AMD Alarus ... What's it like?

[aviator1978]

Researching some basic trainers and am curious about the Alarus. If anyone out there has flown one:

How does it compare with a DA20, or 152?

Any weird flight characteristics?

Maintainance issues?

Did you enjoy flying it, or move on to another aircraft?

How much did it cost you to rent?

The plane seems to be a pretty good basic trainer on paper, but I haven't been able to find anyone who has flown one.

 

[fredp4rrot]

I did my PPL in the C152. I started my IR in the Alarus but swapped back to the Cessna due to availability issues. I have about 20hrs in the Alarus CH2000. The aircraft had around 100hrs TT on the hobbs. These are my observations of it...

It has great all-round visiblity due to it's bubble-like canopy, but you really suffer when you're in warm weather as the ventilation is not particularly good and there are no visors.

It has gull-wing doors, which you have to be careful of when closing. The latch is fairly primative. The aircraft I flew once suffered the door opening on a student at 5K ft and he declared a Pan call as he couldn't close it.....

Leg room is also very limited if you are on the tall side.

The panel comes well equipped though, with garmin 430 GPS as standard I believe.

It is very slow and cruises at about 85 kts.

It has a stabilator which was quite heavy to operate in comparison to the C152 elevator.

The Alarus flies quite well when it is trimmed out. I would say though that the C152 is more stable in turbulent weather.

I found the foot brakes to be pretty ineffective and required a lot of force to make them work.

I paid $70 ph wet for both the C152 and the Alarus. Prices have risen though since I flew them about 14 months ago.

If I had the choice, I would fly the 152. Just my 2 cents...

 

[Alin10123]

I did my PPL in the C152. I started my IR in the Alarus but swapped back to the Cessna due to availability issues. I have about 20hrs in the Alarus CH2000. The aircraft had around 100hrs TT on the hobbs. These are my observations of it...

It has great all-round visiblity due to it's bubble-like canopy, but you really suffer when you're in warm weather as the ventilation is not particularly good and there are no visors.

It has gull-wing doors, which you have to be careful of when closing. The latch is fairly primative. The aircraft I flew once suffered the door opening on a student at 5K ft and he declared a Pan call as he couldn't close it.....

Leg room is also very limited if you are on the tall side.

The panel comes well equipped though, with garmin 430 GPS as standard I believe.

It is very slow and cruises at about 85 kts.

It has a stabilator which was quite heavy to operate in comparison to the C152 elevator.

The Alarus flies quite well when it is trimmed out. I would say though that the C152 is more stable in turbulent weather.

I found the foot brakes to be pretty ineffective and required a lot of force to make them work.

I paid $70 ph wet for both the C152 and the Alarus. Prices have risen though since I flew them about 14 months ago.

If I had the choice, I would fly the 152. Just my 2 cents...

Dang... $70 an hour? i'm training in one now and they charge $90 an hour.
IMHO it's a pretty nice aircraft for training purposes. It's pretty forgiving on the controls too i think compared to a 172 i flew. Can't really find anything bad to say about it except it's really slow especially during cross country flights. I hate it when ATC says "keep your speed up" and i've got to shoot an ILS approach with 75% power in. It's pretty tough. But normally, it's pretty good.

I think the TAS at cruise is actually 92 knots instead of 85 though.

 

[IHateDaley]

I have about 300 hours in the Hillarious. The cruise speed is advertised to be 99 KTAS, however it is closer to about 96. It does have a climb prop, so it will out-climb any 152 out there. Visibility is great and it is very roomy for a 2 seater. The aircraft is nose heavy, so that takes a little time getting used to. The doors must be closed whenever the engine is on or when its gusty, otherwise the hinge will get damaged. It also has very good crosswing landing characteristics, thanks to a well designed rudder and a rock-solid landing gear. Good spin characteristic (or so they tell me). There were some minor maitenance issues - metal shavings in the battery compartment and other examples of sloppy workmanship. We also had to install a fixed aileron trim-tab. It rented for $80 wet. I'll take it over a 152 any day. However, the DA20 is much nicer.

