Operating Cost: 4 The airplane was a reasonably brisk seller until production ended in 1979 after Gulfstream bought the line, where the focus was on building posh jets. This lasted until 1994 when the company flat-lined. .td_uid_104_5fa0fd9cf4142_rand.td-a-rec-img { ©2020 Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Aircraft Spotlight: The Grumman Tiger: Speed and Economy. Improper tensioning in the spring washers, sloppy torque tube struts, worn tires and loose axle nuts all contribute to nosewheel shimmy. Fletchair has a split nose cowl STC, which eliminates the need to take off the spinner and prop to get at the starter, alternator and front engine baffles. Aero on Demand used them for its annual, which cost about $1,700, but Mike said you pay a premium for their service. One of the things that distinguishes Aero on Demand is that it has a 7:1 member to aircraft ratio that allows members to take the plane for longer cross countries. If your club is looking for an economical aircraft that can serve as a primary trainer and a solid cross-country platform with good performance, the Grumman Tiger is a plane you may want to consider. It had 150 horses under the cowl and more traditional fuel tanks. The Tiger is the fastest of the line since the Cheetah makes 12 knots slower, with the Traveler bringing up the rear and slower yet, but will still blow away a 150-HP Skyhawk or older Warrior. Garner Rice is a tuff man to get ahold of but he can tell you every thing there is to know about them. Following the Yankee was the four-seat AA-5 Traveler from American Aviation. Experienced Tiger pilots tend to simply count to five for half flaps. The spars look like 6" round pipe. The Tiger was an early pioneer of the current trend toward castoring nosewheels and that means brake pads wear quickly. It's priced at $499 and has... © 2020 Aviation Publishing Group. I was also asked to do a flight review in the same aircraft (one of the owners friends). Owners will say the airplane. Since that time, we have flown the aircraft 500 hours; day, night, IFR and VFR. As a two-placer with the optional 51-gallon tanks full of fuel, the Cheetah will fly a lot longer than youd be comfortable staying in it. If you try to push a Grumman back into its tiedown without a tow bar to help, youll risk both damaging the nosewheel and create a comedy show on the ramp. Its a shotgun AD that applies to a number of airplanes with Lycoming engines. Thats enough for full fuel (51 gallons) and three adults, plus a little baggage. One of the reasons Aero on Demand chose Grumman aircraft is they are a known airframe and easy to insure. The Tigers interior and panel have stood the test of time, although many airplanes sport cracked interior pieces and broken instrument panel trim and overlays. The Grumman / American line includes the Tiger ( at 180 HP, NOT equivalent to the C182) and Cheetah - these are nice performing planes with a sliding canopy. Otherwise, it was fast and fun to fly. There were no major design changes during the Tigers production run, although there were some refinements. Again I am going off of memory and I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning. Fletchair (800-329-4647 and www.fletchair.com) has long specialized in Grummans. The club pays $5,200 a year. The Yankee featured revolutionary construction, aluminum-honeycomb sandwich fuselage panels and bonded skins. Some call them silly little airplanes. David Fletcher, President of FletchAir, has grown up with the Grumman family of aircraft and has been a stocking Grumman dealer since 1974. Air Mods can turn Travelers and Cheetahs into Tigers with a 180-HP conversion. } You can literally fly with your pinkies.”, It also has a sliding canopy, which can be opened in flight, and excellent visibility. The aircraft has been fool-proof. This slick canopy makes getting in and out of the airplane a minor challenge if you have stiff muscles. It is ALL they do. Many of these smooth mods made their way to the Traveler to mold the model AA-5A Cheetah (the Cheetah retained the lesser 150-HP Lycoming). Fletchair here in Texas is the "go-to" for all things AA5 and AA1. Although it shouldnt be a problem for any current airplanes still flying, bond-line separation plagued a few early models. Some energetic and skilled Tiger owners tweak as much climb as possible from their airplanes-essentially ignoring the book procedures and climb with some flaps hanging out. He is looking at a 172 for the familiarity factor. Maintenance (4 stars) Canada Launches Advanced Air Mobility Consortium, Pipistrel Selects Honeywell Fly-By-Wire For Nuuva V300, NASA OSIRIS-REx Completes Asteroid Touch-And-Go, When A Good Landing Falls Into Your Lap—Brag, Best Of The Web: Landing On A Pitching Deck, Top