The home page of James R Salazar

I just read a write-up on the Liberty XL2 in Plane & Pilot giving it a thumbs up. With one available at Houston Southwest Airport at an hourly rate much lower than many of the planes I am flying, I decided I needed to try it out.

This is a small plane with a few quirks. For example: getting in and out of the plane can be a challenge – you just don’t climb in there like you would in a Cessna, Piper or Tiger. First off, you have to go to the leading edge, sit on it, slide back a little and then put your legs inside the plane. Getting out can be just as awkward. If you are overweight or not flexible, I would not recommend this plane to you.

Taxiing was also very different: you have to use two fingers to control right and left brake levers. Full stop means pulling back on both levers at the same time. It is a little strange and it can take some getting used to but it works fine. In fact, you end up with a very tight turning radius.

The Liberty XL2 has a stick instead of a yoke. I have been flying Citabrias and Decathlons but I am used to flying those airplanes with my right hand and using my left hand for throttle, trim and flaps. As it turned out, it was not a big deal making the switch to XL2.

This airplane costs much less to operate than the airplanes I am used to flying (for starters, it uses up to half as much fuel per hour) and this partly due to a computerized system that manages the engine. That also does away with a few things that I am used to dealing with (mixture is one). Actually, this airplane is a lot more high-tech than most airplanes I am used to flying: the fuel pump had an auto feature under which it would turn itself on and off, the Garmin 430 was giving me traffic alerts (I love this feature) and the stall warning horn was replaced with a woman’s voice warning me of a stall. The last feature caught me off guard as I was coming in to land. It did not startle me but it did make me go “what was that?” for a second until I recognized what it was saying.

As I mentioned, the XL2 is very fuel efficient. This means useful fuel is only 28 gallons instead of the typical 50+ gallons a 172 or Tiger carries. The odd thing was finding the fuel tank sitting right behind the pilot and passenger seat.

The plane has a small wing which means that you should not expect it to be a good glider. But, I am used to flying Tigers so this was nothing new. The Liberty XL2 is a two-seater and lighter than a Tiger so you do feel the turbulence more.

I still have not decided whether I am going to make the switch to this plane. I am thinking I need at least another hour to make a decision. But, there are some missions where I may not want to use the XL2. In this case, my concern is the comfort of my passengers: will they be OK getting in and of the plane? Do I want to take someone up in this plane if they easily get motion sickness?

After my flight I spotted a Diamond D20 and a D40 about a hundred feet away. They are now calling out to me.