iscover
A classic looking design which performed admirably in the later model RG 200hp versions, the Cardinal nevertheless was not a big seller largely owing to its early reputation as being underpowered with poor low speed control
From The Cockpit — Cessna 177 Cardinal
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The Cessna 177 Cardinal
The private aircraft and light transport general aviation market can be a ‘quirky’ one, wherein the success of a new type has sometimes been inexplicably curtailed by apparently irrational forces.
However these are sometimes understandable because this market sector has human nature dominant in the decision process to a greater extent than in any other sector. So often the choice of which lightplane to buy is made by the heart, not by the head. Aesthetics, cruise TAS, cosmetic appeal or brand loyalty at times completely override the bottom line considerations of fuel burn, maintenance, product support — ie overall operating costs —just like when buying a car. The infusion of this influential combination of human spirit and reason into an airplane design is a subtle art which may occasionally not work.
The catalogue of past and present GA types contains a number of such wallflowers — lightplane designs which appeared to have everything going for them, but which simply did not take off in a big way. As a pressurised single, the Mooney Mustang was way ahead of the P210 Centurion, but today is a very rare bird indeed; Cessna’s 337 design employed the brilliance of two tandem centreline engines — multiengine redundancy without the asymmetric thrust, and unfortunately without the sales; Mitsubishi followed the theorems of Prandtl and in the MU-2 came up with a design of theoretical aerodynamic excellence, having a wing size truly optimised for cruise efficiency —most uncommon in GA aircraft—and struggled in the marketplace against a lingering question mark (that has remained even to this day, the Australian CAA investigation into the MU-2 following separately an FAA conducted Design Review of Type. Given that these investigations are occurring has an interesting sideline —the MU-2 has never been granted Type Certification by the UK CAA, perhaps with justification. This is supportive of the CAAs old policy, the other side of the coin to the Yates Report. )
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