Our Fleet

We are very proud to have such a highly maintained fleet of aircraft at our disposal, within these pages you can learn about the aircraft we have and get to know them better, we have included photos for your viewing pleasure so that you can become more familiar with them before you take your trial lesson.

Piper Warrior

The PA28 Piper Warrior was first introduced in 1974 as what is described as a “logical progression” of the Cherokee series. The Warrior I was put in production from 1974 to 1977 and the Warrior II from 1977. The main difference was the engine that Piper placed into these aircraft, the Warrior I housing a 150HP Lycoming engine and the Warrior II a 160HP Lycoming engine.

The Warrior was produced as a competitor against the Cessna 172, also a four seater touring aircraft, and the success of this aeroplane can be seen just by looking at many flying club fleets. At Sherwood Flying Club we do not use this aeroplane as our PPL training aircraft as we feel PPL students would benefit more from the Tomahawk, instead it is seen as more of a comfortable touring aircraft and encourage all PPL holders to take a short conversion course to enable them to fly it. We own a Piper Warrior II, call sign G-BHRC.

Specifications

Seats: 4
Cruising Speed:: 105 knots
Length: 7.25m
Wingspan: 10.66m
Height: 2.22m
Engine: 1 Avco Lycoming 0-320 160HP

Piper Tomahawk

The PA38 Piper Tomahawk is Piper Aircraft’s attempt at creating an industry standard training aircraft. Production began in 1977 and ended in 1982, two models of the Tomahawk were created. There is what’s known as the 1977-1978 model and the Tomahawk II that was in production from 1981 to 1982. The Tomahawk II sports improved cabin heating and windshield defroster performance, an improved elevator trim system, improved engine thrust vector, 100% airframe zirconium anti-corrosion treatment, better cockpit soundproofing, larger 6" wheels and tires for greater propeller ground clearance and improved performance on grass and dirt runways, among other enhancements.

The Piper Tomahawk was designed after hard research by Pipers engineers into what flying instructors were after in a training aircraft and by studying the popular trainers at the time, the Cessna 152 and 150. Unlike the Cessna 152 and 150, which were designed to spontaneously fly out of spins, the Tomahawk was designed to require specific inputs to recover from a spin. This requirement enabled pilots to become far more proficient in spin recovery.

The Tomahawk really makes you work for your supper, unlike the before mentioned aircraft, it requires a lot more input to fly the aircraft correctly and the heavier controls allow you to transition to other aircraft a lot more smoothly, especially the larger ones. We own two of the Tomahawk II aeroplanes, their call signs are G-BPES and G-MSFC.

Specifications

Seats: 2
Cruising Speed:: 90 knots (104 MPH)
Length: 7.04m
Wingspan: 10.36m
Height: 2.77m
Engine: 1 Avco Lycoming O-235-L2A 112HP