Mailing List flyrotary@lancaironline.net Message #13788
From: Bob White <bob@bob-white.com>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: Glide distances
Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 09:39:14 -0700
To: Rotary motors in aircraft <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Ed,

That's excellent.  Your engine quits so you go into test pilot mode and
get all the data you can.  Glide is one advantage you RV guys will have
over me I think.  From what I've heard, the BD-4 glides a little better
than a rock with power off.  I've only got 2 hours flying time in it, so
I'm a little lite on first hand experience.  Hopefully soon.

Was this before you upgraded to the "monster" prop?

Bob White

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:47:45 -0500
"Ed Anderson" <eanderson@carolina.rr.com> wrote:

On my 12 mile engine out glide, I punched up the NRST button on my GPS
to find the two closest airfields were both 12 miles away (gulp!). Since I knew I was going to be gliding around 85 mph that any sort of
headwind would considerably shorten the glide.  Fortunately I had been
paying attention to the wind direction as I was outrunning a cold
front, so turned 120 degs for the downwind field.

  From 9500 MSL I arrived over the selected airfield with approx
  1500-2000 ft AGL.  I had altitude to do a 360 and a couple of hard
  "S" turns to loose altitude and even then came over the fence at 100
  mph.  This with a stubby wing RV-6A.

I did have time in that 8 minute glide to find out that my best glide
speed (at that weight)  was 87 MPH which produced a 750 fpm rate of
descent.  Any slower the rate went up and any faster the rate went up.
 Also were I found what airspeeds the prop would stop at as well as
 what it took to get it going again.  So a rather productive 8 minutes
 all things considered {:>).

Ed Anderson


--
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