I have several hundred hours instructing primary students in AA-1s, AA-1As, AA-1Bs and TR-2s all with the O-235. They were an excellent trainer. It got a bad rap initially , because pilots that learned in C-150s got into it and tried to fly it like a 150. I’ve instructed in both and I feel the Grumman produced better pilots in the area of aircraft control knowledge.
I can not tell you props I replaced on Sunday afternoons. That was before prop strike AD. The wildest thing I did in an AA-1 was when an instructor told me to do a full power crossed controlled stall. HE WAS A FORMER NAVY FORMATION FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR. We were at 7,000 ft. He told me when it broke, HE HAD IT. That quick we were on our back than heading straight down. Power off he pulled it out smoothly and lost only about 1,500 feet. NEVER NEVER DO THIS !!!!!!!!!!!
@@davidhofman4341 I used to do wing overs from 2,000 agl, on TR2's. And other "legal" aerobatics. No spins of course. Like a little fighter. We used to overtake Cessnas and some cherokees too.
Man that brings back memories.....even with 108 original HP , it was a hot rod. Tower at our local airport kept asking us to slow down in the circuit because we were over running the Cessnas and Cherokees...
Many thanx for sharing this wonderful little aircraft with us, Mark. I went solo and got my PPL on a Yankee way back in 1972. It really teaches you to fly well, free castering nose wheel, short wings (Very nippy) has a high sink rate with power off. Made later conversions onto other aircraft a lot easier. Flew all over Southern Africa with it...given the chance, I shall gladly do it all over again!
That's an airplane that you strap on, not into. Like a go-cart with a 10 hp Briggs instead of the original 5 hp.. lots of fast. And climbing at 1200 fpm, very nice.
When I decided to buy a plane, I considered the Grumman. I ended up getting a Cherrokee Arrow 200. Smallest Arrow with biggest engine. I've been very happy with that plane.
I had an AA1A into which I put an 0-320 Lycoming of 150hp and 74 inch Sensenich prop out of a TriPacer. Performed great and since my home airfield in S.Africa was at 5250 ft amsl that is what the aircraft needed on any hot day, which could push density alt. up to 9500 feet at times! Climbed out nicely at 900 ft per minute @ gross weight and cruised comfortably 140 mph indicated. I doubled the 22 galls useable fuel with an aux tank in the baggage compartment but you can also achieve that with additional tubular tanks in the lightening holes of the wing ribs, keeping the fuel out of the cabin completely!
My brother worked at American Aviation/ Grumman. He learned to fly on the AA-1. I got to fly some cross country flights in that model. Even with the 108hp it could climb out at 1000fpm. Of course we were young and skinnier lol. A great 2 place plane designed by Jim Bede. I still have one of the original brochures. Selling price was 6000. I think. Bonded metal skins and honeycomb main fuselage structure. A great plane.
The Yankee was originally designed as a shop-made trailer that will fit down a road and fit into a small garage. That means that the tail feathers (and rear fuselage) are very short! The wings are economy, each is just 8' to used standard aluminum sheets. So two 8" wings + a 4' fuselage + 2' wingtips = a 24' wingspan! Then a small C2C engine to keep the costs down. So do not expect climb, do not expect slow speed control authority, it only has 11gal usable a side so you have to switch tanks, do not expect it to be a glider, do not expect to carry passengers on hot days. IT'S THE PERFECT TRAINER! I learned to fly in the AA-1B and then ever since other planes felt easy to the point of boredom.
Got my private in the AA-1 almost 50 years ago. N5716L. Great little plane as long as you realized it doesn't like slow, and hold 90 on final. Wish I had one now. The only change I would like to have seen is to produce an aerobatic version. It had great ailerons and roll rate.
Love those Grummans! I own and fly a 77 AA-5B Tiger out of KBJC - Rocky Mt. Metro Denver. It's been our baby since 2016 and it's a pleasure to fly. AS a former Navy guy, I can appreciate an airplane that performs well and is fun to fly. Our Tiger has the Lycoming O-360-A4K engine in it. I see true airspeeds of 140 knots cruising at 10,500' on a consistent basis. Since purchasing it back in 2016, I've added a few upgrades such as ADS-B out and had the panel refurbished by replacing the factory plastic and installing an aluminum, powder coated panel, adding dual G5's and dual USB power ports. It already came with an older model EI digital engine monitor and chronometer, which I kept. It is fully IFR capable with a Garmin 430W and Bendix/King KX 155 COM/NAV with backup VOR/ILS/GS gauges. It does not have an autopilot as the previous owner had it removed. My son used it to get his PPC, instrument, commercial and CFI ratings. It is both an excellent trainer and people mover. Payload is 935 lbs with full fuel, which is 51 gallons usable or 38 gallons when filled to tabs. We typically operate it at tabs for most of the year. Fuel burn in cruise is excellent, especially since I installed a SureFly electronic magneto last year. I see 7.5 gph when setting power for economy cruise and 8.5 gph in max power cruise. The 180 HP is a must up here in Denver, where the air is thin and the DA is always above 6,000' or higher. We've taken the Tiger all over the west as far as California and down south as far as Houston, TX. We've also flown it to Oskhosh and are headed there again this year. It's a great aircraft and somewhat economical to operate and maintain as aircraft go. Thanks for sharing your Yankee adventures with us. I look forward to seeing more Grummans showcased on your channel. Cheers!
Flew Tigers in the1970's. Full IFR, brand new with autopilot digital panel. Only 34 dollars an hour. Florida to Bahamas and back.. The king of the class tigers are..
