My flying club got a new-to-them 1996 Maule (four-place high wing taildragger, 180hp) online last year. I've always been interested in Maules, ever since learning to fly in 1986 where my FBO in Petaluma had one online.
So the other day I walked in and borrowed the "FAA Approved Flight Manual for MX-7-180A" from the front desk, made my flying appointment with the instructor, and went home to dig into the material.
Pretty cool, I'm thinking, as I dig through the usual "General", "Limitations", "Normal Procedures" and "Emergency Procedures" sections. I note with interest that notch zero on the flaps is minus seven degrees, a position which helps the cruise efficiency.
I move on with interest to find the "Performance" section, where I can learn a little about takeoff and landing distances, speed, range, etc. What? Hey, there IS NO "performance section" in this "FAA Approved" flight manual! I rolls right into "Weight and Balance", then "Equipment", and that's it. Isn't this interesting? I suppose you have to fly it to find out, although a little bit about density altitude takeoff performance would be nice I think to myself. Guess I'll have to fly it to find out.
Which we'll do today. But I do remember reading, remember reading, back in the 1980s in Flying magazine or some such, a Maule MX-5 flight test report, where they vividly described their disappointment at getting no operating handbook at all from Maule, just two mimeographed and blurred copy pages, one of which was the weight and balance envelope, and the other some minimal pilot information like "Pre Flight Inspection -- Perform a normal walk-around". Honest, I remember reading this. So the Flight Manual I now have in hand is a vast improvement. Apparently the standards of the Moultrie, Georgia, Maule factory are a bit more relaxed than most manufacturers'.
Preflighting a Maule has quite a few new gotchas, as it is not quite like a Cessna or Piper. The door latches are tiny little knobs, which actuate equally small spring loaded latches. You cannot slam the door closed ever even ease it closed, you must be pulling the knob to retract the latches first, otherwise the door just bounces back leaving a nice dent in the aluminum. I am warned that the flap handle is equally lightweight, to always push the button before using the flap handle (it is on the floor, manual like a Piper Cherokee). Flat on the floor is minus seven degrees (cruise), first notch is zero degrees, second notch is twenty degrees (takeoff), third notch is forty degrees (landing).
We get outside to do the walk around; I notice that everywhere on this airplane the aluminum seems thinner than normal, probably just .016 in a lot of places. The wings are entirely skinned in this thin aluminum, the fuselage and tail feathers are fabric covered. There are a lot of pop rivets and small screws. I am told by the CFI that a swiss army knife with a small philips screwdriver is a good pilot's item to have with the Maule.
There are four fuel tanks, two main and two auxiliary out near the wingtips, and seven fuel drains. You transfer fuel from the auxiliaries into the mains with a transfer pump once the mains reach 1/4 to 1/3 full.
I get inside, and finally learn the tricks to getting the door shut and latched. This airplane is pretty roomy! And you can actually see over the nose straight ahead, unlike many tailwheel aircraft.
The engine starts without a hitch and settles down into a nice idle. It is a Lycoming 360, with fixed pitch propellor. We taxi out to PAO runway 12, as I S-turn a bit to get a feel for the airplane. It is definitely twitchier than a Citabria, but not overly so. I notice that you have to be attentive to tailswings and directional control with the Maule, it feels like it wants to groundloop happily at a moment's notice. Standard tailwheel stuff.
We run up, I select twenty degrees flaps, and we are cleared for takeoff on PAO runway 12. Ease in the power, we barely get going, and well before I think it's going to fly, the Maule floats right off. The takeoff roll was quite short, and I don't even know what I'm doing yet! I can't wait to get enough experience to try the definitive Maule shortfield takeoff, where you take off with the tailwheel still on the ground and jet immediately into VX climb.
VX is 70mph, by the way, and VY is 90mph. Once we settle down in cruise it seems like it will do 130-140, depending on how much noise you want to generate. Setting the flaps to -7 seems to get us an additional 2-3mph, but that's it.
Airwork is nice! This airplane has a light touch, and somewhat better roll rate than Cessnas/Pipers, more like a Tiger. Steep turns and chandelles are easy. Now we begin to slow it down for slow flight and stall, I slow below 100 to get back in the white arc, reach down, push the button and pull the flap handle, and... that FLAPS BREAK! They end up sort of stuck between zero and -7 degrees. Nothing the CFI or I can do seems to break them loose.
This is a delicate airplane, I guess.
Oh well, we head back to Palo Alto and make an uneventful landing, short field, even making the first runway turnoff of three (and PAO has only a 2,500 foot runway to begin with).
This is going to be a fun airplane. I need to continue my checkout another couple of flights, as the insurance company is pretty strict about who flies the new Maule, and wants five hours checkout. But this will be done soon, and it will be a sweet little cross-country airplane for this spring/summer. I can't wait to tell my wife that it's a "bush plane".
It turned out that the broken flaps are a bent actuator ratchet thingee in the flap handle mechanism. According the the mechanic this bends or breaks easily. My CFI and I joke that we should at it to the preflight "consumables" checks -- gas, oil, tire tread, flap ratchet!