Letters And Comments, October 30, 2020, STOL Competition To Headline Sun ‘N Fun Holiday Flying Festival, Sun ‘N Fun To Host Holiday Flying Festival, Wright Brothers Memorial Banquet Goes Virtual, Textron Aviation Offering SAF With New Aircraft, Coalition Releases Sustainable Aviation Fuel Guide, GPS Users Ask Senate Committee To Block Cell Network, Stratus Insight Integrated With Avidyne Helios, Atlas. The Tiger/Cheetah interior is comfortable, and the panoramic visibility and canopy view makes it feel roomier than it really is. The worst have rapt audiences equipped with cameras. FletchAir, Inc. is known worldwide as the single largest manufacturer and distributor of parts for American, American General, Grumman-American, and Gulfstream-American copies. “In the Tiger you sit high in the saddle,” Mike said. This applies to the 1975 Traveler up through the 1979 Tiger. These monitors have been known to register upwards of 450 degrees, a big number for a low-output four-cylinder. A sporty balance of snappy handling, class-leading speed and a sliding canopy that has earned a cult-like following. After earning my private pilot license in 1997, I joined a flying club and flew a 1974 Cessna 172 and a newer Piper Archer II. If you bring it in too fast, it will not just flop to the runway. Fun Factor: 3.5 If it didn't hold...too bad. I have always liked the look of these airplanes but have never gotten the chance to fly one, until recently. I studied,” Mike said. Plus, youll get wet in the rain, but rewarded with excellent ventilation on hot days during taxi (and in flight). If cracks are found, the crank needs to be replaced, and if corrosion pits are found, the AD becomes a 100-hour repetitive inspection until a new crank is put in at overhaul. Members have flown from Texas to Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky and New Orleans, not to mention trips within Texas that would be an eight to nine hour car ride. Owned 1976 Cheetah serial # 28 for four years. “The operating cost is really low. I liked the sliding canopy. Air Mods NW (www.airmodsnw.com) does wing repairs, refurbishments and upgrades, and has a number of STCs for the Tiger. It wasnt until Grumman stepped in, threw its money on the table and involved the famous Roy LoPresti to work his aero magic on the design. Im now over 200 hours in Grumman Tigers, and they are a consistently dependable and simple aircraft to fly. “Annuals are simple.” There is a company called FletchAir in Comfort, Texas that specializes in Grumman parts and maintenance. In 1978, the iron-butt-inducing seats were improved, and U-strips were added to the trailing edges of the control surfaces to prevent delamination of the bonds. A club I belonged to had the 150 hp Cheetah version. My Tiger is IFR certified. Flashback to the late 1960s when the model AA-1 Yankee designed by Jim Bede came on the scene. “It’s super tight on the controls. He paid $1,200 for a set for the club’s Cheetah and said he had to look long and hard to find them. Aero on Demand’s Tiger has an S-Tec autopilot and the Cheetah has a factory-installed Century 1 autopilot, and both are equipped with a panel-mounted Garmin GPS, making the aircraft a good cross country platform in VFR or IFR conditions. (With a climb prop, a Tiger may see 1000 FPM.) Gotta watch this. The Tiger will glide better and will not bleed off speed as fast as some aircraft. Ive had my Tiger for 12 years now and have flown between 70 and 100 hours per year. “I looked at a Cirrus SR-20, 172s, Pipers—[with a Grumman] you get a lot of airplane for your dollar.”. Mike chose the Tiger for its speed and efficiency. Hard chines run along the lower corner of the fuselage, and the wing-fuselage junction has no fairing to smooth interference drag. The wing Spar's need careful inspection. This means pulling the wing end caps. Overall: 3.8. Talk about Grumman Tigers and the first thing that comes to mind is that fighter-jet-like sliding canopy. Among the more lengthy trips my wife and I have taken were from Princeton, New Jersey, to Cody, Wyoming, Fredericksburg, Texas, and last year to Red Deer, Alberta. Since, theres been lots of buzz of the airplane coming back but nothing close to real production has resulted. With full fuel, the payload is about 600 pounds or so – plenty if it’s two people flying with luggage. 7 (even gave a demo ride to a real WW2 fighter ace); and I owned a '78 Cheetah for five years, so I'm pretty familiar with the breed. Other mods of note: Approach Aviation (www.approachaviation.com has a. ram air induction kit; Powerflow (www.powerflowsystems.com) has a tuned exhaust system; Dallas Metroplex Aviation or DMA has speed mods for the Grumman (www.dmaspeedmods.airweb.net).

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