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I soloed in a Tomahawk (and instructed in it!) and really enjoyed flying them. Great visibility and a nicely laid out and fairly roomy cockpit. I agree they got a bad rap. Not a ton of them were made either, but if you can get one with a nice interior and the wing mods done then I'd say you cant go wrong for a good day VFR fun flyer.

There was a Beech Skipper at my home field, tied up outside for aleast a couple of years, not being flown. I just remember driving by it in heavy winds and the control surfaces just slamming side to side and the tail was improperly secured and the tail would lift in the wind and slam down on the ground. Someone knew it was there and must have needed wingtips for this type of airplane, beacuse they stole them in the middle of the night. Last spring the airplane was taken apart and put into a big shipping crate and departed to its new home in Poland.

With that being said, I am going to possibly be in the market for a plane in the near future with some more "gusto" than my spamcan 150 and may look into a Beech Debonair. I have a co-worker that has one and have put nearly 4000 hours in it and loves it. He has even flown it to Alaska twice. With 80 gals of fuel it nearly has the endurance of a 737 and a cruise of almost 200mph. People that have Beech's seem to swear by them.

You will love Beechcraft quality, strength, and ramp appeal. You'd be hard pressed to find an aircraft more expensive to maintain, however.

I'm alive because of God and Walter Beech.

Yep!

I got my high performance and complex signoffs in a Debonair. I really, really liked those airplanes. The school got rid of the two they had and got two more R182s to go with the one they had already.

Beech airplanes that I've flown all have a similar feel to them, which is very positive (wouldn't you say, Gary?) compared to many other types. I think if I was going to fly far and often in a Deb, I'd consider dropping the coin on a decent yaw damp.

(I swear, I swear, I swear.)


Damn fine airplanes.



Jim

He speaketh the truth.........I still shiver at that one.

Any less of a plane and, well, you know.



Jim

And S-TEC just happens to build a damn fine one....



Jim

Look.....another low wing convert!!!

If I recall, the skipper has the landing gear attached to fuselage. The Tomahawk has the landing attached to the wing spar, and for that reason (load force implied to wing spar during landing) the wing is only good for 11 000 hours (not sure on this number but something like this). Correct me if I am wrong.

Both are nice plane to own and operates from long paved runaway.

Fred

Frederic,

I'm not sure exactly how many hours the Tomahawks wings are good for, but you are right. They are limited.

Also by being attached at the fuselage, the Skippers wide landing gear made for easier crosswind landings. I agree that both are nice planes.