High Country Explorer

S

Skippington

New member
Howdy All! I'm new here and think this is a great forum.

I have a ? regarding the Explorer. I'm a student pilot flying a C140 and am very intersted in purchasing a Citabria. I am interested in doing some off airport and limited aerobatic stuff.

Talking to a few people and looking around it seems that the High country explorer may be the plane for me. But is this plane truly a "jack of all trades, master of none?"

Also is it possible to order this plane with the constant speed prop and if not, why? it takes it from 11gph to around 7 at cruise.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated, thanks.

:D
 
Welcome If your flying a 140, why do you feel you need 180 HP? Do you really want to buy a new airplane? There are a lot of used aircraft that would suit your purpose.
The first one you buy in most cases is the wrong choice. By the time you get your 4th or 5th one you have a much more realistic idea of what it should be. Not to seem negative, but when its all fun and new sometimes we need a reality check.
The Explorer is a great plane. Jerry will probably jump in here, but I am quite sure its a weight and balance issue with the constant speed prop. All aircraft have trade offs, you just have to figure out what your willing to trade.
 
Thanks,
To answer your ?. The reason i feel i need 180 hp is BECAUSE i am flying a 140. :lol:

The truth is I'm pretty naive about all of this, but know that i want to do certain things. I come from a lifetime of motorsports where more hp and new chassis every year is the ticket to speed and saftey.

I'm probably way wrong, but the idea of pulling g's in something thats older than me scares the #$*@ out of me.

I'm way open and thats why I wanted to post. Its hard to get good information out there because it seems everybody wants you to buy what they're selling.
 
Skippington:

I agree with Mr. Scout's sentiments that many people aren't satisfied with the first plane they buy. Realistically, unless you're fairly wealthy, buying planes regularly to get to the one you want isn't an option, so take your time, do your research, and be realistic.

Before I owned a plane I had visions of using it to fly my family and friends all over the country, but realistically I knew that most of my flying would be by myself and within a couple hundred miles of home and some of it in the moutnains of Montana. I spent a lot of time looking and reading and decided on the Citabria 7 GCBC. I love the plane. It has a respectable cruise, good STOL characteristics and it is economical, especially with the autogas STC.

There are many who say that it doesn't have a very "useful" useful load and for them it may not, but for me it is the right plane. Owning a plane isn't cheap and if you buy one that is bigger then you need, chances are the economics of flying and maintaining it will become more of a burden than a pleasure.

The longwinded point I am trying to make is, be realistic about what you will use the plane for when deciding on what to buy. I think there are trade-offs on all of them.

As for the age of the plane, if you're flying a 140, you should know as well as anyone that how it has been maintained is more important than its age.

Good luck and happy flying.
 
Thanks for the information, bowhunter.

I'm not able to just go buy planes until i find the one thats right and thats why I was leaning towards spending a lot of money to buy one that i thought would do it all.

Until now, I haven't done much research on any of the 7 series citabrias. I ruled them out because of my aforementioned irrational fear. Lookout Google!

What is the payload with full fuel on your gcbc and is there any way to increase it? (One of the things I want to do is fly into places with my dad and fish)

thanks again for the info.
 
The POH gross weight is 1650 and the POH empty weight is 1150 for my 7GCBC, which is a 1976 Bellanca. Full fuel uses up 210 pounds of that, leaving 290 lbs left over for me, and anything else.

American Champion sells an aluminum wing spar upgrade that I understand can add up to 150lbs to the gross weight. It is spendy though hovering around the $20K mark.

There is a nice gentleman from American Champion named Jerry who regularly answers questions on this forum and who would know much more about the newer versions of these planes than I do, such as the High Country Explorer that is the subject of your post.

Good luck with your plane hunting.
 
Skippington,
I wasn't inferring that someone should go out and buy 3 or 4 different aircraft.
I was trying to point out that no matter how much time and effort we put into making the right decision, we usually end up with different needs. Its easy to get into a new aircraft, not so easy to get out if you find in a couple years your needs have changed.

Maybe you will find the limited aerobatic stuff isn't worth the trade off. If that's your passion then follow it. If you would rather go fishing with your dad buy something made for that, and rent the aerobatic plane when you have that desire.
 
Good stuff, thanks for the info guys.

Renting the aerobatic plane seems to be the consensus from everybody i've talked to.

20k for 150 lbs of gw is pretty costly. I've also heard of an aluminum gear upgrade thats also around 150 lbs but have no idea of cost. (my guess would be its out of this world)

So it seems to be able to throw my dad, emergency kit and fishing poles in the plane i'm going to need something like a scout, husky or a super cub. (my dream does not incorporate side by side seating and a yoke) besides those i'm out of ideas but realistically they are out of my price range.

Being so green, i'm not sure what my needs in the future will be, nor really what my current needs are. I do know that its not necessary for me to go from point A to B in a big hurry. I'd rather fly at a lower altitude, slower than high and fast and I want the flexibility to land on smaller strips as my skills improve and sure, it would be nice to throw a loop in there once in a while. :?

I think i need to start playing the lottery so I can have a quiver of airplanes.
 
My suggestion would be to make a list of the different aircraft that interest you, then go fly each of those aircraft until you find the one that fulfills most of your desires. Find planes for rent, or find friends that have the planes you want, or know of someone who does, and go 'commit aviation' in as many different planes as you can BEFORE you lay out the cash for a plane you 'think' might be the one you want. Yes, it will take some time. Yes it will take some cash. But it will save you a bunch of cash in the future if you buy the 'wrong' plane and have to sell it and buy another, etc..

I waited 'til I was 50 years old to finally buy an airplane. I knew by then that all I was going to do was fly around locally, within 100 mile radius or so, and usually by myself. A 90 hp Champ is the perfect airplane for me and I looked for 2 years 'til I found one I could afford. I got a great deal on a mechanically sound, yet slightly ugly (just like me) airplane, and I'm happier than a pig in sh-t.

The moral of the story is...take your time, do your research/flying, and buy what you NEED to do the flying you'll do most often.

Good luck, and good hunting. The 'research' can be alot of fun!!
 
No, you cant get it with a Constant Speed Prop!! :p
Good luck getting a prop governer on it without hacking up a new airplane, hehe.

Besides, its not the propeller that changes the fuel burn rate....its your throttle setting. ahem! Not to mention a CS prop is significantly heavier and more expensive to have and maintain. Right now a High Country Explorer cruises halfway into the yellow arc. How much faster can the plane go? :)

What you really want to do is sit down and prioritize what is important in an airplane for YOU. Its not a small investment, so do your homework. (as stated above) You likely cannot have an airplane that does it all. (Yes, I have seen the occational Decathlon on floats question). Luckily, airplanes hold their value very well, and older ones even slowly go up.
 
Well there you go, Jerry. Exposing my ignorance. :oops:

Thanks for all of your help guys. Looks like i'll be starting my "research" and i'm looking forward to it.

The biggest help is that you all have basically said the same thing, be patient. (not one of my best qualities) However in this case, I can see how "haste makes waste".

Hope you guys don't mind, but i'll be posting more stupid questions in the future. (one of my specialities)

Thanks again.
 
I started out like you.....wanting everything and wanting to haull all my crap. Ended up with a Cessna 172. Have recently puchased a 115HP 7AC Champ. Like everyone has said, there are so many trade offs. If it weren't for wanting to do airobatics it looks to me like a Cessna 180 would just about fit the bill on what you are looking for. And they can be had for the price of a real nice Supercub.

Keith
 
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