| It finally made a half-baked effort to stall, but as soon as I
relaxed the controls, it quickly recovered from the near-stall. The inherent stability is
a result of that great wing and excellent airfoil and an airframe that's also very clean.
While I'd been slow-cruising along, I'd made some 360-degree turns in a semistall
condition and still had no problem holding it. (Somebody would have to be a real klutz on
the controls to accidentally stall this airplane.) Now it was time to see how fast we could go. I was able to get it up to a true airspeed of about 235 mph at 5500 feet. The manual states it will easily deliver 275 mph TAS at 21,000 feet. The Comp Air 7 will carry loads up to 1670 pounds for a gross weight of 3770 pounds. The plane flew much like a Cessna 206 but without the heavy fore and aft pressures. Of course, these can be trimmed out, but the Comp Air 7 had an entirely different feel to it. It was time to head back to the airport. As we entered the pattern, I reduced power and put the prop lever full forward. I then reduced the power lever to achieve the correct rate of descent, but I didn't reduce it below the idle stop position. I checked the Beta light to make sure it was off. (Funny things happen when the prop starts pushing instead of pulling.) The manual says the pilot shouldn't let the speed drop below 80 mph IAS during the approach. I pulled about 15 degrees on downwind, then used full flaps when I turned final. I didn't want to have to change |
the tires, so I made sure the parking brake was off and my feet were off the brakes. The manual said wheel landings weren't recommended, unless we wanted to redesign the prop tips, so I set up for a three-pointer (which is the way I've always landed taildraggers anyway). This plane did have a five-blade prop with a smaller diameter than the three-blade one, but the prop still comes awfully close to the ground. As the plane got closer to the runway, I pulled up the nose just a tad. Then, when we were about 3 feet off, I gradually applied full-aft stick, and the | plane squatted and stayed down. I then flipped
up the lockout on the beta prop and made the next turnoff. Flying the Comp Air 7 Turbine
was practically a no-brainer. It's an easy plane to fly, and you've got to admire its
top-notch performance. Reprinted
with permission from Text by Norm Goyer. |
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| Aerocomp a Year Later | ©CUSTOM PLANES magazine |
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