ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM THE WORLD’S MOST WIDELY READ AVIATION MAGAZINE / DECEMBER 2009 LEARN FOR LESS The New Cessna 162 SkyCatcher >>> A Great Value for Beginners 63013 THE NEW CLASSROOM IN THE SKY Cessna’s 162 SkyCatcher is a totally modern flight trainer at a very reasonable price. BY J. MAC M c CLELLAN / PHOTOS COURTESY OF CESSNA believe all of us would declare not the least of which is that, with its big certification process. To make an Cessna’s new 162 SkyCatcher light gull-wing doors, aft strut and extra-wide airplane that light that is still sturdy sport airplane (LSA) to be a suc- cabin, I sit in it instead of wear it. enough to stand up to the rigors of I cess if it flew about as well as the The big challenge for any company student pilot landings is a tall order. legendary 150/152 series of two-seat making an LSA is to stay under the To put the challenge in perspective, trainers. I’m happy to say the 162 flies as 1,320 maximum gross weight limit. consider that the Cessna 150 two- well as, and in some respects better than, That weight cap is part of the LSA seat trainer has a maximum takeoff the 150/152 and also has a number of concept of reducing complexity and weight of 1,600 pounds. The more advantages that make it a better trainer, risk in exchange for simplifying the sophisticated 152 weighs in at 1,675 FLYINGMAG.COM / DECEMBER 2009 DECEMBER 2009 / FLYINGMAG.COM maximum. Even the 140 taildragger the 150’s loading is 10 and the 152’s is that in late 1945 launched Cessna’s 10.5. With its higher wing loading, the Light Sport Aircraft Rules dominance of flight training weighs 162 has a demonstrated crosswind of The primary limitations 1,450 pounds. 12 knots. But higher wing loading, in in the LSA rules are: Another LSA restriction intended to general, increases stall speed. So Cessna reduce risk in the event of a forced land- engineers had to make a smaller wing > Single engine only ing is a maximum stall speed, flaps up, of for the SkyCatcher that would stall at a > Maximum takeoff weight 45 knots. The 150/152 series stops fly- lower airspeed despite a higher loading. 1,320 pounds (1,420 pounds ing at 48 knots with the flaps up, but the It seems like magic was required, but in for a floatplane) SkyCatcher doesn’t stall clean until 44 reality what it took was gobs of experi- > Maximum stall speed (flaps up) knots. Flaps down, the 162 lets go at 39 ence to solve the problem. 45 knots knots compared with 42 and 43 knots You may recall that the original proof respectively for the 150/152. of concept SkyCatcher had an unusual > Maximum cruise speed 120 knots at The easiest way to meet the stall wing that tapered gull fashion at the roots. sea level and standard temperature restrictions is to use a relatively large That design appeared to both reduce > Minimum useful load 380 pounds wing so that each square foot of wing stall speed and be easy to build. But test- plus half the horsepower (430 pounds area is lifting only a few pounds. But ing showed it didn’t deliver. So Cessna for the 162) lightly loaded wings can be hard to aeronautical engineers went back to the handle in gusty conditions because computer and came up with a totally new each puff tosses the airplane back into and custom airfoil that did the job. There was never serious consider- the air. A successful trainer needs to The original SkyCatcher had a Rotax ation of any basic design other than fly as much as possible, not sit around engine, but Cessna flight school opera- a high strut-braced wing. After all, waiting for calm conditions, so Cessna tors shot that idea down. The Rotax has Cessna has built more than 100,000 did not go down the big-wing-area been in service for years, but successful high wing piston singles, so the design path with the 162. flight schools demand the utmost in clearly works. But subtle changes in The SkyCatcher has only 120 square predictability of cost of maintenance the layout make the SkyCatcher a su- feet of wing area compared with 160 in a trainer. Everybody was comfort- perior airplane in many ways. for the 150/152. That means the wing able with the four-cylinder Continental A key factor is the sweep of the loading — gross weight divided by engine, which is among the most pro- wing struts that places them aft of the wing area — puts 11 