Flaperons on LA1
 

I have an LA1 that I have been flying for years. I have a Hanno Special in it and it flys great.

The field where I now fly is farly tight which makes approach to landings difficult. If you cary too much airspeed you can't get this thing on the ground.

My main question: How do flaperons work for this type model? I don't recall anyone doing this back when I used to fly pattern contests. Has anyone had success using flaperons on these old pattern ships?

Thanks!!

RE: Flaperons on LA1
 

Pete,

I haven't tried going the flaperon route, but I'd bet it would work out ok... ..but there are some easier solutions. With the Hanno, you are probably running something like a 11-10 or 11-12 prop which, even at idle, is producing a lot of thrust. Might I suggest going to a smaller pitch prop in perhaps a 3 or 4 blade. It would take some experimentation, but I'll betcha that even at idle, you can make that LA1 at least maintain altitude. Another method is one that I use on my full scale plane and that is to slip the airplane to a landing. You are cross controlling the the plane as in left aileron and right rudder and this induces a TON of drag which is a very simple way to slow a plane down. The LA 1 is not one of those "fall out of the sky" pattern ships so I would try either/both of these techniques along with trying the flaperon concept. Just try out those flaperons 3 mistakes high and do some real time stopwatch comparisons to see if you are really getting an improvement. I'm not running any long stroke engines at present so my 11-8 and 9 props aren't really adding to the airspeed on landing. Let us know how you make out.

Dan
Carolina Custom Aircraft

RE: Flaperons on LA1
 

Pete-

My buddies and I from the Charlotte area (20 years ago) used to used spoilerons on landing with similar models such as Atlanta's, Avanti's and Aurora's. About 3/32" up aileron defection worked wonders to get into our tight practise field. We tried flaperons but we all felt spoilerons felt more positive and worked better. We picked up the tip from the K-factor newsletter so at some point there must have been some well known fliers using the technique.

Let us know what you do.

RE: Flaperons on LA1
 

Deadstik & Lotus,

All good suggestions. I'll start experimenting and let you know the results.

Thanks!!

RE: Flaperons on LA1
 

Up ailerons increases effective wash out! This is a good thing! We use a crow setting on some of our jets to help, frankly, just slow them down. This is especially effective at small fields! I shy away from flaperons.

Raf