Difference between C180 and Maule

180Driver · Post by **180Driver** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:24 pm

Hi All,

I'm a Cessna 180 Driver with some 1400 hrs in a 180 and 3000 in taildraggers. I've got to ferry a Maule M4 220 down to Haiti at the end of Feb for Air Ambulance work. One of the pilots that I talked to that's flown this Maule tells me it's downright hard to fly and keep co-ordinated. It has big 31" tires on it.

Anybody out there with experience in both that can give me an idea of the difference and what to watch out for and expect? I will be getting time in it before I go.

Thanks,

Cate

Lowflybye · Post by **Lowflybye** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:39 pm

Have any time in a Pitts? That is a good trainer for landing a Maule.

180Driver · Post by **180Driver** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:42 pm

Just about everything but a Pitts. Champs, Citabrias, Cubs but no Pitts...

Cate

Lowflybye · Post by **Lowflybye** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:03 pm

It won't behave like a Champ, Citabria, or Cub. Best advice I can give you is to find someone to get you some stick time and get to know it a bit. With your experience you should not have any trouble with it, but there are some nuances that you will want to discover early before you go at it solo or have to face any good crosswinds.

-Don't trim for hands free on final or you can hit the stop and find yourself out of elevator to flair.

- The less flaps the better in a crosswind...I will go 0 flaps in good crosswind conditions.

-That giant tail is like a barn door in the wind so taxiing can be fun

-The front seats are fiberglass so do not put weight on the top of the seat-back when entering and exiting.

Others will comment with good advice as well, but a bit of stick time with a good Maule driver should tell you all you will need to know.

180Driver · Post by **180Driver** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:48 pm

How can the trim make any difference other than making it harder to flare? Or is the Maule rigged in some funny way?

I don't think it will fly anything like a champ or Citabria. But the C180 doesn't fly anything like those either....

Oh yeah, the debate of flaps or no flaps in a cross wind is as old as planes almost. I usually have the flaps out and wheel land in a crosswind in a 180. I guess I'll just have to practice and see what works. Practice, practice, practice....

donknee · Post by **donknee** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:16 pm

If you have the nose trimmed all the way up on final and for some reason have to add full power for a go around, it will take a lot of nose down pressure on the yoke or rapid adjustment of the trim, which is a real distraction in an already demanding situation. It usually works better to control the pitch with the left arm

With all your flight time/experience you will make a good transition and with those 31's have some fun landings too. Have a great delivery!

Hottshot · Post by **Hottshot** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 3:22 pm

This is not meant to sound bad or derogatory in any way shape or form....

IT IS NOT A CESSNA! and if you try to fly it like one you will most likely not like it very much on the way there... I was told they had a "Maule Driver" that was going to ferry it down there. get some maule specific instruction and you should be in great shape

180Driver · Post by **180Driver** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:25 pm

I know it's not a Cessna. But then again I wouldn't call a 180 Skywagon a Cessna either.

Unless RAM gets a maule driver to volunteer for the two or so weeks of the mission then I'm it. I just came off flying a U206 Air Ambulance in Guyana for them.
But hey, that's why I'm here on this site, just trying to figure out the difference and learn to get it right. Don't worry, I'll have fun on the way down. I intend to.
Are there any of you that want to volunteer to be stationed in Haiti for 6 months and fly the Maule as an Air Ambulance out of the mountain strip they carved in Medor??
Huh??
Let's see, the rewards are incalculable. Endless waiting, lousy food, sleep in a tent and you get to fix the plane with chewing gum and duct tape in a rain storm....... Been there. Done that...

180Driver · Post by **180Driver** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 4:37 pm

From the go around standpoint yeah, I'm with you there. Especially slow and all the flaps hanging out. With the 180 it's knee on the yoke time..

It a beast to hold with one hand while you're trying to get the flaps off one notch at a time...

DonMc · Post by **DonMc** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 5:16 pm

I fly a 185 and an M7 Maule. If you could swing by EVY on your way south, I would be glad to spend a couple hrs with you and show you what I have learned about Maules. I wheel land the 185 all the time. The first difference is the 185 will not go over even with heavy braking and just me in it. The Maule will go over in heartbeat if you don't hold it back. The spring gear feels different than oleos when you touch down. Both will crow hop if you let them. There is another thread here where some guy just bought an M4 and has gotten lots of good advice on approach speeds for final and how to land the thing. There was a thread a while back about the Cessna Vs Maule and the subject was beaten into the ground. I sure don't want to go there again. A little bit of seat time with someone that is familiar with Maules is the fastest route to learning. The advice you get here is good but will require some experimentation to make use of on your own. I would hate to see you bend something unnecessarily. What I found was that the time in one airplane worked against me in the other. Transitioning from one to the other reminded me of some of the women I have known. They basically want the same thing but require a different touch to get there! What works on a given day may not work the next.

DonMc
N260BD
302 545 2340
skywagon350@yahoo.com

180Driver · Post by **180Driver** » Tue Jan 25, 2011 5:16 pm

BTW,

I'm serious about the volunteering to fly the Maule in Haiti. I can't do 6 months and we need a Maule driver or someone that has lots of bush experience to fly the Maule for Air Ambulance work.

Cate

Hottshot · Post by **Hottshot** » Wed Jan 26, 2011 6:24 am

Cate-

That sounds like an adventure for sure, as much as I wish I could take 6 months off paid leave from my job I don't think I could pull it off..

It is good to hear the plane is getting put to good use. make sure you send pictures of your trip...

AndrewK · Post by **AndrewK** » Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:37 pm

I don't have any M4 time but found several flying similarities between the M5 and Piper shortwings. If you have any time in those you'll remember they drop like a rock with the power off, don't float much, etc. Wonderful airplanes though just like the Maules.

If I were single I'd volunteer for the 6 months, but as is the case I would probably come back single.

iceman · Post by **iceman** » Sat Jan 29, 2011 9:04 am

right about the similarity of Maule M4 to Piper PA 22's .. I'm totally at home with the M4 having owned Two PA 22's ... FLying characteristics are very close.... I just had to get used to that dance on the rudder when landing the taildragger....which you are fluent, so to speak, in..I just don't under any circumstance get complacent when landing...

greatplanes · Post by **greatplanes** » Sun Jan 30, 2011 6:58 pm

I learned my tailwheel endorsement in a M-4 that I rebuilt. I loved that plane! I was signed off in less than 3 hrs and never looked back.
I use to land it in crosswinds that had the sock straight out and never though twice about it.
By the time I sold that plane, I knew it inside and out. I bought a cessna 180 a few years later and thought it was going to be a awsome plane, but I liked the maule better! I had 150 hrs in the cessna but it just wouldn't do the things that the maule would do. I have actually been airborne in less than 50 ft with the maule and didn't even try. I have taken off across a runway ( less than 125 ft) because I wanted to go north not east. My M-4 had the 220 franklin in it. Slips in a maule are great, just put it in a slip and look down and that is where you will be. You will like it!

Difference between C180 and Maule

Difference between C180 and Maule

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