OK, Enough Flappin' n Slippin'....

Enough Slippin n Flippin'!

  • Why yes, yes I do.

    Votes: 26 70.3%

  • Are you crazy! You'll dieeeeeeeee!

    Votes: 1 2.7%

  • Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

    Votes: 9 24.3%

  • Hell no, POA advises against it!

    Votes: 1 2.7%
  • Total voters
    37
mscard88

mscard88

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Mark
How about selecting flaps while in a turn/bank? Hmm?

I'm in the "yes I do it crowd". Teach it that way too. Am I alone? o_O
 
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Me three, but some worrywart put a thought of caution re this which remains in the back of my mind.
Gotta stop reading worrywart posts.
 
I do it when I need it based on airspeed and altitude during the approach. If all’s well in the pattern I’ll try not to do flaps in the turns. But sometimes it “feels” right (feels good) and makes up for some loss of lift in the turn.
 
It's deploying spoilers in a turn that will kill you (RIP Bruno?)
Not to mention using brakes on the runway with a taildragger...
 
I like the big 'ole mechanical flaps for canyon turns. Slow down to just max flap speed, roll in some bank and pull the flap down. You can literally feel the flaps tightening up the turn radius. If you hold the trigger in, you can modulate the flaps so that you end up at 0-flaps and wings level at the same time.
 
Oops. Didn't know that was a "bad" thing. I add flaps when I feel they are appropriate and that is sometimes in a turn. On my Swift the flaps were all or nothing with no intermediate stops. They frequently were added on final, but if I was a bit high, I would add them on base to final turn.

My RV-4 has manual flaps. They are a bit more of a pain to deploy due to tight cockpit, but I still add them when I feel like I need them not necessarily at a specific point. At the grass home field inside Class D airspace under Class B, I tend to fly a low and tight pattern per LOA agreement with the Class D. There the flap use is different than a large airport with a higher and larger pattern...where they tend to not like a really close pattern.
 
I have never hesitated to do it, but recently an instructor advised against it because of the possible consequences if a split-flap condition happened to occur. However, I'm finding that trying to avoid doing it interferes with managing my descent in the pattern, so I'm thinking maybe I need to quit worrying about it.
 
Palmpilot said:
I have never hesitated to do it, but recently an instructor advised against it because of the possible consequences if a split-flap condition happened to occur. However, I'm finding that trying to avoid doing it interferes with managing my descent in the pattern, so I'm thinking maybe I need to quit worrying about it.
Click to expand...

The split flap failure worry is one of the main reasons folks say not to do it but the chance of having a split flap is pretty minuscule due to certification requirements and if it were to happen it is just as likely to fail on the side that would roll you out of your turn rather than roll you further into it. Not really a significant concern.
 
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Does the same instructor make sure you fly a pattern close enough to make the runway from any point in the event of an engine failure?
 
How about retracting flaps in a turn? Yes for me, on some missed approaches...
 
Palmpilot said:
I have never hesitated to do it, but recently an instructor advised against it because of the possible consequences if a split-flap condition happened to occur. However, I'm finding that trying to avoid doing it interferes with managing my descent in the pattern, so I'm thinking maybe I need to quit worrying about it.
Click to expand...


Who has had, and how often, a split flap condition?
 
I do it. I plan on doing it. Throwing out about 10 degrees during the base turn and then the final turn seems to be the perfect balance in slowin down and gettin down. Doing it during instead of just before or just after seems to make speed and descent control in the pattern easier. Works that way for me flying a C172, 177 and 182
 
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I didn't realize that there was a flap over this.
 
Mike Smith said:
Who has had, and how often, a split flap condition?
Click to expand...

I had a split flap condition in a Chieftain. It happened as I was putting in the first notch of flaps. When the flaps are more than 5% difference the split flap annunciator light comes on. I left the flaps alone after that, and it was more like a no flap landing.
 
Flaps during turns, need to remember to keep that nose from rising, other than that, np.
 
PaulS said:
Flaps during turns, need to remember to keep that nose from rising, other than that, np.
Click to expand...

Actually a benefit of lowering flaps in a turn, don't have to increase pitch as much as the flappers will do it.
 
mscard88 said:
Actually a benefit of lowering flaps in a turn, don't have to increase pitch as much as the flappers will do it.
Click to expand...

On the Cirrus the nose rises when you put in flaps, I actually haven't put flaps in a turn in a while as my approaches have improved, but I'm always conscious of that nose rising with flaps, bit me under the hood while flipping the flingmanger a couple weeks ago as flaps were coming in, keep that scan going. Plus I believe Cirrus wants full flaps on base now, dems da rules ;>).
 
mscard88 said:
Actually a benefit of lowering flaps in a turn, don't have to increase pitch as much as the flappers will do it.
Click to expand...

Yeah. The loss of 'lift,' the vertical component of it, requires back pressure to maintain altitude or a consistent rate of descent. Putting in flaps requires forward pressure to maintain speed or a consistent rate of reduction to a desired speed. They offset each other somewhat. Different planes may be be different. I fly single engine Cessnas
 
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Do it all the time. And if I do it's normally the turn from base to final.
 
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