Danny,
I've flown a lot in both
big and small tails and hardly notice a difference anymore, but I do prefer
the large tail. One practical consideration I've seen with students in the
small tail is the need for a little more precise airspeed control on
final. If one is 10 kts fast in the large tail it seems less sensitive in
the flare than the same error in the small tail. This should not matter
however, I'm only suggesting flying a precise 1.3 Vso on final. When
airspeed is properly scanned the small tail flares and lands nicely. I've
seen a lot of PIO while waiting for the airspeed to arrive at 1.3Vso or less in
the flare. It's highly self critiquing and highly entertaining for the
instructor.
Retrofit?
Hmmm. I've not known of a single small tail driver who actually did it
after flying. I'd guess it would not be too much pain to do for an
experienced builder. Does Lancair still stock/ sell retrofit tails?
If they sell the carbon MK II tail in a fast build version I expect it could be
done in less than a month but it would be a huge undertaking for a novice
builder (imho).
Good Luck with your
decision.
Larry Henney
N360LH (big
tail)
930 hrs
Danny,
There are many small tail 320/360s out there flying, including mine with
over 700 hours, and they are not squirrely at all. Mine is extremely stable in
slow flight and there is no PIO during landing. Have you flown the plane you're
considering? That would be my first suggestion so you can see for
yourself.
Len Spina
N15EG
In a message dated 5/25/2010 9:28:07 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
dannymiller@wowway.com writes:
Hi folks, I'm new here and I
have no doubts this has been discussed at
length in the past. I'm
considering the purchase of a 320 with the original
tail and from
everything I've read it seems to be a squirrely a/c subject to
PIO in the
landing configuration. Can you direct me to additional resources
that
describe the time/effort/expense, etc. involved in retrofitting the
tail
section?
Thanks,
Danny
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