The Murphy Builders Site

Hi Ben

I haven't played with flapless much but it doesn't seem to make much
difference to me as I seem to have adequate elevator control either
way. However I can tell you that with the Mackenzie STOL cuff, the nose
is ridiculously high in a flapless stall. Much higher than a 3 point
attitude and higher than a stall with flap. While the stall speed is
only a couple of knots different with or without flap, for landing you
are going faster at a 3 point touchdown without the flap.

Chris Heintz (Zenith kits) used tricycle gear and an upswept rear
fuselage on the 701/801 so he could get a higher nose attitude for
takeoff and I think for landing as well. He uses fixed leading edge
slats instead of the STOL cuff. My impression is that conventional gear
is a good choice for a Rebel but again I have only a wee bit of
experience and none without the STOL cuff. If you assume trees or
obstacles after takeoff, then you have to accelerate to leave ground
effect to get over the trees. While that distance is fairly short, I
believe I can land this thing in a comparable distance or less. It will
climb at 50 knots or less but 55 is more comfortable for me to allow for
gusts or a bit of wind change above the trees.

Ken

bransom@dcsol.com wrote:

Ken or others,
Does addition of flaps reduce the tendency for tail to hit first in an
attempt to do a slow landing, e.g, 3 point, even with some power added as
well to limit sink rate?
-Ben

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Hi Ken
Flaps will keep the tail up. I came in for a landing last week and held the
aircraft just off the runway and waited for it to stall. She dropped as the
airspeed was going thru 40 mph and the elevator just touched the stop as it
dropped. Tail did touch first but the mains were right behind it. When I
land I use rudder for directional control and while the tail is still up
off the ground, I'll reach down and dump the flaps which dumps the tail.

Steve W 637R





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