Carenado Piper Warrior

The Piper Cherokee Warrior comes from a large and distinguished family of Piper aircraft. The Piper Cherokee was originally developed to compete with Cessna's popular 172 trainer and sported a Lycoming O-320 at 140 horsepower. It was offered in two options - a trainer and a family-oriented "Cruiser" model. Both models were the same on the outside, however the Cruiser offered a nicer interior and a few amenities not available on the trainer. Over the coming years, many aircraft rolled out of Piper's Lock Haven (later on, Vero Beach) factory; and though they might sport different names, many of them are based on the Cherokee.

The Cherokee Warrior was designed to be a more advanced aircraft, offering 150 and 160 horsepower engines (though the original Cherokee soon began offering 150 horsepower as well). The Archer offered a 180 horsepower engine and the Arrow was a retractable version of the Archer (later sporting 200 horses). The Cherokee Six was a six passenger version of the original Cherokee and was later renamed the Lance. It is now known as the Saratoga. The twin engine Seneca is based on the six-seat configuration of the Lance / Saratoga. The Cherokee 235 was based on the 4-place Cherokee, however because it sported a 235 horsepower engine it had a useful load that was greater than its empty weight! The Seminole was introduced to be a cheap and reliable twin-engine trainer, and was based on the Arrow. And the story of the "mighty little Cherokee that could" goes on and on...

For the purpose of this review, I focused primarily on the flight dynamics of the aircraft. As a long time fan of general aviation, I have always been primarily concerned with how well a plane flies. The aesthetics of the aircraft, although important, are worthless if the plane is unflyable. Flight instructors around the world have criticized the Warrior for decades because it is such a docile and forgiving aircraft. This plane can take off from just about anything that is 1000 feet long and then it can be flown, hands-off (autopilot was a luxury few Warriors ever knew) on a 300 or 400 mile cross country. Landing was normally a non-event in this plane, although pilots transitioning from Cessnas found it disconcerting not being able to see the runway beneath them - often resulting in many unexpected, quite flat touchdowns! Throughout this review, I wanted to see if the team over at Carenado was able to recreate the Warrior in all its glory.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS & VISUAL MODEL

The paint scheme, actually almost identical to my Cherokee, is the standard Piper two-tone paint scheme, this one being featured in lime and hunter green (if you choose to buy the Warrior II, it comes in light and dark red instead). It also featured just about every visual detail that could possibly be incorporated into a flightsim aircraft. Like many of the better-done aircraft, it featured a transparent cockpit and pilot inside (who, it would appear, is wearing a pair of nice David Clark headsets). Unlike many aircraft, from the outside you could also see the detail inside the aircraft. Even the fabric on the seats is quite similar, if not identical, to that of the original Piper scheme. The main window was split in the middle, as were all Warriors when they came out of the factory. Furthermore, the little storm window on the pilot's side is also visible and is quite well done.

When I took a peak under the plane, I was amazed at the amount of detail visible. The hinges on the ailerons and flaps were all visible and quite well done. The pitot / static tube was visible, however my only complaint with that is that on Piper aircraft this tube looks like a blade. On this aircraft it was the tube-type that you see on Cessna aircraft. Though it's not a big mistake, it is a very obvious one. The wheels featured wheel pants (very accurately done) and, if you look closely, you can see a large amount of detail went into the brake assemblies - right down to the brake fluid lines! My only other complaint that was quite obvious was the lack of fuel caps on top of the wings. On the Warrior there is a large (roughly the size of your hand) red fuel cap on each way, about one-third of the way out from the fuselage. Both caps were missing on this aircraft.

Moving around to the fuselage and tail section, I continued to be amazed by the amount of detail, right down to the tie down hook on the tail. One of the best overall features on the visual model is the work on the skin of the aircraft. All of the rivets and separate sections of metal are visible, something that goes a long way towards making this aircraft the best (visually, at least) Warrior on the Internet.

If I don't stop drooling, I think my keyboard might short circuit, so I think it's time we move inside the aircraft!

