If I ever want to make coffee, I'll think about it.

Now if I want to fly, I'll use my 10C

I think that statement is a bit too harsh and negative. I've used flaperons to good effect but they certainly aren't for beginners and as with any new technique are best practiced at 3 mistakes high. Then you can see if they help or harm your plane and what you are trying to gain with it. Most new configuration / technique / setups complicates things and breaks the keep it simple rule, but they can provide advantages in some situations that make it worth the complication.

They are fun to play with and if your in a fun fly. First time I set them up in an Up-Roar everyone told me how bad they were and I was going to crash, I liked them but i did forget they were on in one compition and just couldn't figure out what was going on. My fault and it was my first fun fly event. After a person has been flying for a while they are worth setting up and fooling around with just to see what they make a plane do. I did and in some cases they are a hoot, other times they can bite you pretty bad and quick. They sure aren't for every plane and every pilot.

Oh yeah.. you are so right. I had a Goldberg Wildstick with real flaps and, of course, ailerons. This thing could reverse directions in it's length (it seemed) when I applied full flaps.. I could deploy them, then pull in full elevator and it would just flip over in the opposite direction.

The loop rate was so much fun. It was a cool plane with the flaps... but these were not flaperons.. I had full control of the ailerons. Different from flaperions.

CGr.

I think you nailed the root issue right there.
Years ago I too thought they were just fun to play with. Flip them on and do some neat tricks then turn them off before trying to land to avoid any nasty slow flight characteristics. Every plane I had at the time had full length ailerons and what I didnt know was how flapperons created wash-in.

My thoughts today though are a little different.
1. I agree that newbies should leave them alone. For the most part I think you should avoid flapperons on any plane that has full length strip ailerons. Unless your just doing some fun-fly stunts. The wash-in is horrible when trying to land.

2. If you have a plane that has 3/4 length ailerons, as measured starting at the fuse, then flapperons could be a huge benefit for landing heavy planes. Because the ailerons are short of the wing tip by a fair margin then the dreaded wash-in problem is avoided. Flapperons are typically larger in area vs. normal flaps so you dont need nearly the amount of throw to get noticable lift or drag. Also, of the two planes I have setup with flapperons, it took me several test flights to find the balance of lift vs. drag thats comfortable for my flying style. Both planes also have a flap-elevator mix to compensate for the pitching down.
About forgot. Because one of the planes I have is borderline needing flaps or not, Ive found the flapperons to be most beneficial in winds less than 7mph. Anything higher theyre just not required.

Cheers,
James

My CG Extra turns into a complete hand full if I use them, my Hots is a kick with them in the wind. Where I have run into trouble with them is on a calm day and I forget I have them on and try to land. The Hots hits a slow speed and just stalls right then and there. It does give me warning but if I'm not thinking about what I'm doing I forget what it is telling me. I have bent the LG more then once over the years when I forget the switch!!

Yeap. Makes total sense to me. Those planes fall into rule #1.
Ive had many planes that Ive never tried flapperons on because Im sure it would be a waist of time or the novelty would wear off. Those planes had full length ailerons or ailerons that were placed to close to the wing tip, a light wing loading (voids the need for flaps) or are not fun-fly machines.
There arent many planes that Im aware of that fit rule #2.
Cheers.

Certainly flaperons are not for every plane, nor every pilot but I have flown them extensively over the past two years on a Kadet LT40.  Before setting them up, I modified the ailerons from approximately 3/4" wide by full length (as supplied by Sig) to nearly 2 inches wide by full length.  They are operated by a 3 position switch on the radio-normal, 15 degrees down flaps, and 30 degrees down flaps.  They only tend to tip stall if you are flying extremely slow (walking speed) but the ailerons retain enough authority even to correct a stall at low altitudes.  In a stiff breeze the plane will land vertically from 100' or more.  Just to show off, I deploy the flaps, set the plane on the end of one of our 7' set up tables and gunning it from an idle, the plane is airborne before the end of the table, even on a calm day.  Last week, I goofed and set it on one of the 4' tables.  It dropped as it came off the end but still flew before hitting the ground.

One of our better pilots was stunned when he did three rolling circles with my plane in just over the 100' width of our runway.  He said he had never been able to do that with a trainer.

I nearly always use the flaps on landing but sometimes I land with the wind to effectively slow the plane a bit.  Otherwise it just floats on past the end of the runway.  When deployed at full throttle and at altitude, the plane rises dramatically but without pitch or roll change.  Backing off the throttle first just slows it down when they are deployed.  One day, just for fun, I was able to make four takeoffs to 4 or 5 feet and full stop landings in the 400' length of our runway.

It does take practice but IMHO is well worth the effort.  I have a number of other, faster, planes but this is still my favorite.  This winter I plan to add droop tips and leading edge slats in the quest for the ultimate slow-flying plane.  Don't be afraid to experiment!

That sounds like it might be something I could do later on down the track if my LT-40 stays in one piece.

i have heard of people using the Ailerons as spoilerons to create wash out to slow the model down on Extra's and Edges, is this a better option than using them as flapperons??

Yes. But it depends. Spoilerons "spoil" the airflow over the wing, though only at the trailing edge, giving you less lift, higher wing loading and effectively lowering the main wing's angle of attack. Less lift brings you in steeper . . . but less angle of attack brings you in faster. If you have a good, low idle then they are helpful. If you can't slow down the model BEFORE deploying them they may not be a good alternative. Gliders, with glide ratio out the giggie, use them for landing.

An Edge? You have enough control throw to Harrier in, and a lower pitched prop would be a better solution to slow a landing.

I have to agree with Charlie concerning the Edge and Extras. I have an Edge that would float forever with a high pitch prop. I had to beg it to land. But just dropping the pitch and increasing the diameter some fixed the problem and turned the plane into a different bird.

On a pattern ship I had, I used spoilerons so I could better stick the landings. Because of many factors like engine, prop ground clearance and landing gear the easy solution was to setup an elevator-spoileron mix. As I applied up elevator to hold pitch on approach the spoileron would raise just enough to kill some lift. I loved it and the only time I didnt use the mix was on calm days.

Cheers.

I'm a bit confused here...  My instructor is teaching me to use rudder for roll and lateral correction on landing.  He said using ailerons so close to the ground can cause one of the wings to stall and roll it over into the ground.  So if you are not using ailerons on landing why wouldn't flaperons work????

You use the rudder to correct heading, the ailerons to correct roll.

If you're learning how to land the last thing you need to worry about is flaps or flapperons.