glides like a safe

GeorgeC

GeorgeC

Administrator
Management Council Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
5,155
Display Name
Display name:
GeorgeC
I did not appreciate the meaning of the expression "glides like a safe" until starting complex transition training in a pa28-r 200 today. It definitely feels like a lot of airplane compared to the types I've been in up until now.
 
The good part is you're never "too high on final" in a Cherokee.
:lol:
 
GeorgeC said:
I did not appreciate the meaning of the expression "glides like a safe" until starting complex transition training in a pa28-r 200 today. It definitely feels like a lot of airplane compared to the types I've been in up until now.
Click to expand...
Snort. Try an open-cockpit wire-braced plane like a Fly Baby, if you want to experience a lack of glide ability. Throw a brick out and fly formation with it....

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
Snort. Try an open-cockpit wire-braced plane like a Fly Baby, if you want to experience a lack of glide ability. Throw a brick out and fly formation with it....

Ron Wanttaja
Click to expand...

I didn't believe Jesse about how not glidey the Flybaby is until I saw him flying it. Then when I flew it it confirmed it.
 
Flew the Luscombe today and was again impressed with how quickly it drops out of the sky in a power-off glide considering that it has no flaps. Ain't much different than my Arrow II ;)
 
As long as you can maintain airspeed above stall with enough energy to flare, life is good. :yes:
 
As a wise man once said to me, "you'll fall like a turd from a long-legged moose".
 
Maybe it's me, but the Cherokee 180 I train in is a stone. I'm seriously struggling with getting it to flare.
 
Aztec.

Anyone who doubts it, contact AdamB or AdamZ.
 
I saw a guy doing simulated engine outs in his Beech Sierra, and that thing fell like a rock.
 
I actually liked it when I was a new"er" pilot. I had trouble with the 172 floating, but the piper went straight to the runway.
 
This actually has nothing to do with glide ratio as your best rate is probably up around 90 kts or so. Having the ability to come down like a wall safe under complete control and flare at the bottom is a good and very useful flight characteristic.
 
Silvaire said:
This actually has nothing to do with glide ratio as your best rate is probably up around 90 kts or so. Having the ability to come down like a wall safe under complete control and flare at the bottom is a good and very useful flight characteristic.
Click to expand...

Yep, I love that about my Pitts. You can slip it in from impossibly high angles. Gives you lots of options as long as you can glide to a spot in the first place. Looks like this thread has everyone listing airplanes they think glide like a "safe". A little time in a Pitts S-2C with that big "Claw" Hartzell doing power-off approaches will make these other airplanes seem like great gliders. :) Mine with the fixed pitch prop doesn't come down quite as fast as the C.
 
Alot of LSAs are like that to. Very light, low momentum airplanes that are sensitive to power changes.
 
Kill power in a pa44 and see how fast you come down! :)
 
GeorgeC said:
I did not appreciate the meaning of the expression "glides like a safe" until starting complex transition training in a pa28-r 200 today. It definitely feels like a lot of airplane compared to the types I've been in up until now.
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, did you pull the prop? It makes a lot of difference for a CS prop.

I've never flown a PA28R, but you can see quite a difference in a 182Q or 177RG.
 
wanttaja said:
Snort. Try an open-cockpit wire-braced plane like a Fly Baby, if you want to experience a lack of glide ability. Throw a brick out and fly formation with it....

Ron Wanttaja
Click to expand...

So, you can beat the brick to the runway, Ron? :)
 
MAKG1 said:
Just out of curiosity, did you pull the prop? It makes a lot of difference for a CS prop.

I've never flown a PA28R, but you can see quite a difference in a 182Q or 177RG.
Click to expand...

So you pull it to the lowest rpm?
 
With a 24 ft wingspan and half the thickness of an RV wing, my Glasair has a glide ratio similar to an F-104. :)
 
GeorgeC said:
I did not appreciate the meaning of the expression "glides like a safe" until starting complex transition training in a pa28-r 200 today. It definitely feels like a lot of airplane compared to the types I've been in up until now.
Click to expand...

Took my Commercial check ride in an Arrow. DPE pulls the power for a sim engine out, I find a thermal and start climbing. "if this keeps up we just might make it to the airport", DPE was not happy :rofl:

Arrows glide just fine :dunno:
 
I broke down and bought an IPad Mini and the Xavion app today, and went up to do some glide ratio testing. Gear and flaps out with no engine power makes for quite the sight picture in my Sierra.
 
DavidWhite said:
What airplane do I constantly flame, bash, and not have a single good thing to say about? (And it's not Cirrus. They're growing on me.)
Click to expand...

The other ones that try to catch fire ;)
 
The Arrow isn't that bad if you pull back the prop. A Cherokee 6 -260 is worse. :)
 
wanttaja said:
If I don't throttle back. :)

Here's an old video from a Fly Baby slip:

http://www.bowersflybaby.com/slip.mpg

I've posted this here before, but here's old video (~20 years ago) of me flying the Fly Baby prototype...it ends with a similar slip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp_t0lOJZME

Ron Wanttaja
Click to expand...

That was a great video Ron, thanks for posting...halfway through I realized I was just a baby then!

And here's something to promote discussion:

In an aircraft equipped with a c/s prop (we'll continue to use the Arrow), when you pull the prop back to a coarser pitch, you see an increase in the glide performance because you don't have the spinning plate out front.

That's good great and wonderful, but I was discouraged of that pracice by a CFI who wasn't terribly pleased when I would pull the prop back a smidge during my power off 180s because it can stall the engine. How realistic is this?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top