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Rv6 flaps

dan carley

Well Known Member
I’ve been experimenting with the flaps
On my Rv6 what do most people position used
Seems the more flaps I use I bounce on landing
Also what approach speed is good


Thanks
Danny
 
Speeds

I always land with full flaps. If I am trying to do a wheel landing, I use 80 mph, if I am doing a 3 point landing, I use 70mph. I’ll be curious to see what others say.
 
Most of the time full flaps, across the fence at 65 mph.
 
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My manual flaps has a shortened handle. I almost always only use 30-degree or 3/4 flaps because I do not have the strength to get all the flaps out above 70 KIAS.
 
Usually full. I have a -6 with manual flaps. But I also practice with little or no flaps, just to mix it up.
 
I would stall your aircraft in the landing configuration and then start with the standard 1.3 times the stall speed. Airspeed indicators tend to be somewhat different especially at slow speeds between RV’s.
 
If you use the 1.3 x stall speed recommended above...
Note that stall speed is less with flaps deployed. If you are trying to touchdown at the same speed with and without flaps you will be at a higher factor (maybe 1.4, 1.5x) with the flaps down. More excess lift - more likely to bounce

My goal is 72 mph over the fence.
Full flaps.

Most common thing I see is people really afraid to get this slow, and so come in with too much speed. 80 mph, 85...

Yes it does feel strange down at that speed. Yes you are in the 'back side' of the curve. Yes the sink rate can be substantial. But the plane has so much excess power that it shouldn't be feared to the same degree as a loaded up Cessna 172.

Advice from someone who used to try to land it much faster...

RV-6A, fixed pitch
 
If you are a new tail wheel person let me tell you my story. I bought an RV3 almost 2 yrs ago with about 20 hrs of TW time, mostly in an RV6. At idle on the ground the RV3 was at 800 rpm. I had never had problems landing any plane even in strong xwinds. For every landing in the 3 I had to do 2-3 go arounds. I noticed in the 3 I had come in at a fairly flat approach or the plane would gain speed. If I didn’t touch down perfectly the plane would easily become airborne again. I was told the 3 is very slippery and thought that was normal. After a month of flying (15-20 hrs) and still having difficulty landing the plane I came very close to selling it.

I posted the problem here on the forum. Someone suggested the idle maybe set too high and should be around 550-600. Holy cow what a difference, night and day. And to think I nearly sold the plane.
 
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I usually land with 1/2 flaps, but that's because I'm still getting used to this -6A purchased in October. I don't want to be doing a go around and fighting with the flaps. I know my over-the-numbers speed is a bit faster because of all this, but I don't yet have a good "feel" for the aircraft's limits at slow speed.

Now I may stay with 1/2 flaps long term, out of habit, since it seems to provide easier handling gusts during landing.
 
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For me - short final with full flaps, 65KIAS. Cross the fence at 60-65 KIAS. Usually try to 3-point unless it’s windy. If it’s windy, make a wheelie and when the tail is down, dump the flaps - they are manual and it takes about 1 second, and keeps me ‘grounded’.
 
I can’t get the idle much lower maybe 700-750 rpm’s
Danny

Most likely the idle mixture needs adjustment. I have my idle speed set pretty low for the reasons mentioned above. When cool, it idles fine, but after landing and fully warmed up, it won't sustain things if I don't give it just a touch of movement on the lever. Bit of a hassle, but worth it for the ability to slow down better.
 
I fly at an airport with nasty cross winds that create little rotors over the runway and causes an oscillating vertical movement in the flare. When I was first learning to deal with this, I found that 30* of flaps helped a bit. Honestly, once I got used to it, I rarely use 40* anymore, except short fields.

Larry
 
I fly at an airport with nasty cross winds that create little rotors over the runway and causes an oscillating vertical movement in the flare. When I was first learning to deal with this, I found that 30* of flaps helped a bit. Honestly, once I got used to it, I rarely use 40* anymore, except short fields.
Larry

On my -6 I have 0°, 13°, 26°, and 38°. I found that the 38° notch does not reduces stall speed from 26°. The last notch is strictly drag.
 