pounds on each duced aircraft powerplants in history, so cabin doors, instead of ahead of the square foot of wing in the 162 while the O-200D replaced the Rotax. door frame as in other Cessna singles. The aft strut location frees up the >>> The swept-back wing strut moves the strut and main landing gear leg of the 162 fuselage space to use big top-hinged aft so there is room for a gull wing door that lifts up for easy entry. The ventral fin under gull wing doors instead of the standard the tail was added after the original design to improve recovery from aggravated stalls. forward hinged doors. With the gull FLYINGMAG.COM / DECEMBER 2009 Cessna 162 SkyCatcher The airplane flown for this report was the first production-conforming airplane. It was equipped with the optional second Garmin G300 dis- play, wheel pants and trim stripe. All information here is from the airplane manual and reflects a standard- configuration airplane operating under standard day conditions at sea level unless noted. cessna.com Standard price (2009): $111,500 Seats: 2 Engine: Continental O-200D, 100 hp TBO: 2,000 hrs Cabin width: 44.25 in Overall height: 8.3 ft Overall length: 22.8 ft Wingspan: 30 ft Wing area: 120 sq ft Wing aspect ratio: 7.5 Max takeoff weight: 1,320 lbs Empty weight: 830 lbs Useful load: 490 lbs wing door raised, it’s easy to slide into to get the view they want over the Max usable fuel: 138 lbs (23 gal) the seat without interference from the panel, but the pedal adjustment range strut or the main landing gear leg. seemed sufficient to suit all heights of Payload max fuel: 352 lbs Cessna made the 162 cabin 44.25 pilots. I’m 6 feet 2 inches and was very Wing loading: 11 lbs/sq ft inches wide compared with 39.75 for pleased with the seat position because Power loading: 13.2 lbs/hp the 150/152. That 4.5 inches of added it is low enough that I can look out the Max climb rate: 890 fpm width might not sound like much, but side without ducking my head down. Service ceiling: 15,500 ft believe me, it makes all the difference In most other Cessna singles my head is Max speed: 118 kts in the world. My first airplane was a up between the wing roots and I need Max cruise at 6,000 ft: 112 kts Cessna 140 with a cabin width essen- to lower it to see directly to the side. Takeoff over 50 ft obstacle: 1,250 ft tially the same as the 150/152. Forty The SkyCatcher instrument panel Landing over 50 ft obstacle: 1,040 ft years ago that was tight, but OK. And is as modern as any new airplane with it may still be OK for 20-year-olds, but flat-glass display standard. There are Stall speed flaps up: 44 kts I’m not going to get in a cabin of that no conventional gauges or instruments, Stall speed flaps down: 39 kts size with any of my peers and get the and all flight and engine information Flap extension limits: 100, 85 doors closed. In the 162 Cessna, test is presented on the Garmin G300 and 70 kts pilot Dale Bleakney and I had plenty of display. A single display is standard Vne/Vno: 148/124 kts room to move elbows, knees and shoul- with flight, navigation and engine ders without the slightest restriction. instruments combined. I think most To further improve the ergonom- 162 owners will opt for the second Cessna kept the SkyCatcher systems ics of the 162 cabin, Cessna has fixed display, which places primary flight very simple and basic. For example, the seats in position and added fore instruments in front of the pilot and there is no fuel tank selector, only a and aft adjustment of the rudder ped- engine, navigation and other system knob to pull to turn all fuel off. In als. Adjustable pedals are the norm in information on an identical display operation, fuel is continuously fed by larger airplanes but the first I know of in the center of the cockpit. If either gravity from both tanks. And the fuel in a light two-seater. The fixed seats are display were to fail, the remaining one gauges are as foolproof as I can imag- lighter, and they are larger than possible combines all essential data much like ine. A transparent tube mounted in if they had to move fore and aft. Short- the single display format. the wing root shows the avgas level in er pilots might need to sit on a cushion In contrast to the advanced avionics, each tank. A ball floats in the fluid to DECEMBER 2009 / FLYINGMAG.COM clearly show the level.