I know many folks don’t like flaperons as they can induce tip stalls on landing.

Recognizing this fact, are there applications where they are beneficial, for example on takeoff? My thought is that in this case you have full throttle and if you do tip stall at least you don’t have to first transition to full power. Flaperons are so easy to set up, it seems a waste not to have good flaps on a plane…

depends what kind of plane and the wind conditions

The problem is, there are VERY few planes that benefit from Flaps on take off. In all my years of flying, I have only had one and that is the Great Planes Seawind which is a very heavy, fiberglass seaplane with a very high wing loading and poor water handling - so it's nice to have flaps to help get it off the water sooner.

And mind you, those are still regular flaps, not flapperons.

It is not a waste to NOT use a feature that your transmitter is capable of just because you have that feature and don't need it. It would be similar to adding a V-Tail to your existing rudder and elevator just because you want to try out the V-Tail mixing.

That said, if you have a trainer or a sport plane with a low wing loading and you want to play with the flapperons, go right ahead. Just be very careful that you don't allow it to get too slow in the turn to final approach - that seems to be the place where most planes with flapperons meet their expiration date.

I have played with them on my profile 3D planes. On my Mojo 40 with a 55AX, flaperons will shorten my takeoff roll from 15 feet to 10 feet. They also tighten up my loops to about the plane's wingspan.

The most useful thing about the flaperon mix, though, is the ability to trim the ailerons up or down in unison (on the ground) without making mechanical adjustments. I think that this is probably the best use of them on a sport plane.

Good luck

That depends on the radio. My radio has either Ail. Diff. or Flaperons, your choice. I have Flaperons on my Hots Fun Fly plane and they are slaved to my elevator, more up elevator=more down flaperons. Today this set up is just to fool with but it is something I used in fun fly events. I hit a switch to actavate and it tightens up the loops as mentioned, not a little but a lot!!! On a realy windy day it is fun to see the plane stop and start floating backwards. On landing I can drop them and land my plane at my feet. In fun fly events we had spot landings on a target and this was a big help. On a no wind day they can jump up and bite you hard!!!!!!!!!!! When people warn you about the stall they aren't kidding!!! Most planes they aren't something you want to use or you can get into trouble but fun fly planes can use the feature. For a good time try the spoilerons too!! Up-Roars, Dazzlers and Fun 51 type of planes are what you want to use them on if you want to see them work correctly. Just watch out!!!

Like Mike said, very few model planes benefit or need this on take off.

Tip stalling with flapperons on landing is usually one of two things. Too much downward flap deflection, when some aileron is added to correct for roll and you stall the downward deflecting side.

The other issue is wing tip ailerons versus strip ailerons. On wing tip ailerons I absolutely would recommend against using flapperons because tip stalling is almost a garantee. If using full length strip ailersons its ok except as stated above.

It's comments like this that really have had me finishing other planes ahead of the Seawind for a year now.

I was going to try this on my U-Can-Do just as soon as I finish rebuilding from my last "Oops"

SS, I don't mean to hijack your thread, but The Seawind is by far the best FLYING seaplane I have flown to date, and since its inception, there has been a great deal of discussion as to it's water handling. What has been discovered is that takeoffs can be more easily achieved by using full flaps, going to 3/4 power and hold full up elevator until just before liftoff. It also helps if you can take off directly away from yourself so you can see the wings better (to keep them level).

For landing, it is best to bleed off as much speed as possible to avoid slapping the water and porpoising it.

But once it's in the air, it is fantastic!

If you really want to tame its water handling, you can extend the tip floats by about an inch and a half

OH, those Seawinds!! I have the EP and love it.

Meanwhile, the only opinion I can offer with flaperons is that if you are not careful, you can deploy the flaps and lose, or minimize your aileron control throw.

CGr.

At the risk of derailing my own thread (again) the Seawind EP's appear to have a different wing. The tip looks more like a keel than a float. Maybe that helps. Probably a higher power/weight ratio. Lots of power can make up for many deficiencies in airplane design.

Yea, I have both versions and the EP is MUCH easier on the water

Thye problem with flaperons is they aren't flaps......with flaps you increase the curvature of the wing and that curvature stays constant....controlling roll with ailerons...
With flaperons you increase the curvature of the wing by dropping both strip ailerons to act as flaps.....then to control roll you either increase or decrease the curvature of the wing by moving one flap...with a flaperon you are usually increasing drag on one wing only......See the difference?
Flaperons work...but they can get you in troble just like flaps can

Agree with everything said so far.

On my planes that do use flaperons they only get deflected about 1/2 of what I think would be considered maximum. If your plane need flaps for landing it should come with them, if you just messing around with flaperons then set them for a lot less deflection and stay out of trouble.

I maiden the first flight for my Seagull Decathlon today. I have it set up with flaperons. Wasn't planning to use it. To make the story short - I ended up using the flaperons for the landing. It really slowed it down. I brought her in at quarter throttle - cut throttle couple feet off the ground - kept wings level as possible - and she just floated right in.