I flew the Tomahawk (Traumahawk??) when a Flight Instructor back in 1981. So yeah…. a while ago. I actually liked the plane with a few exceptions. Those exceptions were if flying off grass/dirt field or when doing stalls. Oh, and spins were quite INTERESTING! I thought the plane struggled to get off a grass field when I did a soft/short field demo. That was once and probably a 152 would have had the same issues. The T tail made lots of noise and rumbling when in the pre-stall buffet. In fact I normally didn’t let students do full stalls until just before their Private Pilot ride. OTOH, when I instructed in the Warrior I let them do full stalls right away.
Spins were quite “energetic” and I’m glad I didn’t have to do many of them.
I found the plane to be a nice ride with good visibility (WAY better than the 152) and I enjoyed teaching in it otherwise.
Fun fact: I was a Flight Instructor in Waco, Texas (KACT) and my area to teach students in was bordered by what is now former President George W. Bush’s ranch (Crawford, TX). I guess they don’t use that student practice area any more!
