SHOULD WE RE-WORK THE S7 TO ENABLE REAR SEAT
SOLO FLIGHT?
Piper Cubs are soloed from the rear; why not the S7?
Tandem seating aircraft can
have CG issues which may suggest that soloing from the rear seat is preferable.
For example, early model S7’s tend to have a more forward CG when soloing from
the front seat. The pre-1995 models which have a small trim tab and unbalanced
elevators can have moderately heavy stick forces when trying to land in a full
stall mode. On this 94 with the battery moved forward to the baggage
compartment and a 10 pound weight bolted to the lifting handle I’ll still
occasionally want to pull back with both hands before touch down and it even
has the longer trim tab. The CG with me (190lbs) and minimum fuel is at 44” aft
of firewall (this is well ahead of the forward limit of 48”).
With a passenger, which moves
the CG to 50 or 51” trim and stick pressures on landing are just fine. So, why not remove that additional 10 lb
weight and fly solo from the rear seat (CG also at 50”)? Let’s see what it
feels like.
CAUTION: CHECK YOUR
AIRCRAFT’S CG BEFORE YOU TRY THIS
Here is the view from the
back on the ground:
Right off you can see that there
isn’t a view over the nose, just out to the side; but, hey, that tail still
comes up quickly so poor vis doesn’t last long.
Once in flight visibility is
fine and that long nose ahead of you gives a totally different feel.
Because there are two notches of flap and I’m
climbing, the nose is higher than it would be in a faster cruise.
Taking pictures from the rear
is easier too.
Now, solo from the rear, I
have the landing characteristics of the more aft CG: minimal stick forces and
no trim issues with the added plus of lighter weight.
On the other hand, as is, the
S7 is not set up for this. The flaps and trim are not accessible, nor are the
mag switches or fuel shut off (though on this plane I have the master and
starter at the rear seat. Further, big winter boots are a little tight at the
rear rudder peddles where, on the left side, the throttle linkage cramps the
space.
So, the question is, should
we re-work the S7 to make rear seat solo work properly? One big advantage is being able to move the
battery forward which gives better accessibility, less weight due to shorter
cables and improved electrical characteristics while not having to add lead or
baggage when solo. On the other hand rear seat access to flaps means dramatic
linkage changes or going to electric flaps. Also, rear seat instrumentation is
no simple task either (it was nice to fly with that highly visible angle of
attack indicator up front).
It turns out that going to
dynamically balanced elevators has a big impact on stick forces with forward
CG. One of my previous 94 S7’s had balanced elevators and large trim tab with
electric trim and it was very acceptable while landing solo.
So, while it was fun to
re-visit rear seat solo, I think I may just go to balanced elevators instead.
Let’s head home:
2009/01/29