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The flapless VG Report

sj

Staff member
Northwest Arkansas
Folks,

Along with my new tailwheel and freshly covered tailfeathers I have a new set of Microdynamics VG's on my "PA-18-105 SPECIAL 135HP" (try to fit that in the little space in the log book).

I could never have imagined that some little chunks of metal could do such cool things. The bad news is that since my airpspeed indicator has not been right for a long time, the speeds I give you are somewhat relative, but needless to say, these are a great mod.

The first thing I did was go out and do a power off stall. Not the yank and bank type, but the kind you might get into on landing where you have a mild descent going and you keep pulling back on the stick as the ground rises up to meet you. Well, I pulled it all the way back as far as I could and it still would not stall. It just kept gradually descending at around 20mph on my FUBAR airspeed indicator.

Now I was able to get it to power on stall with a little more zest, but if the severe nose up attitude of the airplane did not tell you there was going to be a problem, you need to have your internal attitude indicator adjusted. It kind of hung in the air at a very low airspeed and finally growled over, minimual nose and wing drop (ok, maybe I was not perfectlly coordinated, but it is more fun that way) and pretty docile - but very noisy. I felt like I was having my teeth cleaned at the dentist, you know when they stick your legs higher in the air than your head.

The landing stall speed came done of course, but one thing I noticed is that the landings where you stall a little high above the ground (I had a first time taildragger pilot in the front seat for this one) on landing, it was not the horrific descent rate that sends you bouncing back up 25 feet in the air. While it could not be called "gentle", it was WAY better than before the VGs. For instructional purposes, it may be worth the $675 for this situation alone!

So, now to the numbers, as strange as they may seem:

Prior FUBAR ASI reported:
40mph poff stall
25mph pon stall
70mph final to avoid rapid descent on landing
(remember, I haveth no flapeths)

Post VG FUBAR ASI reports:
20mph with full aft stick, no stall even with fat guy in front seat and other fat guy in back
15-20mph p-on stall, hard to read with it that high in the air
55mph final no rapid descent at all.

My unreliable and opinionated analysis: VG = VERY GOOD thing to have!

sj :p
 
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