Derek I have heard the RR flaps by the later addon plans are small and not as effective as pilots are used to with other aircraft. I personally do not know because I have a belly board speed brake. It would be completely and totally possible to get the best of both worlds by having the small flaps for alittle supplemental lift, which would allow slowing down more on final, and the increased drag of the belly board and down pitching moment for better visibility from both with out increasing speed. The idea of a well designed flap system on a GA ( General Aviation ) plane is to allow the pilot to create the same lift at a slower speed in order to allow him to lose more altitude in less distance, while providing better visibility for safety. This allows for the pattern to be flown close to the runway, and altitude to be maintained until the descent is begun from the pattern abeam the point of intended touchdown. An engine loss at this point virtually garuntees gliding to the runway. Engines typically do not let go when running at a level RPM away from redline, until something upsets that equilibrium, like loss of oil pressure, or major change in power setting off setting the balance with an engine that already has a hidden issue. Shock cooling is another problem which is why you should be taught to always perform a cruise descent from altitude, and power on approaches, with only some being done completely power off for practice in an emergency. But even then you should clear the engine several times during the approach in order to keep the oil circulating and the carb clear. BY keeping even alittle power on you protect the engine from making a drastic change from cruise RPM to idle abruptly. Pilots in the past found out how bad this was when they suddenly realised that they needed to go around, applied full power and the engine would let go. Flaps help this situation not occur because it allows you to be closer to the runway than you would have to be without them. I love my belly board and it doesn't have holes in it and deploys in 2 stages: 25 degrees, and 50 degrees.
Colin & Bev Rainey KR2(td) N96TA Sanford, FL crain...@cfl.rr.com http://kr-builder.org/Colin/index.html
