hours in the AA5A/B and I would highly recommend them to both low and high time pilots. The toughest part of the airplane is putting your seatbelt on and setting the seat...Systems are as simple as they come, there are no "gotcha's", visibility is fantastic and you cruise at arrow speeds while burning 10 gallons per hour. The free castering nose wheel won't take you more than 20 seconds of taxiing to get used to. If you have any questions PM me. Again, I highly recommend them, and with all due respect, anyone that says this isn't an airplane for a low time pilot, well...They really have no idea what they are talking about.
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Agreed. I just started instructing in one and the only PITA I've come into contact with is the old prop on the Tiger. If you didn't/don't change out the prop it has to be checked every 200 hours IIRC and you can't descend in the yellow arc (~1800-2200RPM) or the vibrations will cause a strange harmonic in the engine (you can't distinguish it by hearing it) that will cause horrible damaging effects to the engine. The plane is simple to fly, just hard to get used to such a vast sight picture! Kinda feels like you're nose down whenever you're straight and level if you're used to 172s/182s/Bonanzas. Lol. Fun airplane though.
 
I've taken two students through their PPL and instrument ratings in a Tiger. Good little airplane. Neutrally stable in roll with really light and responsive controls. With the control pressures being so light and responsive and roll sensitive to a fuel imbalance, it makes for a difficult entry level IFR platform.

It does have some teeth however... The stall break is a little abrupt, just be careful when dragging it in for a short field landing. Its a pretty straight wing combined with a very light elevator pull. With power on it'll keep mushing and flying, but when it goes it GOES! Avoid aggressive slips with full flaps, a high sink will develop and it will need LOTS of altitude to get it flying again. Don't hold it in a stall during a slip, it will depart over-the-top. Falling leaf stalls are doable, just be on your toes. Being short-coupled, it tends to get pitchy and departures are quick.

It is also very sensitive to a fuel imbalance. Switching tanks after climb, and every 15 minutes during cruise will keep it wings level hands-off.

Most pilots try to fly them too fast on approach & landing. I recall one of the most common causes of bent metal was running off the end of the runway. They really are a nice, easy to fly & land airplanes. They just aren't as forgiving as some of the other trainers out there.
 
The first airplane I checked out in after getting my PPL was an AA-1 (Yankee). I had barely 40 hrs TT and didn't know crapola. If I can do you can do it.
 
I ferried one without ever flying one and built about 30 hours in the 160hp cheetah. It is a very easy airplane to fly. Burns hardly any gas and flies at a great cruise speed. Good 2 seat airplane. Don't recommend 4 people in one. The only thing I do know is they don't climb fast. But easy to fly.
 
I flew in a Tiger before and found them comfortable and great on speed. Would def recommend getting one.I think that when is comes to what would be called a hard Grumman to fly in comparison to a 152/172 that may be the Grumman Trainer. I did all of my private training in them and was a bit more difficult but i felt made for a better pilot
 
Thanks for all the advice guys.,. I think we're going to fly down to one he's found for sale and check it out. I keep trying to talk him into a Tiger at least, but he's set on the fuel burn of the Cheetah..
 
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