REFLECTOR: Velocity in IFR

John Abraham john at velocityaircraft.com
Wed May 18 10:56:42 CDT 2011


Al,

 

The aircraft handles very stable in just about all IFR conditions.  The
aircraft, like any will behave differently in turbulence Full fuel vs low
fuel.  The farther forward you have your CG the more stable the aircraft
will be once you start to get into some turbulence.  The aircraft in
turbulence feels different from a conventional aircraft.  When hit by
convective turbulence the aircraft will lift up in the back quicker than the
front.  (Like a wave coming from behind when you are on a surf board).  You
don't experience this as much in a tractor pull aircraft normally because
you are sitting right under or on top of the main wing.  

 

Above 170KIAS the aircraft will get bounced around a bit.  I compare it to
an arrow in turbulence but think of how bad turbulence would feel in an
arrow if it was capable of traveling through the air at the same speed.  The
Velocity is still in the same weight category of a lot of GA aircraft and as
such turbulence will affect the airplane.  To obtain a more comfortable ride
in the aircraft I typically will slow the decent down to 170KIAS when coming
up on a cloud deck.  

 

Cruise is normally not too bad for most.  Landing is where the aircraft can
feel unstable to some that haven't ridden in the plane before.  As you slow
down and increase your angle of attack, the aircraft will start to feel
sluggish and mooshy.  (This is below 90KIAS)  What is normally happening is
that people start correcting wind gusts with the ailerons first.  If you
lead with the ailerons the nose will yaw away from the turn (the aircraft
displays characteristics of a tail wheel aircraft).  Instead you want to
step on the gust with your foot.  The rudders will keep the nose pointed
forward and roll the aircraft. (the same procedure if you are at 170KIAS and
you get hit by turbulence)  

 

I have flown each variation of Velocity in IMC numerous times and shooting
approaches down to minimums and taking off in Zero-Zero.  They are all
stable throughout all aspects of flight, I have not had any issues with
controllability of the aircraft. Once you understand the differences of the
aircraft and get comfortable about how it acts you learn to anticipate
control inputs which lets you stay way ahead of the aircraft.

 

If your guy has any additional questions have him give me a call at the
shop.

 

Best,

 

 

John Abraham

Chief Pilot; Executive V.P. Sales and Marketing

 

velocity-logo

P: (772) 589-1860                                         200 W. Airport Dr.

F: (772) 589-1893                                         Sebastian, FL
32958

www.velocityaircraft.com

 

 

From: reflector-bounces at tvbf.org [mailto:reflector-bounces at tvbf.org] On
Behalf Of Al Gietzen
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 12:28
To: reflector
Subject: REFLECTOR: Velocity in IFR

 

Let me try this again.  I have a prospective buyer who is asking how the
Velocity is as an IFR platform. I don't fly IFR; he expects to be doing that
quite a bit.  I think it is a very stable airplane; however when we were on
a demo flight we got into turbulence and he seems to feel that there quite a
lot of roll and yaw going on.  So he's looking for some feedback other
Velocity drivers on how they feel about how the Velocity behaves in typical
IFR conditions. I offered to ask here. Were talking about an SE RG.

 

A glowing report would be nice, but of course we want honesty.  If any of
you would be willing to communicate with him directly, let me know.  He is
very experienced with CFI, CFII, ASMEL, rotor ratings.

 

Thanks,

 

Al

 

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