Grob 115

A few weeks ago I did a check flight on a Grob 115a from Deutsche Luftfahrt AG in Egelsbach. They had been advertising that they have a new aircraft and the best part for me is that it „only“ costs 129€/hour wet. The C-172 in Reichelsheim is 165€ so this saves a bit and I get to fly an aircraft made in the 80‘s. I will be probably be flying N80154 less and using it only for longer flights or for multi-day trips.

The Grob was introduced as a primary trainer back in the 80‘s and if you believe the website from them, it was fairly popular. They went out of business, but are back as Grob Aerospace. When I did my PPL in Augsburg there was a flight school that only had this aircraft. I did feel kind of stupid/strange/weird walking with my instructors then past these newer, cleaner aircraft and getting into a dirty, oily C-152 built in the early 70‘s. Nevertheless, it is the instructor that makes the difference and not the aircraft. But back then I was somewhat envious of the students from this other school who got to fly in these beauties.

The check flight went well except for the landings. I forgot my cushion and had problems flaring and staying on the centerline.

When I went for a flight on my own, I had the cushion and really had fun keeping the nose up during the flair. The cockpit is fairly basic with probably the original King/Bendix radio stack. As someone who has up until now basically only worked with a Garmin 430, I notice how far technology has come over the past 20 odd years. I also noticed that the Grob is louder than a Cessna. Maybe not volume-wise, but the plastic flyer sounds different than the alloy aircraft I have flown in.

Basically, I need an aircraft that I can charter for a hour each week and the Grob will let me do that without breaking the bank.