Doug,

 

There is always room for refinement. 

 

A fighter pilot is not a Lancair pilot.  Did he land your plane?  Perhaps your question would be best answered by an experienced Lancair Instructor.

 

In certificated type airplanes that are built to the same specs and on jigs, Vso is test flight determined - perhaps for max gross weight, rearward CG loading, etc.  Perhaps not.  But, usually these aircraft go through thorough stall tests at various flaps setting, weights and CGs with the stuff out.  Then Vso is determined in reality or is computed and verified from design specs.

 

Notice that V speeds are IASs.  This can work because the IAS indication is calibrated via flight test and the correction data for position, instrument and system error is noted in the POH.  Of course, one wonders if the correction data was obtained at all attitudes (AOA) and speeds.

 

I believe your aircraft is unique as denoted in the manufacturer's field on the registration form.  So, has your ASI been calibrated?  Was Vso determined through exhaustive tests at differing parameters?

 

I don't know if you can get creative with your AOA system settings as I am not familiar with it.  I did use the forerunner to the Advance Systems system that uses upper and lower wing pressures along with pitot-static data to determine AOA.  The slope of the straight line function was established by flight-setting two points on that line. 

 

Vso x 1.3 (if a useful Vso is known) may not provide enough safety margin for high performance Lancairs in differing configurations and weather conditions - like turbulence on final or trying to fly close in square patterns.

 

There are techniques to overcome slowness or dangerous flat approaches such as a steeper approach angle to retain enough kinetic energy for flight path corrections, although this requires care to stop the descent high enough above the runway.

 

Good luck,

 

Scott Krueger.

 

Scott,

 

I understand that the AOA takes into account atmospheric conditions, g loading, weight of the plane, etc.  That is why I am interested in it rather than just using airspeed.  My problem is that one of the points to be used for calibration is, in my opinion, a subjective point.

 

You say that 1.3 Vso is dangerous with a high performance wing.  What number is a better one?

 

I was taught to fly final at 110 and to slow to 90 over the numbers – which is what I normally do.  Recently, I flew with a retired fighter pilot who told me I was too fast on final.  I told him that it was better to be too fast and land long than be too slow and stall.  But it started me thinking about a more optimal speed given how much runway I frequently use.

 

From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Sky2high@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 5:24 PM
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] Re: FW: Adding an AOA

 

Doug,

 

Sophisticated AOA indications take into account atmospheric conditions and G-loading along with IAS.  In theory, there are straight line functions between interesting points on the relevant AOA such as best glide, stall, etc.  The old fashioned 1.3 Vso is dangerous in aircraft with high performance wings - because the stall speed does vary with G-load and, uh, the air.  In Lancairs, 1.3 Vso does not provide proper margins in all cases.

 

The sophisticated AOA systems need only 2 points on the straight line to calibrate the function (uh. the parallel straight line moves because of the other parameters.  Some system calibrations do not require the stall point as one measure (see Advanced Systems).  Some require the zero G (zero lift) point as one.  Be careful.

 

Simpler system rely merely on AOA to the relative wind.  This is useful because exceeding the stall AOA results in a stall.  The sophisticated systems yield other useful information (best glide, etc).

 

Do further study to educate yourself about AOA.

 

Scott Krueger

 

 

In a message dated 3/30/2014 2:35:00 P.M. Central Daylight Time, douglasbrunner@earthlink.net writes:

Terrence,

 

There is no “angle” to mark.  Both instruments use an array of colored lights -  in both, the top colored light is a red arrow pointing down – presumably this is to indicate a stall.

 

The way that both are made to be used is to define a safe speed (roughly 1.3 Vso) that can be used during landing (and other maneuvers)

 

My question was whether to set it to 1.3 Vso or to do the maneuver described in the setup.

 

D. Brunner

 

From: Lancair Mailing List [mailto:lml@lancaironline.net] On Behalf Of Terrence O'Neill
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2014 2:18 PM
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Subject: [LML] Re: FW: Adding an AOA

 

D.,

 

IMHO the prime purpose of an AOA is:

 

To make the wing's STALL  ANGLE visible to the pilot.  You do that by flying the plane and stalling it as you watch the AOA... then mark that angle.

The next most useful AOA info is the best L/D or best R/C... done the same way... fly the plane while watching the best R/C for a given power setting, and make that angle.

 

Terrence

L235/320

N211AL

 

On Mar 30, 2014, at 9:23 AM, Douglas Brunner wrote:

 

 I am thinking of adding an AOA to my plane.  The two models that I am looking at are the Bendix King KLR 10 (http://www.bendixking.com/Products/Flight-Controls-Indicators/Indicators/KLR-10) and one of the Alpha Systems units (http://www.alphasystemsaoa.com/)

My question has to do with the calibration.  Both systems require a calibration at 3 points:

1.      On Ground

2.      Optimum Alpha Angle

3.      Cruise

 

The “on ground” and “cruise” are self explanatory, however the definition of “Optimum Alpha Angle” seems a little “loosey-goosey” to me.  Here are the definitions:

 

Alpha Systems “Optimum Alpha Angle”

·         Able to hold altitude – as close to 0 VSI as possible, zero sink

·         Full aileron, elevator and rudder control – no buffet or loss of control surface stability

 

Bendix King “Optimum Alpha Angle”

·         Able to hold altitude, 0 Vertical Speed, zero sink (5 to 10 fpm climb OK)

·         Full aileron, elevator and rudder control, not in a buffet, pilot to identify the set point by

pitching back slowly to a pitch no longer able to climb but able to hold altitude with full

control of the airplane.

 

First of all, since this is a system meant to be used in landing (or at least that is how I will mostly use it), I intend to calibrate the “Optimum Alpha Angle” in landing configuration (gear down, full flaps).  However, determining when I have “full aileron, elevator and rudder control” isn’t all that clear to me.  I am sure that I can tell when I have aileron, elevator and rudder control – but the “full” part is less clear.  Does that mean a full control deflection?  Not something I am anxious to try that close to stall.

 

Alternatively, I could just do a stall in landing configuration and set the “Optimum Alpha Angle” to 1.3 x stall.

 

Advice?

 

D. Brunner

N241DB 750 hours