I just thought I'd report back on flying both last night (2 landings) and
today (4 landings). Thanks to all the advice on the list, I'm feeling
500% more confident, and really happy with landing her. The technique
I've settled on is basically 5kts slower than I was before, aiming for 60
over the fence, and then really holding it off until it just plops onto
the runway. The final part of the equation to stop the front wheel
bouncing up as we slow down is NOT to pull back on the elevator (literally
only in the final slowing down bit). In my previous A/C I always held
full back elevator when taxiing on grass, but this seems to make the
europa too nose bouncy. In addition, keeping power on a bit longer than I
Used to seems to help, I used to pretty much always shut off power at the
'over the fence' point but have now found that keeping a bit of thrust
until the wheels are nearly down helps keep a nice controlled flare.
Hopefully that's not all nonsense! Either way, 6 nice landings in 2 days
is much better than the last 10 or so being less than satisfactory.
Thanks for all the advice.
Did anyone go to Duxford today? I heard a Europa inbound as I left around
3pm.
On 13/04/2012 19:11, "Ivan Shaw" <ivanshaw@btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>Through flight test find out what the indicated stall speed is at gross
>weight and full flap of YOUR aircraft, then multiply this by 1.3, this is
>your normal approach speed.
>If it is gusty then add half the gust speed, if it is flat calm or a stead
>breeze and you are light weight, [single place] then you can creeper it in
>carrying a little power at minus five knots standard approach speed.
>Practice at altitude flying in the landing configuration [full flap]at
>your
>standard approach speed and get used to the feel of the aircraft,
>'recognize
>the first nibble of a stall', do it until you are really COMFORTABLE,
>practice rate one turns left and right keeping the ball centred.
>Ideally practice on a long wide runway with clear approaches, take your
>time
>so you develop a 'feel' for the aircraft.
>When you get it right the aircraft 'dies in your hand' one inch above your
>chosen touch down point!!! But don't expect it too often!
>
>Regards
>Ivan
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
>[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Frans Veldman
>Sent: 13 April 2012 14:47
>To: europa-list@matronics.com
>Subject: Re: Europa-List: Approach and Landing Speeds
>
>--> <frans@privatepilots.nl>
>
>On 04/13/2012 11:43 AM, Carl Meek wrote:
>
>> I've been typically flying short final at 70, over the fence at 65.
>> However, I've found the float can be quite excessive
>
>A little bit of extra speed has a very markable influence on the flare.
>Try a bit lower speed. If the stall characteristics of your ship are
>benign,
>there is nothing to worry about to get over the fence with 60, provided
>there is no strong wind or thermal situation.
>
>> Frans, am I understanding you correctly that for a short field you
>> actually come 'over the fence' and then retract the flaps before
>> touching down?
>
>You can do that just before touching down, but the timing is critical.
>If you to it too early you will get the opposite effect as you are taking
>the drag of the flaps away. I usually start retracting the flaps just when
>the airplane is about to settle down. This will take away the lift and
>also
>causes the wheels to have more grip on the ground, which is a good thing
>if
>you want to start braking immediately.
>
>This could be more interesting if the flaps could be operated much faster,
>i.e. by hand rather than by a servo. Anyone an idea why the flaps where
>made
>electric on the tri-gear?
>
>I have to confess that I modified the flap gear slightly: I drilled a hole
>in the arm of the torque tube just below the original hole, so the
>leverage
>to the servo is a bit less. This causes the flaps to extend 3 degrees
>further and also speeds up the movement of the flaps.
>
>(If I understand the history of the Europa correctly, the flaps where
>originally designed for 30 degrees, but the extension was limited to 27
>degrees after one found out that 30 degrees allows the mono to take off
>earlier than control is achieved. In a tri-gear we don't have to worry too
>much about this.)
>
>Frans
>
>
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