----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- I've been exploring some of the potential to do some visually stimulating things in my 'Coupe, and am finding that there is something available there.
For one thing, I find that if I keep the plane on the ground to around 80 to 85, then haul back on the yoke, the resulting climb angle is fairly spectacular, and if you do it right, i.e., get the nose down so that you don't lose lose momentum by dropping below 75, it looks real good. Not to mention clearing the trees at the end of the field by a wide margin. Someone said it looked like a helicopter going up from the other end of the runway. I tried accelerating in ground effect to achieve the same effect, but it seems that the induced drag in ground effect is still greater than the drag of running along with the mains on and the nose wheel lightly on the ground or just off. Must be that angle of incidence thing working. Clearly you don't want to mush into the ground, and that is avoided by not letting the airspeed decay below best rate of climb speed. The fun part is having people on the ground say (I'm only 130#) 'Geezus, I didn't think an Ercoupe could get go up like that!' Of course it's nothing like the Yak one of the guys flies, or the RV's or the Laser, but it's better than you see the 172s and Cherokees doing. Today, I found that if I turn final at 90, then firewall it, keeping the PAPI lights red/white with pitch, I squirt right up to 120 MPH in ground effect and get a very effective low pass over the runway. At 120, with the exhaust singing, it makes a decent show-off. Be careful out there. Greg Please start using [EMAIL PROTECTED] to get in touch with me. It is my PERMANENT e-mail address! __________________________________________________ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A The Email You Want. http://www.topica.com/t/16 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics
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