Given the year and manufacturer, I'd say that's a Grumman Trainer. The Yankee was made by American Aviation (hence the "AA" designation). The tail also looks like a Trainer. I got my Private in one. The examiner almost killed the engine before a touch and go by adding carb heat. He didn't believe me when I said the pilot's manual cautioned not to use carb heat unless you suspected icing. He pulled the knob, the engine almost quit and that old guy pushed it back in so fast I thought he'd break his wrist. He was quiet the rest of the flight. I thought he was going to flunk me for spite. I sat waiting for my debrief and finally went to the front counter. The lady chuckled and said "Oh, Mr. Crane left this for you" and handed me my temporary airman's certificate. He'd left it and skedaddled. Yes, I remember his name almost 50 years later! I flew it a lot after that to get hours for my commercial ticket. I loved that plane.
That was fun, huh!? Thx Mark and I have a question: have you ever done a back story vid....how or what got you here doing what you do? How did this all happen, anyway? I'm thinking a lot of your followers would find it very interesting! Grist for the mill.
Hi Mark. Great little toy. I learnt to fly in a AA-1C, a very good trainer. The Grumman Tiger is a brilliant aeroplane. Hard to come by now here in New Zealand. 👍🏻
I have an AA1C that you probably flew. I’ve owned her for 11 years and slowly restoring her. She flies every week. She’s had all the corrosion removed, new engine and avionics and will be getting paint and interior sometime soon. Lovely little aircraft.
A lot of people had trouble with the original Yankee because of stalls. You for sure didn't want to get too slow too close to the ground in one of there little birds. This one in the video is a 1B, which is the sought after model. Great video as always Mark!
Cool airplane! There was a sad looking one of these, red baked paint, wheels half sunk in the turf at KMTN. Hadn’t moved in years, grounds crew would cut the grass around it, poor thing. Always wondered what the story was behind it.
@@skywagonuniversity5023 the rumor on this forlorn fellow, its owner died, and his widow couldn’t bear to part with it. (This is why my wife, and I, use grandmother’s china, better to break it through use, than to have it decay in disuse.)
Fuel trusted to live happily in a spar.. that's my kind of spar. Right that's it I'm going for some circuits in the Cherokee. Thanks for a new Skywagon University vid.. About on par with the delight of taking my shoes off after a long day on my feet, which are often coincident. Vid cut very cleanly though 🤔 lol
I learned to fly in a 1971 AA-1A with the 108hp O-235 Lycoming engine but got a chance to fly an AA-1B with a 150hp engine. I thought it was great. 180hp???? Oh yes…yes please.
I’m curious if cooling was improved for the O-360. I recall a summertime take off back in the 70’s at an airport in North Sac Valley OAT 115 F. It managed 300 fpm and oil temp on the O-235 was awfully close to redline. Great plane and fun to fly.
If you don’t fly final at 70 knots reducing to 65 over the fence the little bird will float and float and float. It sits low to the ground and ground effect really comes into play. I land mine on 1500’ of grass using short field speed of 65 and never have to brake. Great little plane.
Great info. I have a 1600 foot grass strip and am considering one of these. It has the small engine, but, the plan is a 150 or 160 hp conversion. Would 2 people and full fuel be a problem?
The -1B model was called a "Trainer." The original and true Yankee (a production version of the Bede BD-1 without folding wings) had a different wing airfoil, and was ~10 mph faster than the Trainer. As mentioned in other comments, the B model has a tamer stall... We had an FBO in Flagstaff that was an American Aviation dealer and flight school, with a fleet of the colorful little Yankees. I remember takeoff performance was a bit dicey with the 7000' field elevation and only ~108 hp.
Just an FYI -- The -1B came in 2 sub-flavors. The Trainer had no pants and a climb prop. The TR-2 had pants and a cruise prop. I own/fly the latter with an O-320 conversion. Yea - the O-235 made any summer ops potentially dicey. The O-320 took care of that.
@@davidduganne5939 - Sho thang. Not that it's terribly important, but in the case of dotting i's and crossing t's -- I thought you might find it worthy information.
@@benjammin1001 Indeed--many subtle differences get lost in the "haze of time" 😂. (That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!) There was a lot of variety in those planes of the 70s/early 80s. We had a faux British camouflage Trainer in a Bay Area club, and I loved flying it! Now that you mention it, ours had a climb prop and no wheel pants. It was always a popular plane with the spectators when I went to fly-ins in the area. Many thought it was a homebuilt aircraft. Your TR-2 must be fun with an O-320 👍
Staying alive at 65 just as I do in my Ercoupe. Nearly the same performance as my one except the take off length and the top speed. I've got a whole 85 hp though, and I burn 3.2 gals. per hour.
True story: Got accepted to Test Pilot School. Big engined Yankees have two hour range. Had serious girlfriend. Had to relocate from East Coast to Mojave. Told girlfriend we were flying to California, and then back in 9 months . Thinking that if she can deal with me in a big engine Yankee for a few weeks… Married now 25+ years to the girl that past the ultimate premarital test.
@@CFITOMAHAWK On, the first time I had controls and my first log book entry was a night flight in a Cessna 207. I got the controls 100 ft after take off and 100 ft before landing. The instructor did the throttle and prop. The flight was from LNS to Phila int.
@@skywagonuniversity5023 Fun? Then put that engine in a taildragger and go have all the fun you want. For me with that type of aircraft and fuel burn it's all about getting me from A to B as comfortable, safely and efficiently as possible.
@@mdsalern I figured it was a one time STC. Did you do any CG adjustment? I don’t recall where the battery is but moving it to the rear would help. How many hours do you have in this configuration? I’ve seen some Cessna 150’s with a big motor used for banner towing.
@@timsparks7049 I have 250 hours in a stock AA-1. I have no specifics on this airplane but had looked at buying it. Maynard was very active in the Grumman community.
