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We have been debating this subject over on www.homebuiltairplanes.com "What qualities make a plane a good trainer?"
Opinions vary with the hairy-chested group suggesting and airplane as challenging to fly as a tail-dragging Citabria or Tiger Moth. Mind you these hairy-chested pilots tend to fly for sport ... after they have earned enough money to buy their own airplanes. At the other end of the scale, some student pilots only want a docile trainer that mimics the handling of the 19-seater commuter that young commercial pilots hope to fly during their first job.
This trainer plane will be the next generation after the current single-engined Diamond Katanas or electric Pipistrels.
The cockpit must be broad and contain 2 seats side-by side. A third optional seat would allow a second student to ride-along and quietly observe the lesson.
Seats must be as comfortable as modern sports cars. Self-tightening seat-belts and air bags are mandatory. The airframe should incorporate crumple-zones to reduce injuries during bad landings.
Side doors are a must for easy entry.
It must be simple enough for first-solo, but have an instrument panel complex enough for an IFR rating.
Noise abatement laws require it to be as quiet as an electric airplane. If gasoline powered, then it needs a VERY quiet muffler.
If electric, it must be quickly rechargeable from solar panels mounted on the hangar roof. That means either quickly-replaced batteries or quick-charging from a golf cart. With a typical lesson lasting 1 hour, endurance needs to be a minimum of 2 hours. For student cross-country flights, it will need a 4 or 5 hour endurance to leave a margin for error when a student gets lost. Do cross-country flights require 2 batteries?
I suggested a glass cockpit that the instructor can reconfigure to display traditional steam-gauges or modern HUD symbology. The instructor should also be able to "simply" the instrument panel to enlarge the instruments most important for today's lesson ... say turn-and-slip indicator. The rest of the displays would remain in the same configuration, just smaller or dimmer. If a student ignores an instrument for too long, the instructor should be able to "flash" it to attract the student's attention.
It also needs multiple cameras with real-time feed back to the dispatch desk. Any trainer also needs recording GPS and G-meters.
Otherwise, instruments and controls should mimic those in current-production commuters and light business airplanes. You might even install "fake" retraction handles or prop governor handles to help students develop habits on those controls before they transition to more complex airplanes??????
No wheel pants to ease pre-flight inspections. Similarly, all inspection hatches will be made of plexiglass. All maintenance and inspection hatches are hinged and can be opened by hand.
There should be 2 or 3 ways to inspect critical fluid levels like fuel and engine oil: clear external sight gauges, dip-sticks rivetted to filler caps and instruments in the cockpit.
If fuel or oil levels are below "X" liters, warnings flash in the cockpit and it refuses to start the engine.
This airframe will be heavier and more robust than a typical touring airplane to survive the inevitable hard landings. Major components (e.g. brakes and tires) must be quickly replaceable by merely bolting in new parts.
Handling must be comparatively docile and the airplane must have gentle stall and spin characteristics. Ideally the airplane would be capable of "gentlemens' aerobatics even if that is not the primary goal.
To satisfy the hairy-chested crowd, I suggested landing gear that can be quickly changed from tail-dragger to nose-wheel. Main landing gear legs are attached via a large diameter torque tube under the center of gravity. To convert from a nose-wheel to tail-dragger, just lift the tail and swing the main wheels 17 degrees aft of the center-of-gravity. Then deflate the nose-wheel strut enough to prevent it from interfering with a tail-dragging lesson, but still long enough to prevent a prop-strike. Note: I am not sure if young students CARE about tail-draggers these days.
What are your thoughts?
Opinions vary with the hairy-chested group suggesting and airplane as challenging to fly as a tail-dragging Citabria or Tiger Moth. Mind you these hairy-chested pilots tend to fly for sport ... after they have earned enough money to buy their own airplanes. At the other end of the scale, some student pilots only want a docile trainer that mimics the handling of the 19-seater commuter that young commercial pilots hope to fly during their first job.
This trainer plane will be the next generation after the current single-engined Diamond Katanas or electric Pipistrels.
The cockpit must be broad and contain 2 seats side-by side. A third optional seat would allow a second student to ride-along and quietly observe the lesson.
Seats must be as comfortable as modern sports cars. Self-tightening seat-belts and air bags are mandatory. The airframe should incorporate crumple-zones to reduce injuries during bad landings.
Side doors are a must for easy entry.
It must be simple enough for first-solo, but have an instrument panel complex enough for an IFR rating.
Noise abatement laws require it to be as quiet as an electric airplane. If gasoline powered, then it needs a VERY quiet muffler.
If electric, it must be quickly rechargeable from solar panels mounted on the hangar roof. That means either quickly-replaced batteries or quick-charging from a golf cart. With a typical lesson lasting 1 hour, endurance needs to be a minimum of 2 hours. For student cross-country flights, it will need a 4 or 5 hour endurance to leave a margin for error when a student gets lost. Do cross-country flights require 2 batteries?
I suggested a glass cockpit that the instructor can reconfigure to display traditional steam-gauges or modern HUD symbology. The instructor should also be able to "simply" the instrument panel to enlarge the instruments most important for today's lesson ... say turn-and-slip indicator. The rest of the displays would remain in the same configuration, just smaller or dimmer. If a student ignores an instrument for too long, the instructor should be able to "flash" it to attract the student's attention.
It also needs multiple cameras with real-time feed back to the dispatch desk. Any trainer also needs recording GPS and G-meters.
Otherwise, instruments and controls should mimic those in current-production commuters and light business airplanes. You might even install "fake" retraction handles or prop governor handles to help students develop habits on those controls before they transition to more complex airplanes??????
No wheel pants to ease pre-flight inspections. Similarly, all inspection hatches will be made of plexiglass. All maintenance and inspection hatches are hinged and can be opened by hand.
There should be 2 or 3 ways to inspect critical fluid levels like fuel and engine oil: clear external sight gauges, dip-sticks rivetted to filler caps and instruments in the cockpit.
If fuel or oil levels are below "X" liters, warnings flash in the cockpit and it refuses to start the engine.
This airframe will be heavier and more robust than a typical touring airplane to survive the inevitable hard landings. Major components (e.g. brakes and tires) must be quickly replaceable by merely bolting in new parts.
Handling must be comparatively docile and the airplane must have gentle stall and spin characteristics. Ideally the airplane would be capable of "gentlemens' aerobatics even if that is not the primary goal.
To satisfy the hairy-chested crowd, I suggested landing gear that can be quickly changed from tail-dragger to nose-wheel. Main landing gear legs are attached via a large diameter torque tube under the center of gravity. To convert from a nose-wheel to tail-dragger, just lift the tail and swing the main wheels 17 degrees aft of the center-of-gravity. Then deflate the nose-wheel strut enough to prevent it from interfering with a tail-dragging lesson, but still long enough to prevent a prop-strike. Note: I am not sure if young students CARE about tail-draggers these days.
What are your thoughts?
