RE: Does Flap Application Cause a Pitch Down?
I agree with Christian in that different aircraft react in different ways. I'm a full time flight instructor ( my day job for the last 16 years). The types that we do our elementy training on where I work are the Tobago and the Grob115, both are low wing aircraft and both will have a slight initial pith up as the flaps run out increasing the lift as they do, but both have a stonger nose down pitch once the extra drag takes over.
Where I fly pattern the field lenght can be a bit marginal on those calm days and my Maestro will overshoot most times. As like most pattern models it is not equiped with any flaps so I have the ailerons coming up so it will reduce lift without risking tip stalling and hopefully increase drag. When I first mixed this in and flew with it I thought that I had flicked the wrong switch as there was absolutly NO pitch change. Even the roll was similar(to roll with both ailerons up the radio only allows one to move towards the neutral position.)the glide path is steeper but not by much. I have only just tried this and need to mix in even more up aileron next time. Matthew