Guys I am building a Piper Pawnee and have estimated my wing loading to be around 32 oz. The weight will be around 14.5 Lbs at 1100 sq.inches of wing. My question is - do you all think this will be too high of a wing load? The air foil is a clarks entry flat bottom. The wing also has flaps and apparently may need them. According to the instructions this is a high lift wing. I am at a point where I can reduce some engine weight if necessary by converting the ignition to glow rather than mag. Please give me your opinions. All comments are welcome. Thanks - Big Al

I've flown Kadets which have about that wing area at higher weights, but they didn't like it.
Takeoffs will be long. Don't even think of pulling it off the ground early!
Landings will benefit from the flaps... but remember to keep the speed up.

Seems like 32 is rather high for that plane-you might check RCSB- there is a flyer that recently finished a pawnee-you might be able to PM him and get some specs on his plane. I do not remember the size of his plane.

Thanks Guys for the help and opinions. I am considering changing the engine to glow and eleminate about one pound of engine weight. The plane is suppossed to have a G23 or 26. My homie weighs around 4.2 lbs as built with mag. I guess the G23 may weigh around 3.5 Lbs.
Flipstart what is RCSB? Can you direct me to this thread? Thanks again guys. Al

I have an old Nosen trainer that I fly at a wing loading of 38 oz/sq. foot (96 inch wing, 20 pounds) and powered by a US-41. It takes off in about 50 feet, and flies nicely, but you have to keep power on at all times, not much of a glider. I think it's an easy plane to fly, no real bad habits. Just have to get used to a little slower response coming out of a dive, and landing with about 1/4 throttle. 32 oz isn't a terribly high loading, lots of warbirds in that range.

Thanks for the encouraging words khodges and all the others. I will keep the speed up and use the flaps on take off and landing. I wanted to mention that the wing and horizonal stab has 2 1/2 degrees positive insodense. My final weight will be 14.25lbs with 1118 sq inches of wing. I think I will be at 29.4 oz. /sq. foot. Is my math correct? May be able to get rid of the flywheel and go to EI or Glow and shed another pound. Glow is looking more and more appealing. If I loose a pound I will be down to 27.3 oz. of wing load. Do you all think this will make a big difference? In other words is it worth it?

That's not much of a change. Anything changes of less than 10% iare usually not noticeable.

When you say you'll "keep the speed up", that's in relation to what? With any model, you need to have it at altitude and see how it handles as you slow its speed. Set up some glides and see....slow it down and see how it stalls and where it stalls. At what speed, elevator deflection, power setting...and so forth. I've seen many a modeler take off on a first flight and check basic straight-and-level trim, do a few loops and rolls, and the bring it in. They had no idea what that model's best approach speed would be, and either wound up too slow or too fast...usually too fast. Too fast means long floats across the field as you try to set down.

The first flight is not just to see how it handles, but also to give you time to get acquainted with the different characteristics. You may be surprised that the landing speed would actually be lower than anticipated. Doing some low-speed work at altitude will clue you in, and you'll be much more confident as you make your first approach and landing with the new model.

Bax, I couldn't have written it better myself. I practice slow flight and stalls on MY first flight of any airplane. I also practice rudder coordination at low speed until it looks and "feels" right, before the first landing.

32 oz per square foot of wing loading is nothing. My 80" span 18# Zero has a wing loading of more than 38 oz/sq. foot, and it lands like a trainer with flaps. The wing doesn't even have a flat bottom airfoil.

* [link=http://www.warbirdobsession.com/wm_gs_zero/video/landing02.wmv]Landing #2[/link]
* [link=http://www.warbirdobsession.com/wm_gs_zero/video/landing03.wmv]Landing #3[/link]

I don't think you will have any problem.