----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any
advice in this forum.]----
I have a couple of reservations/suggestions regarding Ed's email
Ed's suggestion: Soft field, you just hold the nose up as long as you can
and keep the elevator up clear through taxiing.
My comment: If you keep the elevator full back, you may not have any
steering ability (peddleless Coupes only)
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Ed's suggestion: Soft field takeoff was just like our Cessnas - elevator
full up to lighten the nose wheel and get lift quickly onto the wings.
My comment: If you keep the elevator full up on your take-off roll, you
will have no steering ability for a while...the time between the nose wheel
lifting and the main wheels lifting. If there is any crosswind, this could
be a problem. Again, this is assuming you are in a peddleless Coupe.
Glen Davis CFII
Grumman Tiger N70GD
1946 Ercoupe N3103H
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o o o
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ercoupe Technical Discussion (moderated)" <[email protected]>
To: "Ercoupe Technical Discussion (moderated)" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 3:00 AM
Subject: Digest list: Ercoupe Technical Discussion (moderated)
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any
advice in this forum.]----
Message list:
1. [COUPERS-TECH] V Speeds and Landings
2. RE: [COUPERS-TECH] V Speeds and Landings
Messages:
From: "John Craparo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Reply-To: "John Craparo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [COUPERS-TECH] V Speeds and Landings
Is there a source for information on V speeds and landing techniques
(aside from the crab) as they relate to the 415C? 87197 is powered by
a C85-12.
With regard to landing, what is the procedure for a short field landing?
If this is all documented somewhere, feel free to merely point me in
the right direction.
Thanks as always,
John
----------------------------
From: "Ed Burkhead" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "'John Craparo'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,"Ctech" <[email protected]>
Reply-To: "Ed Burkhead" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [COUPERS-TECH] V Speeds and Landings
John asked:
Is there a source for information on V speeds and landing
Techniques (aside from the crab) as they relate to the 415C?
87197 is powered by a C85-12.
With regard to landing, what is the procedure for a short field
landing?
John,
I'm not a CFI and I'd better not play one on the Internet or I'll get my
head handed to me. However, these are my opinions based on careful
observation in flying my Coupe and trying to really master the techniques.
So, here are my opinions, speaking ex-cathedra from my belly-button:
In my experience, the techniques for the Ercoupes are almost identical to
those in the Cessnas in which I learned.
For a short field approach, you exercise tight airspeed control coming
down
final. If the field is excessively short, you'd better not land there
because a Coupe can land in half the distance it takes for the take-off.
Short grass runways were never any problem to me. But then, I learned to
fly from an 1800' (useable) airport.
As I was taught, the standard short field approach is to keep your
airspeed
below your normal approach speed and use power to flatten the glide-path
(which would otherwise get excessively steep). The down-side of that
technique is that if you have power failure on final, you are in the
crops,
houses or fences.
I habitually made a no-power final approach, pulling the power at just the
right time. With tightly controlled approach at 1.2-1.3 times minimum
flying speed, I had just enough energy to flare and could usually make the
first turn-off.
Soft field, you just hold the nose up as long as you can and keep the
elevator up clear through taxiing.
Soft field takeoff was just like our Cessnas - elevator full up to lighten
the nose wheel and get lift quickly onto the wings. As soon as you break
ground, you level off and build speed in ground effect where there's no
induced drag. When you have good climbing speed, then you pull up. In
the
Coupe, I'd do the speed build-up with the wheels as low as possible.
Short field takeoff, when it's not a soft field, you keep the elevator
neutral till you're at best angle of climb speed then pull up and maintain
best angle of climb.
Strong cross-wind takeoffs, you keep the elevator neutral and stay on the
ground till you have enough airspeed you can pull it off and be SURE you
won't sink back to the ground.
The V-speeds of the Coupes are another subject. YOU have to determine the
minimum flying speed. The indicated minimum flying speed varies a LOT due
to the age and inaccuracies of our airspeed indicators. You need to know
the minimum flying speed for YOUR aircraft with YOUR ASI.
I generally recommend flying approach at 1.3 times YOUR minimum flying
speed. This leaves enough energy for a nice flare and a moderate-short
float which lets you slowly pull the yoke full back for a nose-up landing.
Best angle of climb and best rate of climb will have to be determined in
relation to your (probably inaccurate) airspeed indicator and plane. It's
worth some discussion to talk about the best way to determine this for a
person's own plane.
If you want a squeak-squeak landing and you have enough runway, you could
try this: I found that I could fly my normal approach which includes
pulling power to idle at the appropriate place on final. In the middle of
my flare, I'd add just enough power that I could hear the increase in
power.
Then, I'd hold the plane at about 1-3 feet agl and pull the nose up only
to
the far-end runway lights. This mild up-angle-of-attack, combine with the
approximately 200 rpm gives you a small sink rate and just about
guarantees
a squeak-squeak landing. This is useful for impressing, well, anyone - as
long as you have lots of runway!
In case you think I have a low opinion of 60 year old airspeed indicators,
you're right.
These are just my humble opinions and I welcome discussion.
Ed Burkhead
http://edburkhead.com
ed -at- edburkhead???.com (change -at- to @ and remove "???")
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