Comments

Time will tell... but so far I am extremely disappointed by what I see from Cessna with the SkyCatcher. It's not "just" the China angle (that didn't leave a good impression from the start) but rather the kludged fixes mandated from not one but two spin-related crashes in testing, and compromises Cessna made in the name of not having the too-heavy airframe blow past the absolute minimum useful load requirement under the ASTM standards. More brickbats -- the unfinished interior (and what's there is extremely unattractive to the eye, avionics notably excepted) and, most troubling, the manual flap lever that interferes with the pilot's ability to move the throttle at full deployment. Oh well, at least it's not like sudden throttle movements are necessary on a steep, short final, right? That's not to say I'll never fly a SkyCatcher, or even that I wouldn't consider buying one after a fashion... but I will step back and let Rose Pelton and other pilots fly the first dozen airframes, testing the overall usefulness and safety of this (Chinese-made) aircraft in its intended role in flight training.