Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group Re: Solid Trainer Aircraft?

I had the opportunity to fly the Paradise P1 last weekend with the dealer here in Phoenix.  I came away with mixed feeling.  Some observations. Good points; first it is all metal and it is build around an all steel cage, good passenger protection.  It is one of the best upholstered planes I have been in if upholstery is high on your plus list.  Low interior noise level.  The fit and finish is good.  Has a nice storage area behind the seats, be sure you anchor the stuff down.  The plane has been in production a long time so you won't be seeing a redesign coming out like some of our more popular LSA's in effort to get it right!  Easy in and out and comfy seats.  Good elevator trim control, but a bit sensitive and some pilots will be chasing it around.  Effective flaps but the flap handle is clumsily to work.  Does nice Dutch Rools with good harmony and predictable handling.  Fairly fast cruise speed.  On the down side for me was the cockpit felt narrow with two 190lb guys.  If you are tall, over six feet you head will be very close to the headliner.  Visibility out the doors is poor as your head sites too high inside; you must bend over to look out.  Front visibility is fair, but reflection off the instrument panel deck on to the windscreen is annoying.  The yokes block good visibility of the instruments and switches and the same for the gauges on the right side, again, annoying to me.  Stick controls would be much better, but the yokes make for easy entry, not a good enough reason.  Ground handling is ok, but the dragging brakes are noisy unless you ride the brakes while rolling.  The intercom sucks, very noisy.  I think there are better looking planes on the market, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say.

 

And now the unbelievable but true story.  The plane incorporates a stabliator, (elevator and horizontal stabilizer combination).  On a demo flight recently the prospective buyer/pilot has a miss approach and flair while landing.  The plane drifts left and a runway light takes off half the stabliator.  The entire left side is ripped off.  The right side remains in tack and functioning.  The left gear is also bent enough letting the left wing tip dig dirt momentarily.  Unknown to the occupants despite the loud crash noise the dealer goes full throttle for a go-around, crazy!  A radio call to the plane stating, "Ahh sir, there are thing falling off your airplane" leaves him puzzled.  The dealer pilot told me the pitch felt a bit stiff, but not that much different.  The plane does a complete normal go-around and landing with half a stabliator.  It taxi mode the plane was a bit weird he said, wanting to track left and left wing down.  Later they were in shock when seeing the damage.  Amazing; so if you are inclined to taking out runway lights, then the P1 may be for you?

 

Ed Snyder 

-----Original Message-----
From: medicbill@aol.com
Sent: Oct 13, 2009 10:03 PM
To: Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group Re: Solid Trainer Aircraft?

 

Does anyone have experience with the Paradise P-1. It is made in South America. It has been in use there for many years but was changed to make it an LSA up here in the states. It is also all metal.

Bill Bower

-----Original Message-----
From: Helen Woods <Helen_Woods@verizon.net>
To: Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, Oct 13, 2009 4:28 pm
Subject: Re: Light-Sport Aircraft Yahoo group Re: Solid Trainer Aircraft?

1.  When they crash, they shatter.  (By comparison, we had a student 
 cartwheel a Tecnam down the runway and the only thing that broke off was 
 the gear.  Student walked away without a scratch.)
 2.  Even a little bit of damage is expensive and time consuming to fix.  
 (A wing ding cost several thousand to fix.)
 3.  There is no A&P in the entire state of Maryland willing and capable 
 of doing composite structural work on an LSA.
 
 We have three composite planes all of which have required composite 
 work, all which we've had to ship out of state, all of which were down 
 for approximately a year during repairs, all of which cost a small 
 fortune to repair.  Composite LSAs are not suitable in my opinion for 
 primary training for these reasons.  By contrast, on our metal Tecnams, 
 even the worst bang ups (excluding the aforementioned cartwheel which 
 was totaled by the insurance company) are fixed in a matter of days.
 
 That being said, we're putting a composite hulled SeaRey on the line.  I 
 think composites are fine for rated and proficient pilots and especially 
 seaplanes, just not primary training.
 
 Helen
 
 
 dongeneda2000 wrote:
 > And you consider that to be a BAD thing because?
 >
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