europa-list
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: Europa-List: Approach and Landing Speeds

Subject: Re: Europa-List: Approach and Landing Speeds
From: David Joyce <davidjoyce@doctors.org.uk>
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:03:48

Carl, Flying a mono, I don't have the luxury nor the 
distraction of adjustable flaps - they are inevitably 
fully down for landing. Also the touch down happens only 
when the plane stops flying at something very close to the 
stall speed since landing has to be in the '3 point' 
attitude which is much the same as the stall angle of 
attack. If you try to land at a higher speed and a flatter 
angle the mono wheel being in front of the wing centre of 
lift bounces you up in the air in an undignified fashion! 
Having said all that, full flap has a powerful breaking 
effect and I do not expect my ground run to be any more 
than about 100m. One minor point worth noting is that if 
you have a VP prop it should of course be in fully fine 
pitch - a coarse propeller produces a significantly longer 
float and a somewhat longer ground run.
Regards, David Joyce, G-XSDJ


  Frans Veldman <frans@privatepilots.nl> wrote:
><frans@privatepilots.nl>
> 
> On 04/13/2012 09:46 AM, Carl Meek wrote:
>> I'm interested in what speeds people use?  Most relevant 
>>to me is a 450m
>> grass bumpy strip in a Tri-Gear XS.
>> 
>> I'd like to know  speeds on Final, "Over the fence" and 
>>round out.
> 
> Depends on the stall speed/features of your ship. I have 
>seen Europa's
> that have a 10 knot higher stall speed than some others. 
>I wouldn't
> recommend my landing speed to them!
> 
>> I'm trying slightly different speeds on each landing, 
>>but feeling
>> generally I'm a bit fast
> 
> This might be due to your experience in other aircraft. 
>Europa's tend to
> float a bit more than Cessna 172's.
> 
> To give you an idea:
> My avarage particular landing speed (well, the short 
>final at least) is
> 60-65 kots, if the runway is long enough and there is no 
>wind shear or
> heavy turbulence. In a short field I tend to land with 
>no more than 60
> knots, and in the mountains with lots of wind shear and 
>thermals I
> prefer to land with about 70 knots. I find these speeds 
>giving me a
> large safety margin and at the same time not causing an 
>excessive flare.
> Stall speed of my ship (high top tri gear) is 42 knots 
>(no wing drop
> tendency) with flaps fully extended.
> I usually come in high enough to perform the final glide 
>with the power
> fully idle, except for very short fields where I like to 
>drag the ship
> over the threshold: then power off and flaps up and the 
>bird immediately
> settles right on the spot.
> (If you want to practise this, don't do it initially at 
>the numbers but
> choose some other spot on the runway so you have a 
>reasonable margin in
> both directions).
> Like I said, I prefer to glide to the runway with power 
>fully idle.
> Approach speed can be a bit lower if you like to come in 
>with more
> power. Also, the Europa side slips reasonably well, this 
>too can be part
> of your landing technique.
> I always land with flaps fully extended, even with cross 
>winds; the
> rudder is powerfull enough to line up with the runway 
>even at low
> landing speeds. It may be beneficial to land in cross 
>winds with a bit
> more power so the air flow over the rudder remains 
>higher.
> 
>  I'm wondering what speeds are recommended for
>> best safety without compromising control.
> 
> Don't copy others landing speeds blindly! It depends on 
>the particular
> features of the bird and the abilities and landing 
>technics of the pilot.
> 
>Frans
> 
>Un/Subscription,
>Forums!
>Admin.
> 
> 
> 



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>