----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Scott,
You’re certainly
welcome. Many of us hang out here partly because we enjoy helping. In
addition, several of the other hangers-out here are friends of many years.
Don’t leave all
the “figuring out” to the CFI. Most CFIs don’t have a
clue about the behavior of short, thick wing planes.
Ercoupes and the “Short
Wing Pipers” share a wing that’s a bit shorter and noticeably
thicker than many later wings. (Heck, there’s even a Short Wing Piper
Club.) The behavior is noticeably different, too.
Even short, thick
wings are efficient. They make a good cruising wing.
A difference you’ll
see from the Cessnas is in the best glide speed. The short, thick wings
get a good glide ratio – if you glide at their appropriate speed which is
10-20 mph faster than you’ll see in a Cessna. And the short, thick
wings develop a pretty good sink as you approach their minimum flying speed
(stall). You want to see steep? Fly a Tri-Pacer or Colt in a no
power descent at low airspeed! Coupes share that low speed behavior.
It’s no problem
for flying. Just glide down your approach near the best glide speed which
will be in the 75 mph range (true, indicated airspeed). If you approach
at 70 and lose power, dropping the nose and speeding up by 5 mph will increase
your glide range. If you have a strong headwind, dropping the nose and
increasing speed by 10-15 can give you a significant increase in glide range.
I read all the
messages about a stabilized approach, using power all the way. There are
many different methods. I experimented with power-on approaches and tried
cutting power at different points around the pattern.
In the end, I settled
on 1500 rpm from the reduce power point abreast of the touchdown point. I
leave the power at that setting through the base and turn to final. At
some point on final, I know I’ve “made it” and I reduce the
power to idle. No power failure on final will leave me in the weeds. It’s
quite easy to maintain your chosen airspeed with no power, the nose just needs
to point a bit lower.
This method requires
good judgment of your approach. To use it, you’ll need to learn to
fly excellent and consistent approaches at different airports with various wind
conditions.
Make sure your CFI
understands the low-speed sink issue and the higher speed best glide. Have
fun.
http://edburkhead.com
ed -at-
edburkhead???.com (change
-at- to @ and remove "???")
============================================================================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm Search the archives on http://escribe.com/aviation/coupers-tech/
