| The
Citabria has five stages of flap, whereas
the Decathlon has none. 5 stages might be
seen as excessive by some. But each notch
of flap really helps to just check the
speed and aid descent in nicely graduated
steps without fuss. Generally you use 2,
or maybe 3 stages in the Citabria, and
definitely no more than 2 stages in a
cross wind. Here we
are downwind and just about to turn base
leg at 75 knots with one notch of flaps.
|
|
 |
| As you see
I’ve gone for a very tight circuit
and base leg is very short, with a
further two notches of flaps and down to
65 knots now. Please
NOTE: The Decathlon needs careful speed
management on approach. With no flaps,
speed needs to be bled off to around 60
knots, when enough drag is created to
maintain 500 fpm descent and 65 knots
with a tiny bit of power. Speed should
not exceed 65 knots on approach.
|
|
 |
| More flaps
selected and 60+ knots. Oops we are too
high - a consequence of rather too tight
a circuit. The solution is to side slip.
This will lose height quickly (increased
drag) but not at the expense of gaining
speed. To side
slip, we use rudder in one direction and
aileron in the other to counteract the
tendency to turn and check the roll
produced by large input of rudder.
|
|
 |
| Our
Decathlon can achieve a whopping 40
degrees slip angle - the Citabria
achieves a respectable 30+. The aircraft
is tracking along the runway centre
despite pointing away from it and is
therefore crabbing, with lots of left
rudder and a little right aileron to
check the rudder. Altitude is lost
quickly and the drag created by the
airflow against the right side of the
fuselage, plus the rudder and ailerons,
is helping to keep us nice and slow.
Because of reduced lift with the wings
angled sideways to airflow, don’t
let the speed drop too much. |
|
 |
| As we near
the runway surface, ease off the rudder
and aileron in a harmonised movement and
the Citabria will kick straight by
itself. All we need to do now is gently
sink, cut the throttle, or perhaps leave
a tiny bit of power on until you’re
sure you don’t have a long way to
drop should you be near the stall. About
55 knots here, or less if you are loaded
lightly. Except in
cases of nasty crosswinds, when you might
rightly consider landing on the main
wheels first, in normal circumstances, a
three point landing is the way with tail
draggers.
|
|
 |
| Gently
ease the stick back as you near the
surface. The nose will obscure the runway
in the final ten feet. You get used to
this after a few attempts. Hold her off.
DON’T try to land - try NOT to land,
just insistently holding off. As
all three wheels touch down the stick
should be back in your lap and if
you’ve got it right you should hear
three tire squeals at once.
I Hope you
enjoyed this guide to the joy of flying
the Citabria and Decathlon.
|
|
 |
