Grumman Cougar Light Twin

The four-seat cabin could be reached by a wingwalk and door on the right side. The landing gear stowed with an electrically driven hydraulic powerpack, while the flaps were electric. Baggage compartments were in the nose and aft fuselage, and the rear seats could fold flat for cargo. The Cougar's full-fuel payload was minimal, thanks to 118-gallon fuel tanks that were rather superfluous given the O-320's minimal fuel consumption. 

As a twin trainer, the Cougar had a lot going for it. Its mediocre single-engine performance encouraged strict adherence to engine-out procedures to get any S/E climb at all. Yet its powerful rudder and low power delayed the Vmc encounter to below stalling speed, rendering it irrelevant. Multi-engine airplanes, even light ones, are not required to demonstrate spin recovery for certification, so one doesn't normally want to approach a stall condition, let alone one with asymmetric power. Not so with the GA-7.

The Cougar was a pussycat to fly and teach in, with none of the single-engine fixed-gear Grummans' sliding-canopies and swiveling-nosegear quirks. It's too bad more of them weren't built. It could have been a great foundation for a high-performance single.