Quote:
Originally Posted by luddite42
Assuming you're qualified, go up in your RV at altitude and replicate base to final turns at lower and lower airspeed and you'll see how hard you have to work and how out of whack you really have to be to produce a stall/spin/spiral departure during a normal turn. Do you actually have spin experience? Many pilots who lack comfort level and experience in this area are often overly concerned about stalling and operating near their perceived "edge of the flight envelope". This causes them to fly with excessive speed in the pattern and on final. Your mind would have to be fatally absent or distracted to allow yourself to get anywhere near this condition even at moderate bank angles in the pattern. It's nothing to fear. The fact that you're thinking about energy management each time you make this turn means you're engaged. But as others have mentioned, there is no need for excess energy. Speed is not life. Proper energy management and paying attention is life.
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I have done exactly this, tested the envelope all the way. I agree with you. If you want to land at our airpark, tall trees at both ends, 2000' runway, you better not be carrying extra speed. However, I see the point being made. There has been more than one stall/spin accident with RV's, low, slow, heavy, high DA, and fatal. I do carry extra speed when I have those conditions as I don't fly regularly in that environment.