Katana

[flyindude]

nice c1s!

Pulse of the Maggots!

[Aviatrix]

125hp is still underpowered as far as I’m concerned. If you weigh 180 or more you better find a light instructor. Also it is definitely not faster than a 172. Mine rarely cruises over 110kias.

.

I usually plan for 115 TAS and see an indicated of 120. With the gross weight increase, it is now possible to take two adults and full tanks. Maybe it just seems faster because I feel so much cooler when I have the centre stick....(just joking, everyone. please don't hate me). Seriously, though, it outpaces 172s in the circuit and in cruise. At least the ones I've flown. You're right though, 125 is not a lot of horsepower. I'd like to see what they can do with 140 or 160

[MRO]

I really dont know what you guys are talking about. It is not faster than a 172. Mine sure isnt anyways.

You are right the new weight increase helps. Its about time they did that.

[VeRmiLLioN]

nice c1s!

Pulse of the Maggots!

lol!

[niss]

Me in my instructor here in Barrie have flown the Katana with NFA, he is about 175 i would say and I am 250. We made it to toronto at about 120IAS with the stock Rotax. That sucker is light and small, IMHO the only differance between a Katana and anyother Ultralight, is a full tank of gas. Fun as hell to fly tho, gotta love them floating CFSs.

Niss

[niss]

Me in my instructor here in Barrie have flown the Katana with NFA, he is about 175 i would say and I am 250. We made it to toronto at about 120IAS with the stock Rotax. That sucker is light and small, IMHO the only differance between a Katana and anyother Ultralight, is a full tank of gas. Fun as hell to fly tho, gotta love them floating CFSs.

Niss

[water wings]

love 'em!! did my initial on old 150/172 then switched to a Katana... wow. Apples and Oranges, really.
Sleek, faster (yes, faster) and the advantage of getting students familiar with a constant speed prop. Enjoyed them very much, in particular enjoyed checking out some old school guys with 20,000 hours and actually seeing them smile and remember why they love flying.
Every one should at least try it once, especially if the plane you are currently training on was built before you were born.

have fun!! ww

[WRX]

Well.. we have couple of 125hp C1s and they are definately faster than 172s. we use 2000rpm in circuit and that gives us about 100kts. and we use 2500-2550 rpm for cruise, and it gives us 130-135kts.

As everyone said, Nice plane, little bit hard to taxi, and hard to lose altitude.

[Corkscrew]

I did the majority of my flight training on Katanas, about 200hrs in the C1, that's the Lycoming with 125hp, I finished before they increased the gross weight.

Everything that's been said so far about the Katana is correct, depending on OAT the Katana can reach different speeds. It's more a matter of how much power the engine can produce than the weight, going from personal experience. Being at max gross weight or being under it rarely seemed to have an effect on cruise speed, it does affect rate of climb.

The best comparison btn the 172 and DV20 I ever heard is this:
1) A Katana drives like a sports car, responsive and nimble
VS
2) Cessnas are stable sedans that cruise well (Stable) on cross-countries but are more sluggish on the controls.

Anyone who's flown a Katana in chop knows to tighten the seat belt fast... that Canopy is closer to your head than you think. Yeah dynamic stability!

I love both aircraft. But the Katana is my first airplane, and will always be near and dear to my heart. On a personal note, it feels faster than the 172's!

[Miss Mae]

The C1 is an incredible trainer!!, I was a flight instructor at a school that flew 7 C1's and a DA40 for 5 years and I also did ferry flights and demo's for the factory.

Someone said in a previous post that their C1 wasn't any faster than a C172...just curious what kind of power settings you were using??. they always outran all of our C172's (even our newer R models)

[Machdiamond]

I have flown several Katana from Key West at +30C...

... to Quebec City at -15C...

... and the top cruise speed has never been below 130kts unless the propeller was seriously worn out. It is a FAST little bugger and I absolutely have a blast flying it. A lot of fun.

I even landed once in Sarasota with a 175kts ground speed (tail wind and descent), and the tower mistook me for a DA20 (Dassault Falcon 20) instead of DV20, they asked me to follow a DC9 on approach for the long runway, warning me not to overtake it

It's a fantastic trainer, and it gives a lot more pleasure of flying for the same money than a 152/172.

--M

[Machdiamond]

Double post.

[petey]

Fun to fly, spins great. Very good a/c if you want to really practice forced approaches.

[KenoraPilot]

Flew over 100 hours in it during my training. Great little aircraft, easy to learn on, fun to fly, joystick is fun and easy. Spins are crazy but easy to get into and out off, glides like a paper airplane so forced landings are pretty easy. Plus really simple aircraft so easy to do rides on. When my flight school closed in YWG I was one of the lucky pilots chosen to fly them back to the factory in London Ontario. Got to see the whole factory and was amazed at how much these little airplanes can take. Amazing factory and made me feel really safe in the aircraft. Side note: gets really really cold in the winter and really hot in the summer. Other than that its just very cramped for people like me 6'3" so long cross countries were not my favorite idea. Max cruise you'll get is about 120kts, and far slower if fighting a headwind. Over all great trainer, not so great cross country, unless your short and looking to make lots of hours.