Beech Sundowner/Sierra PIREP wanted

"Don Byrer" wrote in message
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Interested to hear from those who own or have flown them.
What's the real scoop?

Funny you should ask. Just today, I hitched a ride in a friend's Sundowner
(again...I've flown with him many times).

I would say that all of your pros are on the mark. As far as the cons, I
think the real question is how it compares to a C172 or Cherokee. IMHO, the
aspects where those airplanes could be considered superior aren't
significant enough to scare you off a Sundowner. If you want a strong,
stable airplane in the same basic performance class as the C172 or Cherokee,
the Sundowner is a fine choice.

As far as some of the specific cons you mention: my friend's Sundowner might
not be as fast as a C172 with a new engine and a cruise prop, but it's
certainly as fast as many C172s I've flown.

Short field performance? I'm not aware of a single airplane in that
performance class that could be considered an "outstanding" short field
airplane.

Climb performance? No worse than a 172...certainly not stellar, but nothing
to worry about IMHO.

Nose gear damage? Don't know why that would be, but I don't know much about
it. The nose gear on a Sundowner certainly *looks* sturdier than that found
on similar airplanes.

Grass strips? Again, no worse than similar airplanes.

Not as quiet? I haven't made a direct comparison, but I don't find the
noise level offensive. Nor does it *seem* significantly louder than a C172
(though, in hindsight maybe it is a little louder). If noise is a concern,
your best answer is to get a decent ANR headset, and choose an airplane that
is otherwise suitable.

I don't know things like operating costs, common problems, or corrosion
issues. However, my friends has owned his airplane for five years or so,
and hasn't run into anything unusual yet, nor does it sound like he spends
any more on this airplane than he would on something similar.

IMHO, probably the only significant issue that might concern me as a
potential owner is that keeping the airplane within the CG limits is more
complicated than for a C172 (don't know about the Cherokee, since I don't
fly those). That is, you actually have to think about it, taking into
account fuel loading, passengers, and adjusting baggage or other ballast as
necessary. If that's something you don't want to deal with, you should
probably stay away from a Sundowner. I don't personally think it's a big
deal (I have similar issues with my own airplane), but some people would be
turned off by that.

Some idiosyncratic things about the Sundowner include really big switches
(there are two huge switches for the master, rather than the reasonably
sized split switch found on most smaller airplanes). The Sundowner has a
"placeholder" gear lever (for training purposes). It has a really big power
console for such a little plane (which I think is kind of neat,
actually...real power levers, just like you find in the twins and jets,
instead of little push/pull knobs like most airplanes have). There are a
few other minor things like that, but IMHO those are all just part of the
charm of the airplane. It's different, and that makes it just a little
neater.

I guess to some extent, that's what it comes down there. There are maybe
one or two things that are different enough that someone might choose a C172
instead. But if those differences aren't a big deal to you, the real
question is whether you want to fly something everyone else flies, or do you
want to fly something that's a little more unique. My friend hasn't run
into any serious issues with respect to maintenance for having something
different, but he gets the "benefit" of having a plane that stands out in a
crowd just a bit more. I put "benefit" in quotes, because not everyone
would think that's actually a good thing.

Pete