Anyone ever fly one? How was it?

 

Not as cool as the 31/32

 

I sincerely wish I could fly one... they look like a lot of fun!

 

I only flew the 31/32, but if it's anything like that then it's a dog to land!

 

Are the 31/32 underpowered?

 

The 31 definitely is, the 32 not so much so, although performance on both is hardly breath taking! For what it's worth, I enjoyed flying the 31/32, it's a good workhorse and a lot of fun, especially when you consider the majority don't have an autopilot. As I said earlier, landing was a little bit special in the 31/32. It basically has two iron girders for the main gear meaning that a landing was either very hard or basically a controlled crash into terrain! I did manage a few greasers during my 1,000+ hours on the aircraft, but it would be safe to say they were few and far between and generally more of a surprise to me than even the passengers when I did manage one!

 

I enjoyed my time in the 4100, although it also has the straight gear like the 31/32...so good landings were elusive. It hand flew great, but did have a decent autopilot. Semi-glass cockpit similar to the 75/76 setup. Downsides were no apu, crew bags went in the external pod, and it was loud (Garrett's). All in all a fun plane to fly!

 

Flew/typed both. J32 was a POS. More power than the 31, but still not enough. No YD, AP, Electric trim, lav, APU, GPS/FMS or FA. Hot is summer, cold in winter. You really learn how to fly, when you fly this thing. Called it a "Diesel Navajo, Junkstream"

J41 flew much better. Decent power. Lav. Useless FA. No APU. A/P. Worthless EFIS without FMS/GPS.

Type ratings are useless to me now, and no one cares or asks about flying them.

 

The ACA ones had GPS/FMS, as well as ACARS IIRC.

 

X2. The hardest airplanes to squeek a good landing out of that I have ever flown. The generally accepted gouge was that you had to land with the tiniest little bit of torque showing above idle torque and it was a lot easier to grease it on. Sounds strange for an airplane with a straight wing, but that's how it behaved. Loud and hot, hot, hot in the Summer. The VCACS ground air conditioning system that you use with the engines shut down is useless. Air conditioning packs were only slightly better than nothing once you had the engines running. It was crazy to watch the ammeter when you hit the start button as you will often see above 1,000 amps of current going to the generator to spin the engine, gearbox, and propellor up to start speed. You have to remember to put the thrust levers into reverse as you shut the engines down to put the propellors onto the start latches (flat pitch) or they will feather automatically (can't start the engines with props in feather. You have to get out and turn the propellors through by hand after shutdown just like most Garrett turboprops. The steering is kind of a crazy design in that past a certain amount of deflection off center, it will go "off the rack" where is is basically free castering and doesn't always like to go back on the rack where you can steer it again with the tiller. I had the anti skid malfunction a few times, lock up a single wheel and blow a tire. Dont hit the brakes when backing up using reverse......etc etc. It is kind of a quirky bird, but I had fun flying it. Wear earplugs......