[TSwezey]

I am trying to find out the actual stall speeds for the RV-10. Does anybody know their planes approximate minimum stall speed?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Specs

Did you look at vans web site. That gives a good range. Some RV's do actually stall slower than another's some not (rigging, pilot technique, power on or off).

Vans Stall speeds
57 mph min weight
63 mph gross weight

Van is very rigorous about his specs and has a reputation, for what 25 years, of giving very accurate info. More important is HOW it stalls. Its an RV, very predictable with great control and feel. Not many planes have aileron control into and out of the stall like a RV.*

Flight test method? What speed do you touch down at? Its kind of hard to to watch it and land. Same with stalls. I find RV's stall at or less than what Van states.

*Standard flight technique is to NOT use ailerons to make initial recovery from stall because it may make it worse (adverse yaw) or is just not effective. So the generic FAA recovery deemphasizes aileron. The RV has effective aileron in most stalls, making it easy to keep the wings level, however aggressive aileron can cause increase yaw if you have not lowered the angle of attack and broke the stall. SO I AM NOT recommending ailerons for stall recovery (pitch first), but do some real slow flight and exercise the roll control and be amazed at how controllable it is. Than go fly a Cessna. That is why the RV is a pilots plane.

 

[TSwezey]

I find RV's stall at or less than what Van states.

That is why I asked if anybody had ACTUAL not what Van's states! Should anybody with a flying RV-10 happen to know their power off with flaps stall speed please let me know along with your plane's weight at time of stall.
Thank you.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

These are the BEST numbers, the gospel

That is why I asked if anybody had ACTUAL not what Van's states! Should anybody with a flying RV-10 happen to know their power off with flaps stall speed please let me know along with your plane's weight at time of stall.
Thank you.

That is what I am saying Vans' numbers are typical, meaning RIGHT on, FLAP DOWN "approach" power (ie not departure stall or power on).

I would take those numbers as Gospel. Vans flight test method and recording is going to be better than the average builder. You can extrapolate between he numbers for intermediate weights. If you want to be "safe" add 2 or 3 mph to those numbers.

A builders number will just have error or their particular planes peccadillo's if any exist in there reported numbers. What is a stall? There are very particular specs for recording them per flight test standards for planes. I can get ridiculous low recorded stall speeds with high power, a slight sink and a deft touch on rudder and ailerons. However this is NOT what you want is it?

Most RV's performed as advertised. Trust me I have been messing with them for almost 20 years. There was some controversy years ago about the WAY RV-8's stalled but that is another long story. However the addition of an "aftermarket" stall strake lowered the stall speed.

Van does not use extraordinary airman ship of skill in getting those numbers. There is very specific FLIGHT TEST procedures for getting stall numbers, such as allowable sink, max power and so on.

If you look at the Cafe Foundation dot ORG flight tests and what Van has done in some performance competitions, the recorded stall speed for other RV's is down well below spec, by using power (lots of power). I can assure you these numbers ARE THE BEST you will get for the RV-10, not withstanding all the variables.

PS VG's can lower the stall about 2-3 mph.

 

[n5lp]

Let's keep in mind that Van's numbers are CAS and that is pretty difficult to get and has very little to do with what we see on the airspeed indicator.

Does anyone else remember flying Cessna 150s around with the ASI showing zero?

 

[dav1111]

RV-10 Stall Speeds

While I agree that Van's stall speeds of:

57 mph min weight
63 mph gross weight

are generally on the numbers, the posted stall speeds on Van's Web Site do not conform totally to my flight testing.

I would agree that Van's numbers with a single pilot and no weight in the baggage compartment is pretty close, however I found out on a flight with two other RV-10 builders that my -10 stalls at a lower speed at gross weight than at minimum weight.

I was sitting right seat (250 lbs) John Eirkson was PIC in the left seat (220 lbs probably) and Rick S. was in the back seat (lets just say Rick S. is a big guy). John was doing slow flights out of the North Las Vegas airport and I was astounded at how much slower my RV-10 would go before it broke for the stall with Rick S. sitting in the back seat.

Although I didn't ask Rick S. his weight I am sure that if I had done a W&B we were at gross weight.

This was the first time that I had flown my -10 at gross weight and I was very pleased at the low speed handling at gross weight.

Having said all of the above can I cannot give you absolute figures on the stall speed because once you get down below the 60 mph indicated figure I don't believe the airspeed figure really is accurate enough to bet on. From flying lots of power off landings at both full and no flaps I can tell you that my RV-10 handles really nice down in the 70-75 mph indicated airspeed range but I do not let it get below 70 mph indicated before I start putting in a little more power or getting the nose down to increase speed. Typically when I do my power off landings if I am at 70-75 mph indicated over the numbers as I flare I can feel the -10 just entering the stale area and the horn comes on as I touch down.

As some of my passengers can attest, 500-700 foot roll outs are not uncommon in the -10 if you hit the numbers at 70-75 mph.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Flight test

Larry and Russ thanks that is what I was trying to say.

One think I recall about stall speed accracy is rate of deceleration, I think about 1 mph per second is about right. If you are decelerating too fast you can get massive errors. Also what is a stall? Initial buffet or the full break. The difference is significant.

Speaking of C150's with the massive slotted Fowler flaps (more deflection than a C152), impressive. However impressive is a light two seat RV can match or beat the stall of a C150/152 with simple flaps.

