Gents and Ladies,
My partner and I are in Phase I with our new RV 7 with about 29 hours TT. Partner is a CFII, has thousands of hours in his RV 4 and greases every landing. He says that the RV 4 and the RV 7 are certainly different airplanes.
We (mostly me) are having issues wheel landing the tail dragger. My partner and I add about 450 pounds to the front seats. Yes, we are both well fed. That, along with full fuel and two O2 containers in the back plus my stuffed flight bag and we are pretty heavy. Add to that, the high density altitude in this brutal Texas summer.
Partner wants full flaps when abeam the numbers. I hear the AOA chatter telling me I'm lined up good with proper airspeed on short final with some power still on the motor (180 HP). When over the numbers, I'll slowly pull off some more power to descend closer to the runway. When I think we are about two or three feet above the runway surface, my partner says, "OK, pull the power".
We drop like a rock, usually resulting in a good one wheel bounce back into the air. Bounce, bounce ... full power, flaps up and go around! Wheel landings are tough!
My partner, wanting to show me what it the cowl/runway configuration looks like when only two feet off the ground, performed a high speed taxi on a long runway. He was in control from the right seat. We took off with no flaps and he immediately pulled the power to come back down.
We did not immediately come back down. The plane floated forever. One wheel gently touched and then we're flying again without a bounce. Float, float and more floating until the plane FINALLY settled gently down. Trouble is, we're out of runway.
All ends well and I realize a vast difference between full flap and no flap landings. Full flaps = drop like a rock. No flaps = floats forever!
My question: Can I use less than full flaps on final approach (perhaps 1/2) and still maintain proper airspeed and settling onto the asphalt? Or is full flaps the only way to land these beasts? The plane flies so well otherwise.
Many thanks in advance for your valuable opinions,
Jay (Slim) Carpenter
Deep in the Heart of Texas
My partner and I are in Phase I with our new RV 7 with about 29 hours TT. Partner is a CFII, has thousands of hours in his RV 4 and greases every landing. He says that the RV 4 and the RV 7 are certainly different airplanes.
We (mostly me) are having issues wheel landing the tail dragger. My partner and I add about 450 pounds to the front seats. Yes, we are both well fed. That, along with full fuel and two O2 containers in the back plus my stuffed flight bag and we are pretty heavy. Add to that, the high density altitude in this brutal Texas summer.
Partner wants full flaps when abeam the numbers. I hear the AOA chatter telling me I'm lined up good with proper airspeed on short final with some power still on the motor (180 HP). When over the numbers, I'll slowly pull off some more power to descend closer to the runway. When I think we are about two or three feet above the runway surface, my partner says, "OK, pull the power".
We drop like a rock, usually resulting in a good one wheel bounce back into the air. Bounce, bounce ... full power, flaps up and go around! Wheel landings are tough!
My partner, wanting to show me what it the cowl/runway configuration looks like when only two feet off the ground, performed a high speed taxi on a long runway. He was in control from the right seat. We took off with no flaps and he immediately pulled the power to come back down.
We did not immediately come back down. The plane floated forever. One wheel gently touched and then we're flying again without a bounce. Float, float and more floating until the plane FINALLY settled gently down. Trouble is, we're out of runway.
All ends well and I realize a vast difference between full flap and no flap landings. Full flaps = drop like a rock. No flaps = floats forever!
My question: Can I use less than full flaps on final approach (perhaps 1/2) and still maintain proper airspeed and settling onto the asphalt? Or is full flaps the only way to land these beasts? The plane flies so well otherwise.
Many thanks in advance for your valuable opinions,
Jay (Slim) Carpenter
Deep in the Heart of Texas