Flying the Model 72
Big thanks to
Tom Rochford
for sharing his experience with the Model 72!
"Scanned the attached pages of the Model 72
Handbook. Hopefully you can tell the differences in the cockpit layout. Note the
open bucket seats. Our chute in a seat pack with a seat cushion was dropped in.
In a previous photo we are walking away from the aircraft carrying the chutes.
The seats were stationary and we adjusted the rudder pedals. The student flew
and soloed from the right seat. That conditioned the student to use the left
hand for the throttle quadrant and his right hand on the stick which is the
normal tactical aircraft setup.
As, I remember the evaluation program between the 3
aircraft was to replace the SNJ. I
also have a flight manual. It's rather skimpy compared to other manuals and
contains NO flight operation section as I remember.
The evaluation program had four instructors and 12 students with various
backgrounds. Four students to each aircraft
and the instructors rotated. I was
Marine 1st Lt recently back from Korea. I did
not know or meet the other students flying the Navion. We were all from
different flight classes. I was the first to
solo the Navion and that was for one flight. The talk at the time seemed to be
that most liked the Temco, probably
because it had a hotter look. The Navion was the only side by side which
probable helped me adapt easier watching the instructor and him watching my
cockpit procedures. Spins were demonstrated on the 3rd flight and were routine
in most early flights. Acrobatics also became routine. The Navion was too stable
and you had to work at spins,etc. I had a total of 34.8 hours in the Navion.
Because they only had one aircraft I received one solo flight, that was No 10 or
12 flight?? After the eval we started in the SNJ program for about 150 hours.
During the time I was involved with the Navion, I
was a student without any pilot experience. The ground school was built around
the SNJ. There was extensive ground school on the SNJ but none on the Navion. We
knew the training in the Navion was for an evaluation and we would get our real
basic in the SNJ. I was never in a standard Navion, so I can make no comparison
except what I remember being told. So my knowledge of the aircraft is limited to
what was in a preliminary pilots handbook."
"Scanned the attached pages of the Model 72
Handbook. Hopefully you can tell the differences in the cockpit layout. Note the
open bucket seats. Our chute in a seat pack with a seat cushion was dropped in.
In a previous photo we are walking away from the aircraft carrying the chutes.
The seats were stationary and we adjusted the rudder pedals. The student flew
and soloed from the right seat. That conditioned the student to use the left
hand for the throttle quadrant and his right hand on the stick which is the
normal tactical aircraft setup.
