jeff beckley
Well Known Member
What is the glide ratio for a 7a?
Depends on your propeller choice (CS vs Fixed), weight,
RV-7
On a related question, what is the optimal speed for best glide ratio? That should be fairly similar for most RV 7s with the same engine.
one thing to consider in my opinion - should you get into the situation that this data may become necessary, such as in an engine failure - it may be impossible to put the prop to coarse pitch as this requires oil pressure... fine pitch
with a windmilling engine results in really poor glide performance. more like 1:8 around 85-92kts...
on the other hand, should the engine seize, the prop factor is yet a completely different animal with improved glide performance expected.
I?d be reasonably confident that the windmilling prop after engine failure would generate sufficient oil pressure to allow the prop governor to produce a fully coarse pitch.
From my experience that glide ratio may be a little optimistic since the engine is running and probably putting out some thrust.