Marco Rispoli wrote:

Marco,

Take my opinion for what its worth, as I only been in a Grunman 2 times.

It's a Grumman AA1A, 2 seater, red, fast and jittery. You barely touch the
controls to roll it or pitch it. Forget the rudder: one small touch and this
thing is yawing like crazy.

Agree with this. It's like power steering compared to my Sundowner or
Cessna's I have trained in.

Today it was hot and muggy. It took us 2/3s of the runway to take off.
Consider that both of us were 210 pounds. Plus a few knick-knacks in a box
in the rear. We are talking about 430 pounds of load with half tanks on a
hot and muggy day.

Yep, been there though maybe not so hot day. It took a lot of runway to
take off (4,400 runway and we were just leaving the ground just around
mid field) and the climb rate was rather anemic at 300 feet per minute
on a 70 degree day. I weigh 190 and the pilot weighed I would estimate
175 or so.

Short and stubby wings make for a fast plane, fast to roll and fast to stall
especially when heavy. The owner approached at 80 knots and let the plane
slow down over the runway... took us about 2/3s of the runway to land.

Are you sure it was 80 knots or 80 mph? The pilot I went with came in
had an approach speed of about 80 mph per markings on his ASI. Sounds
like your pilot came in hot for a Grunman if he used 2/3's of what I am
assuming a rather lengthy runway???

Grunmans drop like a brick. I was amazed how tight a pattern the pilot
I was with flew on the approach to the airport. We were just abeam the
numbers, when maybe 10 seconds later, he turned base and then final. I
was thinking to myself, I would be amazed if we made contact with the
ground at mid field, but he put it just past the numbers on landing.

I also know nothing about maintaining a plane. Can I afford a Skylane?
possibly .. but then what? It would cost a lot to buy, it would cost a lot
to maintain, I wouldnt' be able to fly it as much and I would spend more
time taking care of it than flying it....

Cessna parts are more common the Grunman. I'd suspect it may be more
expensive to maintain a Grunman, but I have nothing statistical to back
up this statement.

My reasoning is that it's better if I start my owner's experience by owning
a plane that is easy to own and that I can fly a lot ... and doesn't cost me
too much, even if it's limited in range and weight carrying ability.

If range is important to you, and you are talking very limited range
with 1/2 tanks as you described above, run from the airplane. 430
pounds of meat in the cockpit with 1/2 tanks only give you 1 1/2 hour
flying time (allowing for 1/2 hour "reserve" required for VFR flight. I
get 5 hours range in my Sundowner, but I have not tried going that far.
My bladder was ready to burst after a 4 hour non stop flight from MBO to
DAB.

Get my experience (both flight and ownership experience) up to par and in a
few years move to something more beefy, like a Piper 180 or a Skylane.

Why not look into a 4 place plane from jump start. It may cost you a
little more in the beginning, but you do get more payload and endurance.
Shop around, talk to your airport folks. Then come back if you really
like the Grunman.

I have a Sundowner, and absolutely love it. It is not a speed demon (I
plan for 110 knots) but it gets me places in confort. I have had
problems with it, but that is part of ownership.

Nothing like ownership.... going to the airport, no scheduling
conflicts, and I fly when I want to fly (which I try to do twice a
week).

Hope this helps.

Allen