 

[TSwezey]

Russ thank you for your information. That is what I was looking for. I was really curious about getting a lower stall speed at an aft CG and with heavier weight. An Aggie thanks a Red Raider.

George - I didn't want a lesson on aerodynamics. I got enough of that at Texas A&M with my Aerospace Engineering degree. What I wanted was REAL experiences from people who own or fly RV-10's. I wanted ACTUAL flying RV-10's. Not theory and not the factory's plane. All planes are different and the MORE people responding with ACTUAL data and experience will help me.

 

[gmcjetpilot]

Just info Bro

Russ thank you for your information. That is what I was looking for. I was really curious about getting a lower stall speed at an aft CG and with heavier weight. An Aggie thanks a Red Raider.

George - I didn't want a lesson on aerodynamics. I got enough of that at Texas A&M with my Aerospace Engineering degree. What I wanted was REAL experiences from people who own or fly RV-10's. I wanted ACTUAL flying RV-10's. Not theory and not the factory's plane. All planes are different and the MORE people responding with ACTUAL data and experience will help me.

Sorry if I offended you. You wrote:

"Does anybody know their planes approximate minimum stall speed?"

I think I answered your original question. I was not talking down to you, but you can't get around aerodynamics and flight test methods when talking about what the stall speed is.



" I wanted ACTUAL flying RV-10's. Not theory and not the factory's plane."

My main point frankly was RV's are very consistent and Van's specs are representative, but that is lost on you. I just noticed you have a "special" engine. This makes Numbers from typical RV-10s (Lycoming) even less useful. A big V8 car engine is no where near stock or per plans and heavier, so its a waste of time comparing, with all do respect. Your Stall will be about 3 or 4 mph HIGHER.



"I was really curious about getting a lower stall
speed at an aft CG and with heavier weight."

Todd, I have to be honest that comment bothers me. It's your plane. With all you skill an knowledge, I know the idea of using aft CG to get lower stall does not compute. When you talk AFT CG you talk controllable & stability. CG affect on stall is small (2 kt may be?). Why give up stability for a few mph lower stall. I don't know anyone that flys on the ragged edge of the envelope. That is why we have 1.3 Vso for approach.

With your heavier engine you will probably be 3 to 4 mph higher with similar payload. I'm just confused about your obsession with knowing the min stall, which is a moving target and affected by 100 things. Are you trying to fly into a short field? Vortex Generators will makes up some of the higher stall for the higher empty weight due to the heavier engine.


If you are going to fly at higher gross weights you can extrapolate new stall speeds with existing data, but with your education I'll not bother or bore you.

[For those that want to know the formula is sqrt (Weight/Max Weight) * Stall. For the RV-10 63 mph at 2,700 lbs. So if you have a heavy RV-10 over gross (not recommended by Van's aircraft) by 300 lbs you get:

sqrt (3000/2700) * 63 = 66.4 mph. ]​

PS: BTW, I went to U of Washington and LSU, engineering. I also have 3 FAA flt instructor ratings and 2 ground inst ratings. I like to teach, so forgive me.

 

[kentb]

My RV9A stall a little on the high side...

So when I can get around to it I will adjust my ASI so that I can stall slower...

Kent

 

[REHughes]

Elevator Power

I would agree that Van's numbers with a single pilot and no weight in the baggage compartment is pretty close, however I found out on a flight with two other RV-10 builders that my -10 stalls at a lower speed at gross weight than at minimum weight.

I would suggest that a possible explanation for this phenomenon might be that at light weights/very forward CG, the elevator is not powerful enough to bring the wing to stalling AOA, and the perceived "stall" is actually a mush fairly high on the backside of the power curve, with the stick against the aft stop.

Hawkeye Hughes
Skyote, RV-3

 

[Droopy]

RV-10 Stall Speeds

Thanks again for that ride Russ. I still laugh thinking about it. "That's as slow as it'll go... Wow, I've never seen it fly this slow!!"

Just some observations from my one flight in Russ's RV-10. The slow flight we were doing was at a decent power setting. The stall speed in powered, level slow flight isn't really the same thing in my opinion as a true power on departure stall or a power off approach stall due to the prop blast, pitch angles, etc. I also agree with Russ that the indicated airspeed at slow speeds is probably significantly off (probably why Van's uses CAS instead, just more difficult for us to get). I thought the RV-10 stall was very benign and very honest. If you listen to the airplane (feel?), as you approach the stall it starts with a gentle tickle, then get's rougher, then gently stalls wings level (if you're coordinated of course). For a more exciting ride, go stall a V tail Bonanza...

John Erickson
#40208 Wings

 

[dav1111]

RV-10 Stalls

Both John and Hawkeye may be right. With my -10 and MT prop I have barely enough elevator control for a full flare no power landing. In single pilot stalls with reduced power from slow flight as compared to those like John, Rick and I did, the lack of elevator control may be partially responsible for the perceived higher indicated stall speeds.

The biggest thing I learned from having John and Rick fly with me is that the RV-10 is not going to be a problem when you load it up and move the CG aft, if anything it will give you more elevator control. Bringing my -10 into a short grass strip over high trees in forward CG you really have to make sure your speed is right on the money because when you swoop the runway
after clearing the trees you barely have enough elevator control to get a good flair on touchdown with my light MT prop up front. With a Hartzell and another 18 pounds forward CG I think it will be harder.

By the way Droopy, how are you liking your new home? Get back to Vegas much?