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Looking for others experince using flaps -

My Sonex Legacy has the standard (large flaps) arrangement.
I only ever use flaps 1&2 - 3 doesn't seem to do anything much and is very hard/heavy to select.
I, as you would expect, makes by far the most change to low speed handling.
2, just seems to add drag - which is useful on late final.
Stall speeds - 40 knots clean, Flap 1 -37 knots , Flap 2 - 37 knots, Flap 3- 37 knots

Skippydiesel wrote:Looking for others experince using flaps -

My Sonex Legacy has the standard (large flaps) arrangement.
I only ever use flaps 1&2 - 3 doesn't seem to do anything much and is very hard/heavy to select.
I, as you would expect, makes by far the most change to low speed handling.
2, just seems to add drag - which is useful on late final.
Stall speeds - 40 knots clean, Flap 1 -37 knots , Flap 2 - 37 knots, Flap 3- 37 knots

With the short flaps, and center controls, I only have two positions. I use one notch for takeoff, gets me off the ground a lot quicker. The second notch adds a lot of drag, which is a good thing.

Skippydiesel wrote:Looking for others experince using flaps -

I too only have the standard flaps / ailerons. I only use full flap when too high on final which is great for steepening the glide.

I have not flown with the acro ailerons but imagine they would have to be quite a bit heavier than than than standard ailerons. I think I would prefer the lighter control forces. When I used to do acro in the Sonex the standard ailerons were sufficient for my level of acro.

I do have a couple of hundred hrs in a Sonerai, they have shorter chord, full span ailerons. It was both lighter and crisper, faster roll rate than the Sonex. IMHO Shorter chord full span ailerons / flaperons on the Sonex would be awesome.

sonex892. wrote:
I have not flown with the acro ailerons but imagine they would have to be quite a bit heavier than than than standard ailerons. I think I would prefer the lighter control forces.

I don't have experience with standard ailerons. It makes sense they would be lighter. The aerobatic ailerons are pretty darn light though. Maybe a little heavier than a Pitts.

Skippydiesel wrote:I only ever use flaps 1&2 - 3 doesn't seem to do anything much and is very hard/heavy to select.

The third notch of flaps is not that hard to deploy IF you get the airplane slowed down. When I was giving training in the Sonex airplanes I really had trouble getting customers to slow down. They habitually did everything at too high an airspeed (including deploying flaps). Slow down early and use the flaps as necessary. (You still may find that you don't use full flaps that often, but they are a tool that is there for your use.)

Skippydiesel wrote:2, just seems to add drag - which is useful on late final.

This is true of most airplanes. Full flaps add a lot more drag than lift, which is by design. Very useful in getting a steeper approach profile if needed to clear obstacles on the approach path, as well as controlling approach speed. Speed control is your friend in all airplanes, but especially with the Sonex. A few extra mph (or knots) on short final will translate into much more runway usage, most of which will be in the float before you ever touch down.

sonex892. wrote:I have not flown with the acro ailerons but imagine they would have to be quite a bit heavier than than than standard ailerons.

I switched back and forth between standard and acro ailerons a few times a week when I was at Sonex, and never really noticed a major difference in the feel of the ailerons. They all flew, well, like a Sonex!

sonex892. wrote:I do have a couple of hundred hrs in a Sonerai, they have shorter chord, full span ailerons. It was both lighter and crisper, faster roll rate than the Sonex. IMHO Shorter chord full span ailerons / flaperons on the Sonex would be awesome.

Isn't the Sonerai a wonderful airplane? Just a joy to fly! However, I don't think full-span ailerons are that much better than what would be considered "standard" ailerons, as the inner portion of the aileron isn't really doing all that much work. The full-span ailerons certainly made the wing easier to build on the Sonerai though, which I think was the greater benefit.

Longer span/shorter chord ailerons do have some effect though. Nowhere is this more apparent than when comparing a J3 Cub to an Aeronca Champ. The Champ has shorter, wider chord ailerons, and exhibits a LOT more adverse yaw than the Cub does. The Cub still has some, but not nearly as much as the Champ.

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm going with the aero ailerons