Zlin z-126 is my favorite handlingwise. Zlin 526AFS is a similar one but overpowered not underpowered as 126.
M20R is my another pick.
Aeros Target – very good handling. Stall almost too benign – the only way you can tell you’re stalled is that you’re going straight down. A good training glider, but a bit slow and possible to get yourself into sticky situations as a result.
Gypsy Skyhook – quite nice at speed, but insufficient control authority when slow. Vicious wing drop in the stall.
PA-38 – I like it. Reasonably roomy. Great visibility. I never managed to stall one without a wing drop. But is it still a wing drop if you roll past 180?
PA-28 – I have treasured memories of flying a bad-weather circuit in crisp, still weather Inverness with the engine barely ticking over and the air thick and cold.
C152 – My personal preference is for low wing aircraft and I suspect this is something that gets fixed early on in training. I still find it hard to remember to look for traffic before turning rather than whilst initiating a turn. But it’s fun and has just enough adverse yaw to keep you thinking about the rudder.
C172 – A bit heavy. Not quite as fun as the 152 but dependable and the extra fuel capacity is very welcome. I would take the Piper offerings above either if given the choice, but more than happy to fly Cessnas if not.
Super-Decathlon – It’s nice to fly something you feel you would have to try hard to break.
Cub – Boing. Boing. Boing. Wheee! The flying is too slow for my liking, but take-offs and landings on rough strips with big tyres are great.
D31 Turbulent – early days yet. Nice crisp handling. Control forces low enough that you really don’t need a trim tab. Sideslips are stupendous and are the only time you need more than a smidgeon of rudder. The power-off stall straight-and-level is rather interesting. The nose bobs up and down fairly rapidly but you still have full use of the ailerons due to the fixed slots in front of them. These fixed slots are the hallmark of the design. But I’m yet to be completely convinced of their utility. Do you really want to get into the habit of using ailerons in the stall? Secondly, whilst a planned stall is benign, various combinations of power, bank-angle and yaw more representative of a stall on the turn to final can lead to quite a marked wing-drop with no warning. I wouldn’t say it’s dangerous so much as deceptively reassuring – treat it like any other aircraft and there shouldn’t be a problem. On the other hand, if you forget the stall and think about the excellent roll authority at low speed and in slips perhaps this is where their true utility lies. I find myself very aware of the fact that it’s a vintage plane and strive to be very gentle when mishandling it.
Luggage space is fine for a 1-seater – I’m sure I will be able to fit all my camping gear which I bought for cycling – thankfully it’s bulky rather than heavy. The drawback is weight – the D31 has rather restrictive weight limits which would make it unusable for many pilots these days. The D31A variant stays legal at higher weights but I’m told that changes to the elevator mean that its handling isn’t quite as nice. Swings and roundabouts.
The PA38 Tomahawk was designed this way on purpose – to show a student what a stall really is, or can be. It is also approved for spins. Other than if you train in a 152 you will always be careful about the angle of attack later. I have two friends who one one, and they both love it. The visibility is very good, there’s more room than in a 152.
The problem with the Tomahawk was always that it was not even accepted among medioce flight instructors who got scared by the wing drop. And, as Peter mentioned, it is not a plane to stall down low.
(I have not flown one, so this is based on stuff I read and heard)
Flyer59 wrote:
And, as Peter mentioned, it is not a plane to stall down low.
It is not a good idea to stall any airplane down low 
and certainly not at 500’
For some reason I never liked high wing airplanes. Their only merit is to provide shelter from rain and sun. The only one I’ve flown I could tolerate is the P210. The C172 feels way too heavy in roll. And I never figured out the use of rudder. It feels funny.
I have flown over 50 types including the latest plastic airplanes. My only advice to those that don’t own a Bonanza and can’t afford to buy one, don’t take a flight in one or you will forever know what you are missing. :)
It is not a good idea to stall any airplane down low and certainly not at 500’
Sure ;-) But in my Warrior a stall at 500 ft would have little consequence. And that’s a danger in itself, because a beginner might thing “they’re all like that”.
Aviathor wrote:
I never liked high wing airplanes
Low wings are hot in the cockpit not good to fly during the summer (it’s a big reason the expensive A/C is usually ordered on a Cirrus). Get more pronounced ground effect when landing. And you can’t see the ground or planes below you easily.
High wing are far more comfortable in the cockpit and will not get water leaks thru the doors if tied-down outside in the rain. Also have better views down, passengers like that.
Other than that, the differences are not about the wing placement, but the zillion other elements of an aircraft like panel, wing loading, yoke versus stick, useful load, speed, range etc.
Flyer59 wrote:
The PA38 Tomahawk was designed this way on purpose – to show a student what a stall really is, or can be.
And I think it was a very good idea. To be fair on the instructors, there is a long and involved history with spinworthiness on the type and there is also a ‘gotcha’ with the static air port (if you leave it in the wrong position, which is not obvious, the ASI over-reads by 10 knots).
One thing I’ve found during my conversion to the Turbulent is that a lot of the issues we discussed during my training, but that weren’t really an issue, become much more important when converting to a vintage type. Carb icing is very real. The throttle lever doesn’t always stay where it’s put so it’s good to keep your hand on it during take-off. Stalls aren’t quite as exciting as they are on the PA-38 but they’re definitely a good thing to be aware of.
C152: easy to fly, very small. You are propped in the plane when your co-pilot is not very tiny.
C172: same as C152 but a little more spacious.
C172 SP: 30HP extra, and G1000 I like this more
C182: spacious, easy to fly, but I didn’t like it, it was too stable
In total: I don’t like flying high wing very much. In your turns, you loose sight.
Extra200: really fun to fly. Reacts very fast on your input and a nice rollrate
Piper Warrior PA28: learned to fly with it: nice easy plane. It doesn’t ask for much flare and you don’t learn to use your rudder a lot.But I like to fly it.
Mooney M20J: I fly this one the most and I really like it! You have to stay ahaid of it. It is fast, economic…if you fly the numbers, it behaves. If you are sloppy, you will know it.
D140 musquetair: I did my site rating at LFLJ it it: little bit old, but nice to fly. Reacts very precise. Panorama cockpit.
PC7: nice performance. Very stable and precise in cruise and you can also fly a little bit aerobatic with it. Fun to fly
C510: but this was only for 20 minutes a transfer. Followed the flight director and it reacted very nice. With rotation I had to pull a bit, it was quite noseheavy. Also with the landing it surpised me a bit when the nose wheel came down. The carbon breaks (first experience): what a difference!!
USFlyer wrote:
Low wings are hot in the cockpit not good to fly during the summer (it’s a big reason the expensive A/C is usually ordered on a Cirrus). Get more pronounced ground effect when landing.
I never understood why anyone would think of this as a problem. Landing at the right speed is what you need in any airplane.
USFlyer wrote:
High wing are far more comfortable in the cockpit
Highly subjective. You cannot state that as a fact.
USFlyer wrote:
Other than that, the differences are not about the wing placement, but the zillion other elements of an aircraft like panel, wing loading, yoke versus stick, useful load, speed, range etc.
I concur. And that is why despite my aversion against high-wing I actually liked the P210.
