Twice on the Sun &Fun 100 mile race, I held the plane on the runway without flaps for about 40 extra kts.
Timing started at brake release and I wanted less drag however I could.
I won my class in both races but landed on a flat tire each time. ( I'm a slow learner)
Another thing, When my small tail 360 is loaded heavy and with an aft CG there are pitch sensitivity issues.
The first time I took off this way, there was a pitch oscillation that got my knees shaking.
The cure for this is to leave the flaps down longer after takeoff. Flaps are behind the center of pressure and have a stabilizing effect.
Think of the feathers on an arrow.
Also, use of flaps gives a substantial pitch change that allows much better visibility over the nose. I suppose this is more important on landing where it is nice to be able to see the runway but it's good on takeoff also.
Mark Ravinski
360 1551 hrs
From: "Dico Reijers" <dico@internetworks.ca>
To: lml@lancaironline.net
Sent: Friday, August 9, 2013 3:30:37 PM
Subject: [LML] Flaps on take-off?
Hi All,
I am wondering how many people use flaps on take off with the IVP? I was
told to use about 15 degrees of flaps. I've also discovered that I don't
like retracting the flaps unless the IAS is about 135knots IAS. No real
reason other than I notice that you don't really feel the retraction as
much as you do at the lower speeds.
So I guess I am wondering, if you only have a couple people on board (or
even a full load with lots of runway), do you use flaps?
-Dico
--
Regards,
Dico Reijers
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