Mmmmmm Burritos
Where mah dogs at?
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2003
- Posts
- 323
For the flaps or no flaps discussion...minitour said:
In most trainer aircraft (ie underpowered) you have a choice of some flaps or no flaps for takeoff. Do you have two performance charts for flaps and no flaps? You'll find that usually the takeoff with flaps will give you a shorter ground roll, but a longer distance to clear a 50ft obstacle. Whereas no flaps gives you a slightly longer ground roll but a shorter 50 ft obstacle clearance distance. Why? Because you accelerate quicker once you get off the ground with less flaps because you're making less drag. Speed is the key ingredient to lift.
Takeoff with flaps increases ground effect a bit because of the increase in downwash over the back of the wing. It'll get you off the ground quicker but you'll have more drag because of that downwash and you won't be able to accelerate as quickly.
So, if you have a short field with no obstacles, use flaps. If you have a short field with obstacles, don't use flaps. Sounds weird huh? Hopefully it makes sense. This is true for a Warrior anyway, and of course not every aircraft behaves the same way. Always read your POH and follow it to the letter for maximum performance.
And don't run out of fuel. And never assume anything in aviation. Go to www.ntsb.gov and read some accident reports to see how dumb some pilots can be.
