Slower traffic patterns and approach speeds
My home airport has long, wide runways, a fair amount of jet traffic and lots of unstable summertime air. Often I fly LPV or ILS approaches at 100 knots and reduce power as late as possible. All this means that it's easy to be very proficient in all kinds of non-standard approaches to fit in with traffic (excuses, that is) but flying the RV-9A like an RV-9A take a bit of pre-planning.
Early this morning was very light wind and, after the three regional jets departed, I had the airport to myself. Normally I fly the pattern at a very comfortable 80 knots, but today, I flew some at 70 and then some at 60. At 60, I used flaps 10 to keep the nose down, but was surprised that the stall warning chirped at me a few times. Hmm. A C172 wouldn't do that.
Next time I'm up in calm air, I'm going to measure the airspeed accuracy at 60 knots at various flap settings -- and there's an easy way to do this that I've not read about. My avionics has a wind readout, so it's easy to fly directly upwind and downwind. Do this at the desired airspeed with the desired flap setting, and since there will be little if any crosswind component, you don't need to compensate for crosswind component or do the fancy four directions bit. (A winds aloft forecast would probably be good enough.)
Then compare the true air speed (calculated automatically) with the average groundspeed, and that gives the error in true airspeed. Let's make up a number for the observed true airspeed error, say, five knots. If the indicated and true airspeed differ by, say, 5%, then the difference between indicated airspeed error and true airspeed error will also differ by 5%. 5% of 5 knots is a quarter knot, insignificant. This means you can use the true airspeed error for the indicated airspeed error directly and not have to do all the math to get indicated airspeed error. At higher altitudes, the difference might be a knot or two. But with digital data recording, you can do all that math stuff after you get home.
Anyway, I'm working to really, really know the -9A, now that I've got a constant speed prop on it. I'm learning that the -9A will do a pretty good short approach at 80 knots, full flaps, power off, but when you flare, the airplane really doesn't want to slow down, unlike my old Cessna 175 with 40° flaps. I now do short approaches in the -9A at 70 knots -- doesn't descend as fast but doesn't float as far. The RV-8 was so much better at short approaches...
One exercise I did with the fixed pitch prop in the -9A was to fly a steady approach speed right down into ground effect and see how long the plane would float at different airspeeds. I need to re-do that exercise with the constant speed prop.
Practice, practice. Education and recreation. And when you've got the whole airport to yourself, you can do lots of aviating for only a few gallons.