 

[EDUC8-or]

I gave about 100 hours dual in the Alarus. It rented for somewhere around 69 bucks an hour about 2 years ago. It's slow, gets WAY too hot in warm climates, and isn't comfortable in the right seat if you're tall. Someone previously posted the landing gear is solid, but it has a bungee nose gear that is suspect. Personally, I don't think it would take the beating a 152 might.

It does climb well and it has a nice panel. Split flaps will help it drop like a rock. We leased ours and got rid of it before any major issues popped up, but the doors are flimsy and I wouldn't want to see the nose gear take too much of a pounding on a routine basis.

 

[UGAflyer]

haha...that sums up the alarus. it's like fisher price's "my first airplane." i hate that airplane and hope I never fly one again. the panel is really nice, BUT THAT IS IT. I don't know what these other guys are talking about as far as it climbing well, maybe I had a bad one..but the one i flew climbed terribly..i was getting passed by crows on the climbout. and it's slow. the good thing about it is the lack of aerodynamics..you can keep full power until your over the lights and pull power and drop flaps and put it down on the numbers. i don't think it will go fast enough to get out of flap operating range. and it sucks in the summer. maybe you'll like it..i hate that plane

 

[Alin10123]

haha...that sums up the alarus. it's like fisher price's "my first airplane." i hate that airplane and hope I never fly one again. the panel is really nice, BUT THAT IS IT. I don't know what these other guys are talking about as far as it climbing well, maybe I had a bad one..but the one i flew climbed terribly..i was getting passed by crows on the climbout. and it's slow. the good thing about it is the lack of aerodynamics..you can keep full power until your over the lights and pull power and drop flaps and put it down on the numbers. i don't think it will go fast enough to get out of flap operating range. and it sucks in the summer. maybe you'll like it..i hate that plane

It cruises fast enough to get out of flaps operating range. It doesn't like to climb very high as you said. But it will loose altitude pretty fast. Also, as a training aircraft to people brand new to flying, it's got a pretty forgiving attitude on the controls IMHO. Of course... now i want something a little quicker. I wouldn't say i'd never fly one again. But i'd much rather fly something a little quicker. Otherwise those XC trips will get boring.

 

[Alin10123]

I have about 300 hours in the Hillarious. The cruise speed is advertised to be 99 KTAS, however it is closer to about 96. It does have a climb prop, so it will out-climb any 152 out there. Visibility is great and it is very roomy for a 2 seater. The aircraft is nose heavy, so that takes a little time getting used to. The doors must be closed whenever the engine is on or when its gusty, otherwise the hinge will get damaged. It also has very good crosswing landing characteristics, thanks to a well designed rudder and a rock-solid landing gear. Good spin characteristic (or so they tell me). There were some minor maitenance issues - metal shavings in the battery compartment and other examples of sloppy workmanship. We also had to install a fixed aileron trim-tab. It rented for $80 wet. I'll take it over a 152 any day. However, the DA20 is much nicer.

99 knots? hmm... our operating manual for 2002 says 92 KTAS. Yea, visibility is pretty good too. Ours has a fixed aileron trim tab too. But i think it's not calibrated 100% correctly, depending on a few factors, it has a right turn tendancy during cruise sometimes.

I took a "checkout" flight in a DA20 today. Completely different airplane. The airplane from a standstill when you power up to full power doesn't want to just get up and go like some other planes i've flown. It takes a few seconds and then it shoots forward. But the thing in the air sort of gives me a feeling that i'm flying a paper airplane. Can't really say it's bad, but on a day like today when the winds were as calm as i've ever seen it, getting the feeling of a paper airplane can't be good. I can't imagine what it'd be like on a really windy day. The airplane is also very uncomfortable. I'm 6'3 and i can't sit in the cockpit with the canopy closed and be comfortable. If i slouch my back really hard, i can fit into there fine. But if i sit normally and hit a bump in the air, i will hit my head against the top. So... although a good plane for the money. The paper airplane feeling, the fact that it's really short, then the fact that if i ever take it on cross country and end up having to go IFR, i cant' file and still fly.

I might have to keep looking for an alternate XC aircraft in the future.

