REFLECTOR: Cirrus v. Velocity

Pat Shea xl340hp at yahoo.com
Wed Apr 12 01:17:25 CDT 2006


Scott,

I couldn't agree more that there's potentially large
Indicated Air Speed (IAS) discrepancies in many V's
given the multitude of Velocity pitot/static locations
I've seen (and i'm sure you've seen more). On the
other hand, you'd be hard pressed to find a flying V
without at least a hand held GPS. To determine your
ballpark cruising True Air Speed (TAS) using GPS, all
you have to do is fly at 7,500', set your power at 75%
(combined RPM and MP total of 48 is close enough), and
turn some shallow bank circles (say half standard
rate) while maintaining altitude, and then average
your highest and lowest GPS ground speeds. Yes this
method can certainly be refined, but it's simple and
is way more accurate than using potentially erroneous
IAS to determine TAS.

Pat  

--- Scott Baker <sbakr at comcast.net> wrote:

> I have noticed that many Velocity aircraft vary in
> their indicated air speed
> due to either an un-calibrated air speed indicator
> and the position of the
> static port.  Calibrating the air speed indicator at
> the local avionics shop
> is a good thing to do - but that still leaves the
> possibility of air speed
> errors caused by the static port.  I trust the
> Cirrus air speed because of
> its being certified.  It's great to get a fast
> moving certified aircraft to
> do some side-by-side flights with the Velocity, just
> to make sure both air
> speed "meters" are indicating the same during
> formation flight.
> 200 knots indicated in the Denver area is
> outstanding.  The true air speed
> must be "right on up there".  I have flown the
> company demonstrator (310hp)
> at Front Range and at Colorado Springs - giving demo
> rides with 4-people on
> board and about 40-gallons of fuel - and the
> aircraft performed quite well.
> I've talked to several Cirrus 22 owners who have
> taken a demo ride in the XL
> with the Continental IO-550.  All of them seemed
> impressed - and most
> admitted the Velocity had a small but noticable
> performance advantage.  Most
> were looking for a way to reduce the cost of
> aircraft ownership.  Several of
> the Cirrus owners were upset with the cost of
> aircraft insurance.
> Sunny Eymann recently sold his Velocity XL in favor
> of a Cirrus 22 because
> he liked the feel of the Cirrus in a cross-wind
> landing - something that is
> an everyday event in Key West.  Still, he likes the
> Velocity - he just felt
> the Cirrus was the right aircraft for him.
> Random thoughts.
> Scott B.

> 


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