Budget Retracts - Anyone own a Sierra or Comanche 180?

I second what Barry says for the Sundowner. Trailing link gear on the
Sundowner cushions even the hardest of hard landings.

This statement has my head spinning. This the opposite of what I have
read in every review of these planes

That's what I have read too. Maybe this trait just gets exaggerated
after hearing it over & over. I cant believe the Sundowner/Sierra
would require superman pilot skills. Is it just that it is intolerant
of those *really* bad landings, ie: those that should have ended in a
go around? With new rubber shocks, would the bouncing be minimized?
Or is it the other way around - with old rubber shocks, is the gear
"softer"?

Rich

On 2006-02-05, RH wrote:
That's what I have read too. Maybe this trait just gets exaggerated
after hearing it over & over. I cant believe the Sundowner/Sierra
would require superman pilot skills.

It doesn't. I was checked out in a Beech Super Musketeer (basically the
same airframe with a 200hp engine) as a 30 hour student pilot. I *never*
had a bad landing in that plane. If you just fly at the airspeed in the
book on short final, it almost lands itself.

I think the stories of the Musketeer/Sundowner being hard to land come
from people who weren't properly taught that you need to touch down main
wheels first (go to any airport and watch how many people land flat -
three pointing a nosewheel plane - translated to a Musketeer/Sundowner,
this results in bouncing).

--
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