THE PANEL & INTERIOR VISUALS

After a long cross-country, even by myself, I often find that my little Cherokee can be quite messy. After looking at the inside of this bird, I feel pretty embarrassed as it is in beautiful condition! I believe the folks at Carenado have outdone themselves on the interior of the plane, as it is simply stunning. All seven (front-left, left, rear-left, rear, rear-right, right and front-right) views are quite accurately done and look superb. Most of the later-model Cherokees and Warriors had a "hat rack" in the back of the plane - basically a shelf to put your overnight bag and jacket on. In this Warrior, there are a few personal items (bags and that sort of thing) back there. The seats, as I suspected from the exterior view, are all done in the Piper factory fabric pattern and match the paint scheme of the aircraft (after have flown flight school aircraft, matching interiors and exteriors is often a luxury!). Fortunately, I have the matching blue on my plane, so I won't dwell on it for too long here. My only complaint on the interior? Well, the storm window is open at all times - yes, even during flight. That is technically supposed to be closed above 100 mph, so our pilot is breaking the regs and I would imagine with that window open in flight, he's probably quite cold! In any case, the interior is top notch.

The panel is superbly done. Since very few Warriors have identical panels, thanks to changes by Piper and by their owners, it is hard to say whether or not a panel is "authentic". This one, however, has hit the nail on its head. One of the nice things about the panel is the usage of custom gauges - gone are the days of using the generic, stock FS gauges. The panel is equipped with some earlier-model radios, which, although not common in most Warriors, are proper for the aircraft. The radios are pretty simple - a nav/com, Mode C transponder and ADF. There are also marker beacon lights, which allow this aircraft to be flown IFR; however I wouldn't go into any IMC that is too serious with that limited equipment. One must keep in mind that Warriors were used by flight schools as "basic IFR trainers", so Carenado's Warrior fits the bill perfectly.

Some of the oddities, not necessarily "bad" things about the panel, include an avionics master switch (most Cessna & Piper aircraft did NOT come with this, however it is a popular after market kit) and an airspeed indicator that's in knots. The odd thing about aviation is that it is almost entirely in nautical miles per hour, yet Piper and some of manufacturers chose to confuse the world by going one step further and by using statue miles per hour. In any case, Carenado's Warrior has their ASI set up in knots - whether that's a good thing or not is all personal opinion. The flap position indicator, along with rudder and elevator trim, are not visible from the panel, as it is in the real plane. However, there is a toggle switch (like the GPS switch) that shows these three displays should you need to see them.

The panel background is not based on a photograph, which in my opinion is a good thing, as most "photo realistic panels" end up looking quite junky. It is, however, very well done and continues to show the quality of work that was visible on the interior and exterior views. Now, the question is... how does the plane fly?

AT THE END OF THE DAY... DOES IT FLY?

First flight was the airwork and circuits, to recreate a training flight. Because of the limitations of flight simulator, I opted to only put the plane through stalls and slow flight, as these are conditions that a pilot flying this plane on flightsim might actually find himself or herself in. The stall characteristics of a real Warrior vary... the early models, with the thick "Hersey Bar" wing, were very docile. The airplane would simply buffet and porpoise; the only way to recognize the stall was by a decreasing altitude. On later model Warriors, with a more tapered wing, the stall was a little bit more 'normal', that is, the nose did drop when it stalled. On this plane, it was not quite accurate to either of the two characteristics. The plane stalled at 58 knots clean and 44 knots dirty. The 58 knots value might be a bit higher than normal and the 44 knots a bit low, however it is flight simulator we are dealing with, and like in real life, every plane is slightly different. The odd thing was how far down the nose pitched during the stall. On the power-off, full flap stall, I lost over 500 feet before I could recover. Imagine if that happened on final approach? Not a pretty sight. So far, that is the first flaw that I have found with the plane's dynamics - a slightly overexagerated stall. As for slow flight, the airplane performed quite nicely.

