• If You Are Having Trouble Logging In with Your Old Username and Password, Please use this Forgot Your Password link to get re-established.
  • Hey! Be sure to login or register!

Stretched Tripacer 200hp Flights

D

Daryl Baker

MEMBER
Columbia, Connecticut
Hello, The weather in the Northeast is getting nice. I was able to make 30 hr mark today with the 22nd flight. Need 40 hrs to fly off the experimental restrictions. Today I did some air work and a slow approach full flaps to landing. Still need much more practice but here are my observations. Airplane really does not want to stall clean (like my Taylorcraft would) just a hint of the nose dropping at approx. 42 mph with no flaps. Yoke full back it flys-mushes at 42 mph. With full flaps (PA22–40 degrees) same thing she flys-mushes at approx. 38 mph. On approach at 55 mph with full flaps the nose is obstructing view but with the side by side seating you are able to see the touchdown pt. past the nose on the left hand side. A slight slip allows a much better view. In the flare your view is past the left hand side of the nose. With just myself in the plane it may be tad nose heavy. I am thinking if and when I try to land in my father’s back yard 500-600ft field I may want to put a 50lb bag of sand in the baggage compartment. Will certainly do some practice at the airport before attempting anything like that. My father flew a 135 HP Supercub into this field several times many years ago. I have Microair VG’s would be interested to hear if other people have the same fly-mush experience and at what Supercub air speeds.
 
In the PA-20-135 that I fly, a 50lb bag of sand in the baggage compartment helps the 3 point landings. The airplane 3 pointed perfectly until the installation of the VG's. The airplane seemed to run out of elevator.
I checked the control deflections and they were right on and with just one or two in the airplane it was at the forward CG. Best fix I could come up with on a certified airplane and the only downside of VG installation.
 
Daryl Baker said:
Hello, The weather in the Northeast is getting nice. I was able to make 30 hr mark today with the 22nd flight. Need 40 hrs to fly off the experimental restrictions. Today I did some air work and a slow approach full flaps to landing. Still need much more practice but here are my observations. Airplane really does not want to stall clean (like my Taylorcraft would) just a hint of the nose dropping at approx. 42 mph with no flaps. Yoke full back it flys-mushes at 42 mph. With full flaps (PA22–40 degrees) same thing she flys-mushes at approx. 38 mph. On approach at 55 mph with full flaps the nose is obstructing view but with the side by side seating you are able to see the touchdown pt. past the nose on the left hand side. A slight slip allows a much better view. In the flare your view is past the left hand side of the nose. With just myself in the plane it may be tad nose heavy. I am thinking if and when I try to land in my father’s back yard 500-600ft field I may want to put a 50lb bag of sand in the baggage compartment. Will certainly do some practice at the airport before attempting anything like that. My father flew a 135 HP Supercub into this field several times many years ago. I have Microair VG’s would be interested to hear if other people have the same fly-mush experience and at what Supercub air speeds.
Click to expand...


is elevator authority running out such that it seems nose heavy with you alone?... are you trimmed for nose down so elevators become more effective when you attempt to flare?

I'm building a stretched Pacer too and have read how the tail can become ineffective on landing slow... I have added nearly 10 inches (outward) onto each horizontal tail surface to increase area... Just hoping this is enough?
 
stretched pacer

Hi
I too am building a stretched pa22/20.
But one thing i notice was that a stock control system on a tripacer doesn't allow for much more than 15 degrees up elevator.
I reworked the bellcrank and the pivot point at the bottom of the control column to gain more travel at the elevator.
You guys that are building these also might want to put a protactor on your elevators.
So far i have travel to 25 degrees up, and still looking for a way to get another 5 degress. I'll probably have to mess with the elevator horns to get the last 5 deg.
Supercubs i believe are 30 up & 30 dn?
Something to think about!
Dan
 
Do you have flap gap seals ? If not, you are putting turbulent air over the tail at slow speeds and full flaps. Just one more thing to look for.
 
On the 55 mph approach I had trim set for the slowest speed. Still had to hold a little back pressure. I think the tail wheel touched 1st or close to it. 1st few flights were without the Microair tail VG's. After installation I did notice better elevator authority. My stabilizers/elevators are 10 inches longer which makes them about the width of the PA18. If you go wider there will be more surface hanging out beyond the flying wire attached pt. which would be greater than the PA18. I felt comfortable with a design similar to the PA18. Wider will also make for less balance and more control pressure. My notes show that I got 23 degrees up elevator. PA18 is 25 +-2 degrees. Working to get more up travel would be my recommendation. You also need to grind down the rudder stops to get more travel. The PA22 had 16 degrees and the PA18 has 25 degrees. My Taylorcraft had 30 degrees. I want to practice short field landings with the 50 lb. bag in the back to see how it handles slow. Will also allow for heavier braking.
 
And another one on the scene. Test flights seem to be going well with about 15 hours now. Great control response @ 40 mph, cruise of 110 mph.
077252.html
 
Could I suggest 50lbs of tools, survival gear, and water instead of sand? Might as well have that extra weight working for you.
 
Airwrench said:
And another one on the scene. Test flights seem to be going well with about 15 hours now. Great control response @ 40 mph, cruise of 110 mph.
077252.html
Click to expand...

Very nice! Mind if I steal your paint scheme? Looks great!
 
I also used to throw a bag of pea gravel in the rear of my baggage compartment, when flying local and empty. Then one year I realized even my local flights here in SE Idaho take me over some pretty remote and rough areas and I now use a bag weighing about the same but it has survival gear instead. You can't eat pea gravel! I can't believe it took me that long to figure that out....
 
Airwrench said:
And another one on the scene. Test flights seem to be going well with about 15 hours now. Great control response @ 40 mph, cruise of 110 mph.
077252.html
Click to expand...

Hey Airwrench,
How about an update on the Davis special? I believe he is running the D&E Riblet wing and D&E aluminum struts and fittings. I am looking to do the aluminum struts and am curious how you like them.

Very cool plane!

077252.jpg
 
The Davis Special is a beautiful looking plane. Saw it at the Valdez Show... I liked the lift struts as well...Take Off was 97' and 82 ' Landing was 195' and 156'.
 
The Davis Special certainly is a beautiful specimen. How did you approach the issue of the continuous trim cable and indicator cable?


Jim
 
Jim, Tony Cesare makes nice endless cables. Galvanised $110 ppd., Stainless $115 ppd. built to any length. P.O.Box 719 Millinocket, ME 04462 207-723-9491
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

D
Stretched Tripacer 200hp
Replies
18
Views
16K
Daryl Baker
D
F
Understanding your flaps
Replies
13
Views
7K
N636P
N636P
M
Trip Report: Andover Flight Academy
Replies
17
Views
8K
Christina Young
Christina Young
PA12driver
STOL Techniques-from an Article by Mike Vivion
2
Replies
54
Views
27K
Guest
G
D
S.T.O.L Operations
Replies
3
Views
5K
PA12driver
PA12driver
Back
Top