I’m new here and glad I found this site! What a wealth of information from pilots, prospective pilots, CFI, mechanics and others. Thanks to all. I would like your opinions on using a MTX-7-180 for primary training. I have over 2600 hrs as a CFI with 99% of that time in Cessnas and Diamonds and never had the opportunity to fly a Maule. I’m currently a CFI w/o an airplane and its time to buy one.

Go for the gusto and get a MAULE you won't regret it, way more fun and has a much better feeling to the handling ( dare I say " Crisp & light ") energeticly jumps airborne and will slow flight stability so slow you can get use to seeing the ground go by backwards and on landing you'll wonder why they build runways so DAMN long and eventually wonder why they build them at all

Henderson State University is one aviation training establishment to utilize about a dozen Maule MXT7-180A trigear. I am not sure if they have/had the Constant speed version also.

Welcome Skyhawk. I see your in Ga.. Feel free to drop in at the factory anytime and introduce yourself.

On the other hand, transitioning from a Cessna to a Maule provides a HUGE wow factor.. The other advantage of the Maule is its ruggedness. It will take a thrashing more so than a Cessna. And if the thrashing is severe enough to require parts, Maule is a LOT cheaper to fix than Cessna.

You better check insurance first. Over the years if I could find insurance it was from $6000.00 to $12000.00 / year for student instruction. ----- Sorry I see now you are talking about trigear, I use a conventional gear for training.