Now here's a thought.
Has anyone out there tried decoupling the flaps and gear on a monowheel and
using
the tri-gear flap motor to deploy the flaps? One can see why full flaps are
desirable
on landing, but mebbe only 1/3 flaps are really required on takeoff.
I seem to recall that the original 912/fixed pitch classic had barely enough
oomph to
take off at sea level. The 912S addresses this, and the 914 at high/hot
conditions,
but Terry's T/O problems sound frightening...
Shaun
----- Original Message -----
From: "Terry Seaver" <terrys@cisco.com>
Subject: Stall strips
> N135TD is a mono-wheel XS with 912S and a Whirlwind
> constand speed prop.
> Stall testing of N135TD at gross weight showed a
> very benign gear/flaps up stall at about 50 knots. On the
> other hand, the gear/flaps down stall is rather abrupt at
> about 44 knots, with one wing falling off rather quickly
> and the nose dropping to near vertical before recovery
> can be made. We thought that it would be best to fit
> stall strips, as recommended in the Europa pilot's manual,
> as a stall like this on final approach could ruin your day.
>
> Last Sunday we flew to Bishop, CA, which is at 4120 feet.
> On take off, with two aboard and full fuel, I was unable to
> get the airspeed above 52 knots with the gear/flaps down,
> and finally had to slowly raise the gear/flaps to gain speed
> (density altitude was about 7500 ft, weight was about
> 50 pounds under gross). Even after the gear/flaps were
> up, climb was a rather anemic 250 fpm.
>
> Given that we were already close to stall under these conditions,
> both with the gear/flaps up and down, is it advisable to raise the
> stall speeds even higher with stall strips ?
> What kind of increases in stall speeds have other builders seen
> whan they added the stall strips ?
>
> Please note, Bishop is not a particularly high or hot airport in this
> region. I can't help but wonder what kind of performance to expect
> at higher places (Lake Tahoe, for example) on a really hot day,
> where density altitudes can exceed 10,000 feet.
>
> Terry Seaver
>
>
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