Any suggestions on a quicker than alarus XC aircraft that's not too expensive? Out here where i am a 172 will rent for around $103 but that's an older one. For some reason i'd like to fly something that's not 30 years old so the price goes up to around $115 and for that money, i'd might as well get the quicker SP 172 for $120.

Any other ideas?

 

[UGAflyer]

99 knots? hmm... our operating manual for 2002 says 92 KTAS. Yea, visibility is pretty good too. Ours has a fixed aileron trim tab too. But i think it's not calibrated 100% correctly, depending on a few factors, it has a right turn tendancy during cruise sometimes.

I took a "checkout" flight in a DA20 today. Completely different airplane. The airplane from a standstill when you power up to full power doesn't want to just get up and go like some other planes i've flown. It takes a few seconds and then it shoots forward. But the thing in the air sort of gives me a feeling that i'm flying a paper airplane. Can't really say it's bad, but on a day like today when the winds were as calm as i've ever seen it, getting the feeling of a paper airplane can't be good. I can't imagine what it'd be like on a really windy day. The airplane is also very uncomfortable. I'm 6'3 and i can't sit in the cockpit with the canopy closed and be comfortable. If i slouch my back really hard, i can fit into there fine. But if i sit normally and hit a bump in the air, i will hit my head against the top. So... although a good plane for the money. The paper airplane feeling, the fact that it's really short, then the fact that if i ever take it on cross country and end up having to go IFR, i cant' file and still fly.

I might have to keep looking for an alternate XC aircraft in the future.

Any suggestions on a quicker than alarus XC aircraft that's not too expensive? Out here where i am a 172 will rent for around $103 but that's an older one. For some reason i'd like to fly something that's not 30 years old so the price goes up to around $115 and for that money, i'd might as well get the quicker SP 172 for $120.

Any other ideas?

The DA20 is a good bit quicker than the alarus and shouldn't be much more expensive..it wasn't where i instructed a few months ago. I am 6'6" and flew it without size problems..it wasn't very comfortable but i've had worse..my problem was that around 1.5 hours i had to get out because my butt couldn't take any more..for flight school planes you're gonna be limited if you want quick, new, and inexpensive...the 172 will probably be your best bet...if you want something a little quicker you could try to find a school with a 172XP..older but trues out around 125-130kts. should be same price range as 172sp...good luck

 

[Alin10123]

The DA20 is a good bit quicker than the alarus and shouldn't be much more expensive..it wasn't where i instructed a few months ago. I am 6'6" and flew it without size problems..it wasn't very comfortable but i've had worse..my problem was that around 1.5 hours i had to get out because my butt couldn't take any more..for flight school planes you're gonna be limited if you want quick, new, and inexpensive...the 172 will probably be your best bet...if you want something a little quicker you could try to find a school with a 172XP..older but trues out around 125-130kts. should be same price range as 172sp...good luck

Wow! Really? 6'6 and you fit into the thing? hmm... you must have longer lefs and a shorter torsoe than me because i'm only 6/3 and i couldn't fit into that thing comfortably for the life of me.

It doesn't even have to be flight school planes. As long as i can rent one.

 

[epic!]

Dang... $70 an hour? i'm training in one now and they charge $90 an hour.

wow, i did my private in a warrior and 172 for $50/hr

 

[Alin10123]

What the? $50? how long ago was that???
Did i pick a wrong time to start training?

wow, i did my private in a warrior and 172 for $50/hr

 

[epic!]

What the? $50? how long ago was that???
Did i pick a wrong time to start training?

i just got my private a few weeks ago so very recent. it really depends on the flight school and if there are competing schools nearby.

 

[MFRskyknight]

i just got my private a few weeks ago so very recent. it really depends on the flight school and if there are competing schools nearby.

This is true. I rent a decent 152 for $60, and a 172 for $70 where I live. I paid $30 or more above these prices back in Oklahoma City.

MFR

 

[Alin10123]

i just got my private a few weeks ago so very recent. it really depends on the flight school and if there are competing schools nearby.

WHAT?!?!?!?! dang...
There are at least 4-5 other flight schools at this airport. The Alarus is probably the cheapest plane to rent and fly next to the 152. Man... the other airports nearby dont seem to be much cheaper.