At 05:24 PM 3/24/98 -0500, you wrote: >Dave - As one who has done considerable formation flying, albeit in airplanes much faster and heavier than the coupe, I don't think anyone should try any kind of formation work, including but not limited to landings, without a very current and competent instructor and lead pilot, both of whom are very experienced formation flyers. Self teaching will lead to disaster. >Secondly, when you talk about "propwash", do you mean wake turbulence? I've never flown behind a coupe, so I haven't experienced what you talk about. Generally, the violence of an airplane's wake is directly related to weight and the lift being produced by the wings, and washing up from the lower surface to the upper, at the wing tips. Since the coupe is so light, and the total lift is therefore not very great, I wonder why the turbulence is more than other airplanes? >Being a glider pilot, we train students to box the wake of the tow plane. Often, the tow ships are Pawnees, L-19s, and other airplanes significantly heavier and faster than is the coupe. While the glider pilot surely feels the wake as he descends thru it, the glider, being of course, very light itself, is in total control at all times during this maneuver. The towplane's wake is encountered at least once every time that this training is done. Of course, since tow lines are usually 200 feet long, the glider is 200 feet behind the towplane, so the wake has dissipated some, but not much. >I'm mystified why the coupe has such a great amount of wake turbulence. As one who has studied both the physics and effect of wake turbulence quite extensively, I wonder why that is. If anyone can help educate me, please do. > >Jerry Eichenberger >Columbus, Ohio >N2906H I agree with you about not jumping into it, but taken slowly and in steps and in talking to an experienced formation pilot you can learn to do it quite safely. I know because I'm self taught. I had the benefit of several old military pilots and started out with about a 100' EEL and slowly worked my way in. As I said formation does not have to mean being close just being in a known position. Group landings are not formation landings, just well coordinated landings to ensure the greatest margin of safety for everyone, a by product is greater efficiency. The problem in trying to find an experienced instructor is there are almost none with experience in something with a wing loading as low as a coupe. Plays hell with their methods. I know because one of the guys who helped me was an ex Blue Angle who owned a coupe. He laughed at his friends behind the controls of a coupe.
It is a flying skill like any other, the problem is too many people like to make something like this sound like superman stuff, it's not. Any good pilot can do it as long as he takes it slowly and does his homework. If he doesn't, he will kill himself even if he has the sky to himself and a 5,000 ft runway in front of him. My wife (not a pilot) can hold position pretty well as long as she is out a ways. She has problems with power control in tight. Any pilot who can land and keep it on the center line can fly formation when he understands the technique. The biggest single thing is NEVER take your eyes off the lead pilot Now as for wake turbulence it and prop wash are the same thing just sort of dates me. I know all the theory myself but I can either let people believe theory or give them experience. And experience is very sobering. The coupe wing when slow and at a high angle of attack is generating a lot of lift which tears the air up pretty good. I've flown sailplanes, got my start in them, 200' behind an L19 is a piece of cake. At 200 feet it's not too bad behind a coupe but more than an L19 for sure
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