First Flight

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LesBoatright
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:09 pm
First Name: Les
Last Name: Boatright
City or Town: Titusville
State or Province: FL

Re: First Flight

Post by LesBoatright »

Greetings Dan,

Panther s/n 083 that I fly stalls Pwr-Off Clean at about 44-45 Knots indicated, and with full flaps at about 39-41 Knots indicated. So maybe 3-4 kts slower using Full flaps. I've done quite a few pwr-off stalls in the Panther (at all flap settings) and a few partial pwr-on stalls. All of the stalls are very benign, with a quick/easy recovery, and the nose just dips down going straight ahead, with little tendency to roll off on one wing or the other.

I do not use flaps for take-off. I tested this during Phase-1, trying 1-notch of flaps for a few take-offs. Agree with the other gentleman that there was no notable difference observed for a 1-notch T.O. I typically take off from pavement, so using the first notch of flaps might make for a slight improvement if you're operating from grass or soft fields. Guru Weseman would be better able to speak to that. :)

For landings, I typically lower first notch of flaps on downwind, abeam the touchdown, then go to second notch on Base leg. That's usually where I keep it all the way to touchdown. I like to always protect for a Go-Around option, and it's easier to accelerate and climb out if you don't have the Full flaps deployed, and that way you don't have to make a quick job of cleaning up the flaps while also applying go-around power & establishing the climb.

Of course if I find myself a little high on final, I can drop that last notch of flaps to steepen the approach, but more often than not, I'll just kick in a mild side-slip for a few seconds as needed to help converge w/ the glide path I want.

The Panther is a Fantastic Flyer! Enjoy your first flight!!
Les Boatright
EAA#563003
EAA Chapter 866 President
Titusville, FL (X21)
Panther s/n 083 - "Radio Flyer" (abt 100 hours total now)

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tomkk
Posts: 32
Joined: Tue May 30, 2017 7:18 pm
First Name: Tom
Last Name: Kodey
City or Town: Port Orange
State or Province: FL

Re: First Flight

Post by tomkk »

Full flaps seems to reduce my stall speed by about 2 kts. I've seen little T.O. difference between flaps up and one notch of flaps. I've gotten so I normally use no flaps on T.O. because that lets me accelerate past the max. flap speed for cooling reasons without worrying about getting the flaps up quickly. If I were dealing with a short or soft field I think I'd use one notch but not expect a whole lot of difference.
Tom
Port Orange, Fl
Panther #104 (1st flight March 13, 2020, 72 hrs as of July 15, 2020)
RV-12 (1st flight June 10, 2015)
RV-12 (Eagles Nest 1st flight May 18, 2019)

PlaneDan
Posts: 241
Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2013 11:52 am
First Name: Daniel
Last Name: Heath
City or Town: Lexington
State or Province: SC USA
Location: Lexington, SC USA
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First Flight

Post by PlaneDan »

I see in the POH and other documentation that the clean stall of the LS version is 51 mph. Is there a consensus of the stall speed with full flaps? I do realize that it will differ from Panther to Panther.

Also, I see that for departure, you should use 1 notch of flap. Under what conditions is this beneficial?

Thanks,

Dan Heath SN 020 preparing for First Flight.

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