Sportflyer - my best advice is that you find your local TCD(s) and talk to them about the aircraft type needed. The AMA has made some "suggestions" as to the types to be used (DF or warbird), but they have given some latitude to the TCD's in terms of both the aircraft to be used and the maneuvers to be flown - so if you take the word of one of the TCDs here that aircraft type 'X' is ideal, then go and buy it and present it and yourself to your local TCD he may well say "that's not suitable". So, save yourself the aggro, and talk to your local TCDs form the get-go.

As an example of the above - a couple of people here have said that an F-20 propjet is ideal. Unless there are multiple different F-20 propjet kits out there, I would have to disagree. The F-20 prop-jet that I've seen at our club (don't know / recall the manufacturer) is basically a pattern plane that has been shaped slightly like a jet. Nothing against pattern planes - I've had a few - but they tend to be very "neutral", extremely well behaved airplanes that fly themselves, float forever, and will almost never bite you when you abuse them. I'd rather see you fly something that shows me that you are flying the aircraft all of the time. (Again, opinions vary - I know of TCD's who will do sign-offs on pattern planes, and I respect their judgement.)

Note that the turbine waiver is a binary thing - either you have one, or you don't. That means that as soon as you have your waiver you could go fly a Super Bandit, Raptor, BVM F4, etc. It's not guaranteed that everyone who gets a shiny new waiver will fly a Bobcat, Roo, Hotspot, or other "entry level" jet initially before stepping up to more advanced aircraft. So, I guess that in theory your TCD sign-off should confirm that you are capable of flying an advanced aircraft that:

1) Has a high wing loading
2) Flies pretty fast
3) Is not inherently overly stable
4) Has a fair degree of complexity (flaps, gear, brakes, etc.)
5) Has no propwash over the tail surfaces
6) Has a lag between throttle application and aircraft response.
etc...

In practice, I (and probably most but not all other TCD's) will compromise on some or other of the above, but not all or even most. The degree of compromise will vary from one TCD to another, so again I can only repeat that prospective turbine pilots talk to the actual guys who they plan on doing their TCD sign-off with.

BTW, the reason that DF's are the number 1 choice of sign-off aircraft is that most of the above characteristics are inherent in a DF, though interestingly enough the "speed" issue that the AMA is so concerned about is often less in DFs than in many prop planes. (My old Byrons used to get lapped by the warbirds!) Also note that (6) can be simluated in a prop plane by use of "servo delay" if you are really that concerned about it.

Another thing to consider - if you ask me what aircraft type is suitable, I want to know whether you are asking about an aircraft you already own, or one that you intend buying just for the sign-off process. I don't memorise or even know all of the kits & ARFs out there, so there are some that I'm unsure whether they are suitable or not. If you have kit "X" that you think might be suitable then I'm quite willing to meet you and see you and the aircraft in action to determine whether I feel comfortable signing you off with it. If on the other hand you are talking about buying the aircraft in question specifically for your sign-off then I will be more restrictive in my choices because I don't want to have you spend money buying some unknown quantity that turns out to not let me adequately judge your flying abilities.

Re the Patriot - unfortunately it is no longer in production. Has anyone here seen either the Weston Magnum (with retracts added) or the Morris Tomhawk in action to know whether either of these planes comes close to the Patriot ?

I do hope that one of these days the AMA starts allowing "sign-off" to be done based on appropriate buddy-box training on a turbine trainer. Until then we have to deal with the current system.

Although there are possibly some exceptions, please bear in mind that most TCD's don't actually enjoy telling prospective turbine pilots that their proposed sign-off aircraft is unsuitable. I didn't sign up as a TCD in order to have some feeling of "power" over others - I did it coz no-one else in my area was a TCD, and someone had to do it ! We do want to see more people enjoying turbine flight. However, we have to balance that desire against the responsibility that we have been given - namely to try to asses that your current flying ability makes it likely that you can fly a turbine bird without posing a significant risk to yourself or others. So please try to be understanding and work with your TCD in finding a suitable plane.

Regs,
Gordon