>best I can tell the split flaps increase >the sink rate at 80 mph by a factor of about 2.5x what you get without flaps >at the same speed. Do any of you belly board guys know how yours stack up? >Mark Langford ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I went for a short flight after work today and was going to check my speed brake for you. I flew a bit of formation with a friend in his Cherokee ( I was throttled back to 1800 rpm :-) ) and then did some slow flight into a moderate wind at altitude. I had my ground speed (GPS) down to 36 mph at one point. I was going to do a speed brake check next but coming out of the slow flight it seemed as if the engine was sluggish, enough so that it got my attention. I leveled off and checked all the engine gauges, did a quick mag check, and played with carb heat and mixture. All appeared normal but I was only getting about 2500 rpm, about 150 to 200 rpm lower then I expected. The engine responded normally to power changes and was running smoothly but I just had an uneasy feeling. I headed back to the airport and landed normally. A full throttle static run up on the ground looked normal so I'm not sure what's going on. I'll check under the cowl the first of the week as I'll have a house full of company this weekend. On the speed brake thing ( mine is 9"X30" and lowers to 90 degrees), I seem to recall that I got 500 fpm decent at idle power at 80 mph indicated and with the speed brake fully down that went to 1000 fpm. It's been two years since I flew that test so I'll try to verify it next week. 198 hours at shutdown this evening with Langford gaining fast !!!!! Larry Flesner
