Roger (K8RI)
May 9th 07, 03:05 AM
I just read the article on the Skylark in the May issue of SportPilot.
I may have missed something but there were several things in there
that I found a bit counter to what I've been taught and what I'd
expect.
The first was using the ailerons to try and hold a wing up
_in_a_stall_ I've flown airplanes where you could use the ailerons in
a stall such as the Cherokees and specifically the 180, but still
_in_the_stall_ the rudder was used to raise a wing that was dropping
or to keep one from dropping. Is this really the recommended technique
for the Skylark? It would seem this would be inviting a spin, or at
least poor piloting technique. OTOH maybe it's what the manufacturer
intended. Still it seems a poor way to train if the pilot ever plans
on moving up.
One other point was when adding power the nose would drop and at the
reduction it would raise. Ideally I'd want the nose to come up to
match the desired deck angle for the specific rate of climb with the
addition of power. I'd also want the nose to come down to maintain the
speed on power reductions.
From my experience in fixed gear and high performance retracts I'd
expect this to lead to some bad habits for beginning pilots who may
eventually want to move up. OTOH it would be pretty tame for one
moving down.
I may have missed something but there were several things in there
that I found a bit counter to what I've been taught and what I'd
expect.
The first was using the ailerons to try and hold a wing up
_in_a_stall_ I've flown airplanes where you could use the ailerons in
a stall such as the Cherokees and specifically the 180, but still
_in_the_stall_ the rudder was used to raise a wing that was dropping
or to keep one from dropping. Is this really the recommended technique
for the Skylark? It would seem this would be inviting a spin, or at
least poor piloting technique. OTOH maybe it's what the manufacturer
intended. Still it seems a poor way to train if the pilot ever plans
on moving up.
One other point was when adding power the nose would drop and at the
reduction it would raise. Ideally I'd want the nose to come up to
match the desired deck angle for the specific rate of climb with the
addition of power. I'd also want the nose to come down to maintain the
speed on power reductions.
From my experience in fixed gear and high performance retracts I'd
expect this to lead to some bad habits for beginning pilots who may
eventually want to move up. OTOH it would be pretty tame for one
moving down.