Ironically one of the best planes for sight seeing in terms of visibility is the Aerosoft OV-10 Bronco, tho its not technically a GA.

 

If you are going to get a high wing for sight seeing, make sure it is a tandem seat variety ala Cub, Super Cub, Scout, Bird Dog...etc. Windows are right at your sides. Looking out the right window of a 172 while sitting in the left seat, you might as well be flying a low wing plane.

 

Of course the simple solution to sight seeingin a low wing plane is to bank and do a 'Turn around point' maneuver over your sight seeing target. Aerobatic planes like the RV, Legacy, P-51..etc have no problem banking steeply to look at your spot.

 

Another advantage of the low wing bubble canopy is for canyon flying where looking 'up' while in a turn is required.

 

This was an RV trip following a river in NZ. With the RVs agility, large speed envelope, and great visibility, I was able to follow the entire river (about an hour trip) staying below 200' AGL.

 

 

 

There is something to be said about some canopy frames. When I was earning my PPL, my instructor said you can use the window frames as measuring cues for visual flying...ala during level flight @ cruise power, the horizon should cut through the 3rd rivet up or something. Spending less time with your head in the cockpit is the key to good VFR flying.

Frankly, I think that the Flight1 Cessna Citation Mustang is an excellent aircraft for GA and sight seeing. It has superb visibility from the cockpit, the Garmin G1000 display for VFR navigation, and it can fly at 100 knots with the gear and flaps down. I regularly operate it from airfields with hard runways that are only 700 metres long, or even less!

.... it's the hard runways bit that becomes the limiting factor though. :smile:

Hi,

For something a bit different but very well done and suitable.

http://www.simviation.com/fsxprops19.htm

Jim F.

 

 

it's the hard runways bit that becomes the limiting factor though.

 

Oh, you can land it on simulated grass runways no problem. You may have a problem with the touchdown and rollout sound effects though. I have never been able to get them to work on grass.....

+1 for the Legacy. I also use the Tecnam Sierra a lot for slower flights. Great visibility and simple to fly.

Yes the Tecnam Sierra is a beauty, as are all of the planes from Ant's Airplanes.