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I usually land with 1/2 flaps, but that's because I'm still getting used to this -6A purchased in October. I don't want to be doing a go around and fighting with the flaps. I know my over-the-numbers speed is a bit faster because of all this, but I don't yet have a good "feel" for the aircraft's limits at slow speed.
My 150HP O-320 powered -6 will happily climb out with full flaps deployed if I need to go around. If you're trying to land with half flaps, that's probably why you need to go around more often.
 
Fix the bounce

I struggled with this on my RV-4, your experience may be different.
Bounce is only caused by vertical speed, decent, being too high. First work at gaining more finesse at decent just before touchdown. Second, the landing gear is spring steel, it returns what ever energy is put in at touch down, if it is less than weight minus lift, you stay on ground, if it is more you bounce. Also, when you touch down with excess vertical speed, the tail goes down increasing angle of attack and increasing lift. I found that landing on one of the front wheels cuts the spring constant in half and that eliminated my bounce. As soon as I was not fighting the bounce by landing on one wheel, my finesse improved greatly.
 
I’ve been experimenting with the flaps
On my Rv6 what do most people position used
Seems the more flaps I use I bounce on landing
Also what approach speed is good


Thanks
Danny

Not sure if you are referring to a bounce or the infamous RV-skip. A bounce is due to excessive sink rate, the skip is due to excess speed....and is sometimes referred to as a bounce.

Many low-time RVers haven't come to grips with how slow these planes will fly in ground effect. Even us old-timers can get lazy and regress back into the bad habit of trying to land the RV-6 with too much speed. The tail drops down, the wing goes positive, and the RV says "not ready to stop flying yet". Lowering flaps increases the angle of attack of the wing and can cause the pilot embarrassment until he figures out how to really slow the plane down for landing.

By the way, if a bounce occurs, even with full flaps, do not hesitate to apply full power for the go-around, the RV will climb aggressively with full flaps. It is not your father's C-150!

A great way to get a handle on this is to spend time at altitude flying the plane with flaps at minimal controllable air speed......kinda like our instructor had us do in basic flight training. This will increase confidence in landing at the proper speed. Every time my landings start getting a little inconsistent I have to return to good airmanship and hit that 3-4 knot window that results in good landings. Get the RV slowed down properly and it will make you look good. :)
 
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I can’t get the idle much lower maybe 700-750 rpm’s
Danny

As others have mentioned.... This is a big issue (if running FP) that needs to be corrected. That extra 250 rpm with 70mph over the fence, won't allow you to land, you are 14 mph over stall speed. Check your throttle stop to confirm it is indeed touching the set screw. Adjust idle (hot motor) to 450-500 (wood & glass needs a little more) even if it is rough. You will control the idle with your throttle. Your prop makes a big difference in the way you plan your approach.

Adjust your idle. Practice slow flight.. fly at 60-65 mph. Trim for heavy nose, you want to feel the airplane and you want to increase speed by relaxing your hand instead of pushing. And without your input, the plane will default to increase speed.

At altitude, set up your pattern on final 75 mph, apply flaps, trim nose down so you feel a little pressure. Reduce power to idle and hold 70 for about 30 seconds as you descend. Slow to 65 as you approach the imaginary fence, then introduce backpressure as you see your vsi go to "O". You just touched down. You are very close to a stall so relax the nose and add some power and go do it again.

In a real rollout situation, the motor will want to die under about 25mph, just add a little power to maintain a smooth idle as you taxi.

If you have a C/S prop, then ignore this entire post.
 
Across the fence at 70kts for 3 point landings, full flaps. Be patient and wait for it to settle. If it's gusting or blowing more than 25, then half flaps and wheel land.
 
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