Short and soft field procedures RV-6A

albertaflyer · #1 08-12-2011, 08:27 AM

Hi,

Just wondering what most people are doing for soft field and short field procedures in terms of flap settings etc. For takeoff and landing.

Kahuna · #2 08-12-2011, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albertaflyer

Hi,

Just wondering what most people are doing for soft field and short field procedures in terms of flap settings etc. For takeoff and landing.

Grab the search feature and drop in short field flaps and have a look at the gazllion posts on this very topic. Hit the posts button instead of the threads and you will see many many posts on the 6a, and other planes that will provide you with what folks are doing.

Vern · #3 08-12-2011, 09:16 AM

Use caution as it is easy to over-rotate and get a tail tie-down or rudder bottom.

pierre smith · #4 08-12-2011, 01:34 PM

Our 180 horse -6A got off so quickly, even with a FP Catto pitched for cruise, that we never found a strip so short that we needed to do a short field takeoff....it automatically does them!

Short field landings should be full-flap landings and it'll do them under 1000' easily and better yet with practise. We got slower and slower until there was very little cushion left during the flare and you sorta "splat" onto the runway.

IIRC, our approach speed was around 70 MPH but find your own because airspeed indicators and different airplanes don't have the same indications. Work down a few MPH at a time, carefully controlling your airspeed until there is little to no floating during the flare.

Best,

Toobuilder · #5 08-12-2011, 01:43 PM

With the 8 and the 9A, I've found that you can get it so slow (and steep), that a well timed blast of power will take the place of the roundout. Make SURE to time the blast of power right, because there's nothing left in pitch to arrest the descent. Takes a bit of practice to work into this.

albertaflyer · #6 08-12-2011, 04:48 PM

Thanks for the info guys. I did find that I drug the tail tie down once when doing soft field.

albertaflyer · #7 08-12-2011, 04:50 PM

Is it better to leave flaps down to help keep the weight off the wheels until you lost most of your ground speed?

Mel · #8 08-12-2011, 05:40 PM

Some consider it short.
I use 15? flap for take-off. Notably short than "no flaps".
For landing, I use 70 mph across the fence, full flaps (38?) and dump them immediately on touchdown.

Just my procedure. Worked well for me for a lotta years.
Use what works best for you.

vlittle · #9 08-12-2011, 07:53 PM

Many years ago I asked my flight instructor what the procedure was for a short, soft field landing.

He called that a 'crash' and would not recommend it.

V