The airplane is a 2005 Maule
M7-235C powered by a 235hp IO-540 Lycoming. It flies at
155 mph and has a power on stall speed of 38 mph. The Maule book
does not publish true take off distances but at my grass strip
at my home in Montana, with an elevation of 4300 feet, I take
off and land in less than 300 feet. The plane will do
better than that here at Aurora. It has a useful load of
800 pounds and carries 70 useable gallons of fuel. The
book says I should be able to fly cruise at 11 gph but 13 gph
actually seems to be the norm. That works out OK for me
because I can fly back and forth to Three, Forks, MT non-stop
with more than an hour of reserve.
N103PZ is well equipped with a
GNS480, MX20, SL30, SL70, EDM 800, and an STEC-50 autopilot with
GPS steering. I have a Sky-Ox oxygen system for those high
flights to Montana.
I picked up the plane on the 5th
of January this year. Having never flown a Maule, and with
only about 20 hours of total tailwheel time (in a Champ!) I
asked Craig Swan to accompany me to Moultrie, GA to pick up my
new plane and ensure that I got back to Aurora in one piece.
Actually, Scott Gustafson would not agree to insure me if
Craig had not been along! Craig is a great flight
instructor and tailwheel pilot. He was a joy and comfort
to have in the right seat. He did a wonderful job and
taught me a great deal about Maule flying as well. The
only problem I had with him was that he wanted to land on every
river bar he saw on the way back! We were grounded a
couple of days by weather and diverted a bit to stop in Three
Forks, but made it back to Aurora on January 10th in 21.8 flying
hours.
The very next day I flew the
plane solo to Manhattan, Kansas where, in eight days, I received
my instrument rating. With that "quickie" rating
and the few dozen hours of dual instrument training I have had
since, I am almost qualified to fly in the clouds!
I am enrolled in the McCall
Mountain flying course in McCall, Idaho (Lori McNichol) in June.
I have flown with Lori a couple of times already and she
knows how to do some amazing things and to do them in the
strangest places (with the Maule!). She's an incredible
pilot and a wonderful instructor and I know I am going to learn
a great deal.
The Maule is a dream to fly and
I could not possibly be happier with my very first airplane!
Paul Zuelke
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Maule
Website
Specifications
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Wing
Span:
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32
ft. 11 in.
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Wing
Area:
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165.6
sq. ft.
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Length:
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23
ft. 6 in.
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Height:
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6
ft. 4 in.
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Gear
Width:
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7
ft. 10 in
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Configuration:
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5
seats
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Best
Climb Speed:
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90
mph
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Fuel
Capacity:
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73
gal.
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Flap Settings:
(degrees)
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-7,
0, 24, 40, 48
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Cabin
Width:
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Front
Seats
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42”
at shoulder
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37”
at hips
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Pass.Seats
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38”
at shoulder
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34”
at hips
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Rear
Pass. Seat
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33”
at shoulder
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28”
at hips
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Aircraft Construction:
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Fuselage:
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4130
Chromoly Steel truss structure
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Covering:
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Ceconite
(a synthetic fabric) covers the fuselage, tail, and
tail control surfaces
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Wing,
Flap, Aileron:
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Aluminum
Spar, ribs, and skin
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Firewall:
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Stainless
Steel
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Engine
Cowling:
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Fiberglass
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Doors:
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Steel
frame with aluminum skin
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Instrument
Panel:
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Aluminum
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Aircraft
Interior:
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Fully
upholstered - standard vinyl/velour seats and trim,
velour headliner
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Pictures: Click to
enlarge
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