Hi Mike,
I am new to the Grumman Gang but not new to airplane ownership or flying. My wife and I are both pilots/CFI’s and decided to leave our flying club that owns a 1978 Tiger and buy our own Tiger. We are experienced airplane owners and have gone through the buying process more than a couple of times. We have the scars to prove it! LOL! I will give you my opinions. They are just that, opinions.

Your first question is service ceiling. A Tiger service ceiling compares with other 180hp aircraft at 13,800 feet. By example, a 1999 Cessna 172SP has a service ceiling of 14,000ft. You can read Grumman specs here: http://www.grumman.net/cgrcc/specs.html . Service ceiling is at gross weight and assumes the engine develops the same horsepower as when the airplane was certified. If you buy a Tiger, a Powerflow exhaust system will benefit you. https://www.powerflowsystems.com/products.php?cat_id=4&pid=21 . I was interested in your question because I am planning a trip in our Tiger to the Rocky Mountain National Park this summer. I have been to Granby several times in the past in my T-210. I will have to do “more planning” for this trip!
I recently (in January 2017) bought a 1991 AG-5B. To answer your question about AA-5B or AG-5B. The main differences are in the cowling the way the intake air is ducted to the carburetor, the 24 volt electrical system and the throttle quadrant. There are also some parts that are not interchangeable. There were over 1300 AA_5B’s built and less than 200 AG-5B’s. I was intent on finding a 1979 AA-5B. In my “opinion” the 1978/1979 is the Tiger of choice. (thicker windshield, better seats, than older AA-5B’s) We ultimately bought our AG-5B because after looking at several AA-5B’s, our AG-5B had 4-1/2 out of 5 attributes (no WAAS GPS. I decided I liked the 24 volt system given where the aircraft industry is going with avionics. I initially didn’t like the throttle quadrant, but got use to it in about a half hour!
My five attributes are:

Airframe – Has the airplane been hangared or kept outside? I’m convinced that an airplane stored outside is bad news. Maybe a hangar isn’t available but in general, I think if an owner can’t afford to hangar it, can he afford to maintain it? While total time is somewhat important, the more important question is who has been maintaining the airplane/airframe? There are several Grumman experts sprinkled around the country. A pre-buy by one of them is a good idea. Look for multiple repairs/re-sealing the fuel tanks. That can be an expensive repair done right.

Engine – We all know what SMOH means. The Tiger has a 2000 hour TBO according to the Lycoming Service Instruction #1009AY (updated February 26, 2016) https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/files/SI1009AY%20TBO%20Schedule.pdf (read the bold print!) One of my learning scars I mention in the first paragraph is if an engine sits for several years without flying much it “could” mean it needs to be overhauled. (Reference my first paragraph about my scars!) An engine with 200 hours SMOH in 2002 needs to be looked at carefully. Maybe have your mechanic pull a cylinder off or two to look inside for rust/corrosion. It will take 50-100 hours of flying for a problem to show up from a sitting engine. An overhaul will cost between $20,000-$25,000 including removal and replacement.

Avionics- Many older Tigers came with Narco radio’s. Narco’s were good radios in their day, but Narco has long gone out of business. There are still a few places that will work on them but they are fading fast! A major radio upgrade to today’s technology can easily exceed $40,000. Don’t forget that it will be mandatory to comply with ADS-B in three more years. Unless your new transponder has WAAS GPS capabilities you will need a WAAS GPS installed in the airplane.

Paint- Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. An airplane paint job, done correctly will cost between $12,000 and $14,000. Tigers are a bonded airframe and wings. Chemical paint removers may or may not be appropriate when striping a Grumman. It is a good idea to check this out before agreeing to a price. Also, before paint is a good time to replace the windshield and side window if necessary. In my “opinion” the wings are relatively easy to remove from a Tiger. I think a better paint job is done with the wings removed.

Interior- A good interior job will cost between $6,000 and $10,000. An Airtex interior is about $4,000 uninstalled.

This probably more than you wanted to know but so far, we REALLY like the AG-5B!

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Gary Soloway.

The Tiger does a lot of things better than most in its class. If you find a plane that exceeds a Tiger, the purchase price is more than triple the $$$. A Cirrus and Diamond D40 come to mind.

The reason you are looking at a Tiger is the reason we bought ours. We wanted more than what a 172 or an Archer could deliver in the fun to fly department. Just finding a plane to go flying in wasn’t the objective. Admittedly, a Tiger isn’t the same as the pointy things you use to fly. For the price point of a Tiger, I don’t think you can find anything better for just plain old fun flying. I hope a Tiger works for you. You might find you need more horsepower though.

There was a 200hp Tiger on the market. That could be interesting!

Do let me know how the Tiger does in your neck of the woods… I mean mountains. ?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Gary Soloway.

Four things you can do to increase climb and ceiling capability.

1. Powerflow exhaust as previously mentioned
2. Sensenich prop – more efficient and better climb
3. Climb prop
4. Take Off at a reduced weight

The climb prop will hurt your cruise speed. Everything else will give better climb, ceiling AND cruise.

Remember that best indicated climb speed changes with altitude. It decreases about 1 knot per thousand feet. It’s important to fly the correct speed to get maximum performance.

You can also add an Electronic Ignition System to replace one mag which will help a lot since it can advance past 25 degrees BTDC (before top dead center) and produces more power.

Roscoe

We’ve flown our restored & modified ’77 AA5B in/out of Santa Fe and Ruidoso, NM, and Greeley, CO. Our machine has an MT constant speed prop, the Lycon ported & polished cylinders, a Powerflow exhaust, an overhauled engine, fairings, and a new shiny paint job. The Lycon and Powerflow companies each claim 10-15 higher “effective HP” for their respective mods. Let’s call it 200 total effective HP (vs. 210 effective HP) on our O-360-A4K. We used standard POH performance charts to be conservative; with two occupants (total 360#), near 38 gallons of fuel (just at the tabs)(with a fuel stop planned once out of the higher elevations) and we carried two light weight small bags. The MT gives the climb prop we needed, then was reset for cruise once leveled off. Without using instruments to calibrate the performance, my recollection (key word) out of KSRR is that we had (and planned to fly) a tad over 300 FPM, with the density altitude about 8,000 on a cooler morning, and with light winds. I could have gone with less fuel, improving the performance slightly.
I flew for airspeed also, not just max FPM, in case I needed a little more energy to gently maneuver around the terrain. The performance is noticeably less robust than out of our home airport back in Texas (650’AGL) but the airplane handled well — just “easy does it” on the control movements and expectations. The biggest mountain issue is the lack of flat terrain to drop into, should the need arise. That got our attention more than the performance. If mountain flying was to be a norm, I’d do some test flights solo, with as light a fuel load as needed, being alert to FPM vs. airspeed capability as I neared the higher elevations — so to judge “my” airplanes handling. Needless to write, always have an escape route planned as you venture near the Cumulus-Granitous. I miss the pointed-end airplanes also. But, flying a Tiger is a nice replacement for a retiree.

Typo … 650′ MSL.

I have had my Tiger for about a year and am planning a trip to SW Colorado, either Durango or Pagosa Springs, and have also wondered about the high DA performance. After reaching out to the previous owner he sent me this photo he took while cruising at 16,500! The airplane does have a PowerFlow in addition to a port & polished Lycon engine, but wow, note the RPM. I’m planning of flying and noting the exact rate of climb comparing it with the POH values.