Dave,
On take off's, keep the stick full back until about 40K, then let
the stick start to come forward. About that time, the aircraft will leap
into the air. The reason for the full back stick is to have full
steering untill you are ready to fly. It seems as tho I get to the point
of raising the tail and with in a couple of seconds the a/c leaps off the
runway. You will get use to it. Other people seeing it will marvel at
the quickness it leaves the ground. If the a/c leaves the ground before
you get the tail up just level the a/c and accelerate to 65K then climb
out smartly and around 50' I get the gear up. The a/c pitches upward
when you raise the gear but around 70 to75K the stall speed is far
behind. I then trim for the climb I want.
On landing I keep 65K on final and decelerate after passing the
threshold. It is a bit fast but as you get better control and confidence
at that point, you can get you threshold speed down to 60K. I'll work on
55K at the threshold after I spend a bit more time up at altitude feeling
out stalls. Hold your power untill over the threshold. After you clear
it cut your power, -- hold the a/c up-- as it wants to settle right away.
You have to much speed to let it settle at that point. This willl allow
you to decelerate to stall speed when you are just a few feet over the
runway. I have to work on this more myself. Be gentle at this point as
the a/c is sensitive as well you know. On touch down keep FULL back
stick to keep the tail on the ground for steering. Try to get the tail
on the ground first (just before the main) If it bounces, keep the stick
back. The wing has stopped flying and you just have to put up with the
bounce. If you chase it you will be 180 deg. out of phase and you must
so a go-around. I've done several times, when I wasn't happy with the
touch down. Just remember the "p" factor when you put the power on
again. I have a tendancy to begin swerving a bit. Its unnerving and you
must get on the rudder to get it straight. Lots of fun -------raises a
bit of swet. I've made quite a few approaches right to the point of
choping the power. This gives you good training on that last 50'. Just
keep up the training, it gets better. I'm at 29 hours and I am begining
to get comfortable. I have my check lists to remind me of what I need to
do, both before t.o. and landing.
Jim Nelson
N15JN
>
> Hello there all you flying Europa owners!
>
> I am now a test pilot and I would like some input, if you could. I
> have now
> flown the Mini U2 (motorgllider) 2 flights and 1.8 hours. It has
> gone very
> well, except for today's near disaster landing. I have not explored
> the
> slower speeds enough and was too conservative on the approach speed.
> (too
> fast). The rest of the story, I will not tell, as it must be
> obvious. It
> ended up OK with a go around.
>
> The troubling thing I have encountered is that I can only trim to
> about 65
> knots minimum and that is at full aft trim. I have not refined this
> exactly,
> but it is close. The airplane acts as if it is at a too far forward
> CG. My CG
> sits at 59.4, which is wwell within the envelope for the short
> wings. I
> susect the long wings may have some adjustments here. I have checked
> again
> all the controls and trim system movements and they all check out
> fine. My
> question to the group is:
>
> With the short wings, what is the minimum airspeed you can trim the
> airplane
> - especially at a forward CG?
>
> Also, in the videos of takeoffs, I see the tailwheel come up well
> before the
> airplane main leaves the ground. I am paranoid about keeping the
> stick aft
> and was wondering what those experienced with this configuration
> find during
> takeoff for the tail coming off the ground. My airplane has been
> leaping off
> the ground abruptly as I am keeping that stick probably too far back
> too
> long.
>
> Flight #3 coming up in a few days, with a more aft CG!
>
>
> Dave
> A227
> Mini U2 (undamaged!)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
|