Rick, that sounds very accurate to everything I know about them. Great airplane. But there has been fuel problems with them.
For a side by side comparison: This is the Skipper I flew. My instructor said he was impressed with it, as was I. It had a very solid, yet fun and light feel to it.
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The first Beech Skipper prototype had a standard tail. The T-tail was adopted later.
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Maybe Beech should've kept the low-tail configuration. It probably had better qualities as a trainer.
The biggest con to me, was the sloped nose. I
do like to be able to look outside and point the nose to a certain pitch attitude. When you get in the Skipper, (Unless you're taller than me) You can't see the nose.
Another con is how small the prop clearence is to the ground. And it is quite alarming! Yet, I've heard from experienced Skipper owners that it loves grass strips. (Just not
too short!)
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I have no intention of ever buying a
Truamahawk Tomahawk.
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I'm even kinda unsure about flying in one. Piper had some serious quality control problems with the Tomahawk. After it had been designed, tested, and recieved FAA certification, Piper changed the design by implementing fewer wing ribs, causing the wings to flex in a stall, and causing unpredictable behavior.
