So you think you want an E-AB ...

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Rich
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Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: N40XE
Airports: S39 Prineville OR
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Re: So you think you want an E-AB ...

Post by Rich »

You don't have to go experimental to get short TO/LDG performance. This past Saturday I was sitting in the runup area watching a guy in a C-180 (presumably) working on his gravel-bar operations technique (Tundra tires give it away) here at Prineville. The runup area is maybe 100 ft' off the side of the departure end of Rwy 10 so I got a real close-up of what he was doing:

He flies down the runway at some absurdly low speed, just above the pavement. Finally he sets it down something like 100-150 ft. before the end of the pavement and stops before the end. Then he turns around and announces he's back-taxiing for takeoff Rwy 10. "Huh?" says I. Why doesn't he use the adjacent taxiway? He taxis maybe 4 airplane-lengths back up the runway, turns around and guns it - taking off in about 100 ft., clearing the runway end lights at, again, some really slow speed (20-ish knots?). There was a very slight headwind but only slight.

Of course, he's flying alone, possibly with a light fuel load in an unpainted (this matters a bit) C-180. Density Altitude was pretty normal field elevation ~3200 ft. I couldn't tell what STOL mods he had. Possibly leading-edge cuffs and maybe vortex generators. I was stunned enough to not think to look too closely. It might also have an engine conversion, but it wasn't outrageously noisy.

I can get my DA40 off at typical flying weights fairly quickly by lifting it off at ~40 KIAS. Nothing like the guy above, of course. But a respectable short-field takeoff.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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Lance Murray
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Re: So you think you want an E-AB ...

Post by Lance Murray »

Interesting enough to mention. The Engineers for the Columbia (Lancair) was the same guy that did the DA40. They refused to certify the Lancair IV-ES and did the Columbia as an almost clean sheet design thus bankrupting the two companies. It is a really nice airplane though.
krellis wrote: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:25 pm The Glasair Sportsman is a great airplane. I came really close after learning about the two week to taxi program they have.

For those who criticize E-AB, I think you might see the Sportman in a certified version before too long. I doubt it will be fundamentally different than the E-AB version...

Lancair's kit planes spawned some pretty nice certified designs too.
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Lance Murray
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Re: So you think you want an E-AB ...

Post by Lance Murray »

I am just finishing up a DR-107 One Design.

This is a Plus and minus 10 G airplane capable of being competitive in the Unlimited category.

The aluminum fuel tank is in my lap. There is zero consideration for crash protection. I increased the turtle deck size for rollover protection. That is about all I could do to increase survival factors.

The closest thing I could buy in a certified version would be an Extra at close to $500,000.00. The safety of an Extra isn't much different than the design of my DR107 One Design however.
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