Returning back to Burlington Airpark, I shot a few circuits of different types. I first did a standard approach to Burlington's main runway - 32 / 14 - which is 2800' x 40'. The plane performed perfectly and was quite realistic. The approach, which was flown around 70 - 75 knots, was quite smooth and the plane handles properly at all flaps settings. Next up was short field take-off and landings. The plane felt a little bit underpowered on the short field take off. With 25 degrees flaps, it rotated like the real plane does, however once in ground effect it took a little bit longer to get up to 65 - 70 knots (Best Angle of Climb airspeed is 66 knots). Short field landings went great in this plane. Next it was time for soft field takeoff and landings. This meant I was to use runway 27 / 09, which is 2250' x 100' turf. The plane handled great on the grass and, as usual, was very true to the real thing.

The next flight to do would be a 40 minute cross-country from Burlington Airpark to St. Catherine's / Niagara District Airport, near Niagara Falls. I took some screen shots at different times of the day to show the plane's visuals and panel at night and during the day. The plane flew great the whole way down to St. Cath's. I departed runway 14 at Burlington and, climbing between 70 and 80 knots, with climb rates around 600 - 700 fpm. Since Burlington's elevation is only 640 feet, this is quite realistic. Once at 2200', I trimmed the plane out and it flew itself. Unlike some Warriors available on the Internet, this one holds altitude and heading - bang on. At 75% cruise (2500 RPM), I saw cruise speeds of around 110 knots - quite accurate. Didn't have a way to check the fuel burn, so I'm not sure how realistic that was, but I'd put faith in the good work of the people at Carenado. St. Catherine's is a Class E airport, with a Mandatory Frequency zone controlled by the local Flight Service Station. I was assigned the right base approach to runway 11 (2000 feet long, asphalt). The plane flew the entire way down to the runway perfectly.

The last flight was a local touring flight. I opted to tour the city of Hamilton & Ancaster, and Coote's Paradise (a large marsh in the bay north of Hamilton, on the western edge of Lake Ontario). The plane flies great, even though I was running it low (approximately 1000 feet AGL), at reduced power settings (55% - 65%) and doing a lot of turns (after all - it was a sightseeing flight!). Just like the real plane, this one was very forgiving.

Some faults with this plane that I noticed throughout the three flights include a relatively slow to react engine. Also, you need to give the plane about 1700 RPM to get it to start taxing. I guess it must be pretty heavily loaded (even though there is only one pilot on board...?). Once it gets going on the ground, it is very nimble - almost too nimble.

LAST THOUGHTS & IMPRESSIONS

Two additional complaints are the lack of a unique sound pack (it uses the Cessna 182 sound pack). There are a few great add-on sound packages for Cherokees that you can download, but with a commercial package you'd expect to get new sounds. Also, though it isn't "required", it would have been nice to see a checklist and some reference materials for the plane. I ended up using the checklist from my own plane, but I know what it's like to download a plane that I've never flown before only to find no checklist. Again, not required, but when you are paying for a package, it would be nice to see.

At the end of the day, there were a few things that were missing from the visual model and there might have been a few small bugs with the flight dynamics, however I would still say that it is very easily the best Cherokee, Warrior or Archer available on the Internet. Do I think it's worth the $15? If you are like me and have spent $60 for Flight Sim, $100 for a yoke and probably $300 on hardware to improve your flightsim experience, what's $15? Normally I would be hesitant towards spending that money on ONE airplane, but it is definitely an investment that you will be satisfied with. Are you a real world pilot working on your IFR rating and want some practice? Or are you a flightsimmer who just likes to travel? In any case, the Piper Warrior is the plane to meet your needs. As the owner of one in real life, I am quite happy with my bird. And thanks to Carenado, I'm sure you will be happy with your flightsim bird.

Blue skies & calm winds,

Ted Thomas
flying_ggq@yahoo.ca

Visit publisher Carenado at:
www.carenado.com

Ted Thomas is a real world pilot and owner of a 1973 PA-28-160 Piper Cherokee. He is also an avid flight simmer and promoter of general aviation in the flight simulation community.