RV-3 Best Glide

I was thinking I might wanna go out and shake out the cobwebs and do some emergency procedures....Been a while I guess.
I figure I should do some simulated engine out landings....settle in at an un-towered strip early one morning and fly a few (at idle) to a full stop from 1500' over mid field....did lots of those in the Citabria when I was doing my SEL.
So, I am pretty confident in the -3, but I can't say I have ever really figured out what best glide is (I know its not great, but probably better than the Pitts). I know every plane is different, but just wondering what you all use for best glide speed. Just wanna make the practice meaningful, and continue to build skills and confidence in my little rocket.
Cheers all
Dave

Why not flight test it and find out what best glide is in your airplane? Do you have the builders manual? Flight test info in there. In any case, it is not so important to be at best glide if you are over the field and need to power off circle to land. In this case it's not about gliding the longest distance, it's about putting it down where you want without relying on power. Just takes practice.

SFO

dacronwall said:

I was thinking I might wanna go out and shake out the cobwebs and do some emergency procedures....Been a while I guess.
I figure I should do some simulated engine out landings....settle in at an un-towered strip early one morning and fly a few (at idle) to a full stop from 1500' over mid field....did lots of those in the Citabria when I was doing my SEL.
So, I am pretty confident in the -3, but I can't say I have ever really figured out what best glide is (I know its not great, but probably better than the Pitts). I know every plane is different, but just wondering what you all use for best glide speed. Just wanna make the practice meaningful, and continue to build skills and confidence in my little rocket.
Cheers all
Dave

Click to expand...

Dave,
My technique for SFO practice (simulated flame-out) is to practice a straight-in glide approach every time I return to my home strip. Here is a technique I learned in the F16 and actually had to use it, once.

Next time you fly, climb up to 5,000 AGL and when you come home align yourself with the landing runway, 10 miles out traffic permitting.
Reduce power and slow to 100 KIAS leaving flaps up. Check your power at idle and then note the rate of descent.
Pick an aim point on the airfield (end of runway) sight down the nose and place the tip end of the spinner on the aim point.
Observe the glide angle and A/S indicator, if Airspeed decays holding a constant aim point, increase your glide speed, if your airspeed increases with the aim point constant, slow it down a bit.

Most RV's glide best around 88Knots clean, plus or minus depending on weight. My RV3 weighed under 700lbs and easily could glide 10 miles from 5K at 85KIAS. Your mileage may vary...
Try it and experiment a bit...
V/R
Smokey

I used 95 mph as best glide when I had my RV3.

Good on you for working these kinds of drills - have fun!

There is a dry lakebed to the east of us that I used to use. I always wanted to kill the engine and do one for real but never did. Now I wish I had.