[rebel-builders] Landing speed and Thank you to Si Smith
Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:33 pm
Hi Keith
We've seen Si's plane and agree that it is a "rocket"!
FWIW my rudder (and elevator) is very light to move but I do have two
pulleys on each of the four cables. Without the pulleys I've noticed
that you can hear the rudder cables moving through the guides which must
add some friction.
I normally approach at 60 to 65 knots. For a very short stop I'll come
back as low as 50 over the threshold as long as I have some power on and
flaps but that would NOT be a recommended thing. The caution (as you
will discover) is that when you get this wing behind the power curve, it
will just sink instead of flaring. I generally like to keep a little
power on until I'm certain I've flared and am not descending. Even in
ground effect, there is often only a second or two between a level
attitude and the 3 point attitude with power off. I would not like to
experience a power loss if below about 65 knots with this airplane. No
problem above 65 knots though. With power off you almost have to
consciously push it down through the last 50 feet to keep the speed from
decaying. Weight affects all of this by a few knots. Anyway there's one
opinion for you. No doubt there will be others ;)
Ken
(500+ Rebel landings so far...)
Keith Leitch wrote:
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We've seen Si's plane and agree that it is a "rocket"!
FWIW my rudder (and elevator) is very light to move but I do have two
pulleys on each of the four cables. Without the pulleys I've noticed
that you can hear the rudder cables moving through the guides which must
add some friction.
I normally approach at 60 to 65 knots. For a very short stop I'll come
back as low as 50 over the threshold as long as I have some power on and
flaps but that would NOT be a recommended thing. The caution (as you
will discover) is that when you get this wing behind the power curve, it
will just sink instead of flaring. I generally like to keep a little
power on until I'm certain I've flared and am not descending. Even in
ground effect, there is often only a second or two between a level
attitude and the 3 point attitude with power off. I would not like to
experience a power loss if below about 65 knots with this airplane. No
problem above 65 knots though. With power off you almost have to
consciously push it down through the last 50 feet to keep the speed from
decaying. Weight affects all of this by a few knots. Anyway there's one
opinion for you. No doubt there will be others ;)
Ken
(500+ Rebel landings so far...)
Keith Leitch wrote:
First of...a big thank you to Si Smith for giving me a ride in his
very nice looking Rebel. We recently attended the Fall Colors Tour in
Northern MN and he arranged for me to hop aboard his Rebel for a
short blast. And Blast is exactly what it was. This was my first time
in a Rebel and I was very impressed. He let me take the stick for a
bit and I was very impressd with the light feel of the stick. I flew
my O-235 powered 7AC in the tour and compared to it the Rebel feels
like a sports car as far as the stick goes. I did notice though that
the rudders were MUCH harder than on my Champ. Is this typical? I am
not saying it was bad....just seems like the stick and the rudder
pedals are at very opposite extremes of force needed to move them. I
really liked the climb also. Seemed to climb like a rocket compared
to my 127 and Champ. Now to my main question....What speeds are most
of you landing at? Maybe I am just used to the Champ but we seemed to
land a lot faster in the Rebel than I normally land in my "Super
Champ". I was very pleased with Si's Rebel....Very nice looking and
performing plane. Again Si, thank you for the ride and experience.
Sorry I didn't say goodbye before I left but I was not feeling well
all day and needed to go home.
Keith R661
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