I've got my eye on a shiny, restored Luscombe 8E.
Anyone with experience in this airplane care to enlighten?
NOTE: I know about checkling logs, IA inspections, TTAF, TBO, the rest ... I'm just looking for PIREPs on the flying qualities of this particular airplane. Thanks!
Luscombes are the finest airplane ever built.
We own three, two 8As and my 8E. They fly differently, and if you learn to understand and accept the characteristics of this airplane, it will become the love of your life.
Well, maybe not, but you will appreciate the handling of a very agile airplane.
(Just in case you missed these in your research, the Luscombe Yahoo List Group at
luscombe-silvaire@yahoogroups.com. has loads of information. A great Luscombe website is
http://www.popav.com/Luscombe/ with lots of info and the best is the pre-purchase checklist here:
http://www.popav.com/Luscombe/LuscPurchaseChecklist.asp)
As to flying, take everything you've ever learned about tailwheel flying and throw it out the window. Not really, but please remember that you are not flying a Cub. Luscombes fly like Luscombes. The airplane that has caught your eye will handle differently with different engines, so I'm gonna assume your beauty has the original C-85-12. The typical 8E, with no mods, will stall at 48 mph and cruise between 105 mph and 115 mph according to prop at about 5.5 gph. Again, the cruise changes with different engine configurations, props and weight. I have the C-85/O-200 conversion. Mine climbs at 1000 fpm and cruises at 120 mph on cool days at 6.5 gph. Trim is light and delicate, and sometimes I have to hunt for it, and you can forget trim in turbulence. The 8E doesn't trim for final either. The nose is heavy. You still have to hold a considerable amount of back pressure on final (A stock 8A is not like this).
There are two kinds of gear that can be on this airplane; the Silflex and the Standard. The Silflex is more forgiving and softer. The Standard is stiff. However, if you groundloop, the Silflex will tear out the gear box and the Standard might not.
I usually turn base to final at 70 mph. This may seem fast for a Luscombe, but after nearly 900 hours in mine, this works. Remember, you will be flying the E model. The A model stalls much slower (39 mph). Two different airplanes. On final, if you relax the stick, you will be going 90 mph in the blink of an eye and no landing will be imminent. Although it stalls at 48 mph, mine starts getting mushy at 60-65. I usually have a high angle of attack in order to slow it down, so keep the 70 until your nearly over the runway. In later years, I've come to appreciate the slip to maintain airspeed on final. It has become second nature to cock the nose at a certain level and angle to keep and maintain my 70 mph. Works good for me.
Upon landing, the Luscombe will tolerate no side load. Accept this and you will be a happy camper. You must land straight with the direction of travel. You will find that most 8E owners prefer to three-point, and the 8A owners prefer the wheel landing. CG, karma, whatever, but in our airplanes, the feel is better for one or the other. Practice the landing that feels best in your airplane and configuration. In the crosswind, you will land on one wheel. Period. Whether you choose to put the tailwheel down next or the other main is up to you. This sacrilegious in the tailwheel world, but it works: we don't add extra airspeed for the wheel landing. Both Henry and I approach both landings at the same speed. We just change our attitude. Henry wins a local spot landing award with his wheel landings. Practice. It can be done.
Do not pull the stick back to your gut until the wheels are on the ground. This plants the airplane. If you do so in the air, you will fall out. That's not good. For me, this was the biggest different between the Luscombe and the Cub.
The Luscombe (all varieties except the T8F tandem version) lands like a pussycat. It's the rollout that gets ya. That's where most groundloops occur. Don't relax until it's stopped. It can feel like everything is going to crap at times, but just keep flying the airplane. You'll get used to that feeling as it slows in the landing roll. My passengers always want to start talking when the feet need to start moving.
Keep your feet off the brakes. This is not a highly modified supped-up superduper bush plane. It's a forties trainer. Use the brakes on the landing roll, and you will flip. If you run out of rudder in a Luscombe (this airplane has lots of rudder) use a burst of power. You'll get a little more authority. A groundloop is easier to repair than a flip. The flip usually takes the dihedral out the wing and damages the structure. Groundloop takes a wing tip and a gear.
That said, high-time Luscombe owners do occasionally apply a little brake pressure. This is a delicate process that depends on the type of brakes and takes an in-depth understanding of the risks. Not a solution for the new Luscombe pilot. If you find you need extra authority, most likely the airplane has a tracking problem or the pilot does not yet understand the airplane.
The go-around. If you learn nothing else about this airplane (or any other low-powered airplane), take heed to this advice. On the go-around, push the stick forward first then apply full throttle. Most stock Luscombes have little power, but lots of pitch. If you are still in the air with the stick back (landing configuration) and give that baby full throttle, she's gonna fall out. Of all the airplanes I've flown, the Luscombe has more pitch control. Even in the stall, I seldom recover with throttle. Just pitch forward and old Lester is zipping along. I guess it's the clean configuration.
Speaking of the stall. Practice them. Repeatedly. The best stalls for learning to land the 8E three-point are leaf stalls. Two old-time pilots and CFIs really helped me understand my airplane when I bought it. One told me to practice lots of slow flight and leaf stalls. The other showed me that the Luscombe is recoverable in nearly all situations.
However, when practicing stalls please keep the wing lifted with the rudder, not aileron. I know, I know, books and pamphlets and internet sites and forum experts say otherwise. However, my Luscombe didn't read them. If you don't, just remember that the Luscombe spins on a dime and spins very tightly.
I guess I've spent too many words and given too much information just to tell you that the Luscombe does what the pilot tells it to do. If you groundloop, you directed it to do that. If you land in a three-point so soft and perfect that your heart jumps with joy, you directed it to do that, too.
I never land that I don't have a smile on my face.
That may be all you need to know.
Deb
