REFLECTOR: Re: Glide Ratio

[Chuck Jensen]

You reference your 'luck' at getting it back to the runway.  It's been
my observation that luck is directly proportional to skill and
experience, which you apparently had a good deal of both, so well-done.
Did you determine the reason for the quiet engine?  

Maybe somebody flying today can use the dump valve on the gear and keep
a good clock on it and share the results.  There may be variations, but
I'd guess most plane's gear will have a similar value.  

And, while thinking about the whole dead engine, manual gear down
scenario, next time we go to our planes, lets double-check that the nose
gear stick is where it's supposed to be.  Otherwise, when you need it,
it may not be there...don't ask how this is known!

Chuck Jensen


> -----Original Message-----
> From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org]
On
> Behalf Of Chuck Harbert
> Sent: Sunday, December 18, 2005 4:22 AM
> To: reflector at tvbf.org
> Cc: p51 at hotmail.com
> Subject: REFLECTOR: Re: Glide Ratio
> 
> Having survived a no engine emergency landing, I do remember that the
> plane
> glides very well with the gear up, but sinks like a rock when you open
> those
> gear doors (probably 6:1). The other thing that is surprising is how
long
> it
> takes to lower the main gear (the nose comes down and locks quickly).
If
> you
> really want to practice this, time how long it takes to get the mains
to
> lock, then go out and try to estimate when you need to start them
down.
> It's
> way more time than you think. Probably better to put them down at a
higher
> altitude and circle to land to get the feel of the sink rate before
you
> have
> to land.
> 
> The engine quit when I turned crosswind shortly after takeoff, and I
just
> made it back to the field, but too little time to lock the mains, so I
> skidded in on the backside of the plane. Fortunately, no fire and
damage
> was
> not too much due to an iVO composite prop. I was very lucky.
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> To change your email address, visit
> http://www.tvbf.org/mailman/listinfo/reflector
> 
> Visit the gallery!  www.tvbf.org/gallery
> user:pw = tvbf:jamaicangoose
> Check new archives: www.tvbf.org/pipermail
> Check old archives:
http://www.tvbf.org/archives/velocity/maillist.html