I know there are a few on here that have Luscombe experience. What speed do you fly your approach at? I fly mine at 70mph indicated but I always get a bunch of float. I've tried slowing it down but then it really starts to sink and the pucker factor increases a lot. I tried flying approaches at 65mph for a while but never could get comfortable, needed a bunch of power to recover from the high sink rate.

I'm trying to shorten my landing distance so that I can land at least as short as I can takeoff. If I can get rid of the 100 ft float then I'll be about there.

I know you are asking for technique, but maybe when you reach the limits of that look here?

http://www.landshorter.com/page3.html

Like most things in airplanes it depends. What does your airplane weigh? 85hp? I have about 1,000 hours in Luscombes and have flown all models. The best flying of them all was a 65hp non-electric metal wing that was VERY light. Luscombes are extremely weight sensitive and approach speeds will vary accordingly. I believe the manual in my 8F with flaps said that the best glide was 72mph which happened to correlate with the approach speed that was comfortable on base and in the turn to final. I commonly operated mine at density altitudes at or above 9,000msl but when flying in lower elevations the airplane certainly wanted to float more. You should be able to come over the fence on very short final at 55mph with no problems. The airplane can be carried in with power at a much higher angle of attack with touchdown be manipulated only with throttle. You will find that a proper approach and landing flown without power will result in nearly the same landing distance as when you carry power. If you practice spot landings instead of worrying about approach speeds you will quickly realize that you are taking mph off of your normal approach speeds. Keep in mind that the wing on a Luscombe is long and thin, not shorter and fatter like a piper and experience will prove to be your most valuable modification. Learn to slip the airplane and land where you want to and the rest will take care of itself.

dirtstrip wrote:I know you are asking for technique, but maybe when you reach the limits of that look here?

http://www.landshorter.com/page3.html

Last time I checked, the landshorter VG's were not STC'd so experimentals only. I like their VG's (sharkfin shaped, clear flexible plastic) & wanted to out them on my C150TD, but went with Micro's due to the approval issue.

Whee.... since my Luscombe got totalled... do you want me to ask Micro Aerodynamics if I can transfer my STC to your Luscombe? They have a "re-paint" kit that has all the parts and templates to do the job for $150...
I only bought the STC in the spring this year..

NC

flightlogic wrote:Whee.... since my Luscombe got totalled... do you want me to ask Micro Aerodynamics if I can transfer my STC to your Luscombe? They have a "re-paint" kit that has all the parts and templates to do the job for $150...
I only bought the STC in the spring this year..

NC

Just curious if your Luscombe was similar in weight and hp to Whee's and if you got the VG results claimed for slower approach and touchdown.

Thanks for all the replies...I've been busy getting ready for a river trip that i leave on tomorrow.

I have no problem slipping and do so on a regular basis. I've always struggled with spot landings because of all the float. Home base is at 4750msl and DA gets pretty high in the summer time. I don't watch the airspeed much when landing but from the ~250 hours I have in the plane I know I approach at 70, over the fence at ~55. I like to carry a little power for those times when you hit a sinker. Been there on a power off approach and don't wont to go there again.

The Luscombe seems to have a very fine line where there is no float and not too much sink, I haven't found that line yet and that is what I'm looking for. When I was flying a couple times a week I could land within 50feet of my mark but that isn't anywhere near good enough.

My 8E has a stroked C-85 and weights 887 empty. Metal wings, no flaps.

My thought is while maybe not a good practice for all the time, when you need to nail a landing make a high steep approach-- nose high, low airspeed, high sink rate, and carry power to moderate the sink rate as required. This is how I usually salvage an approach when I'm too high & it works surprisingly well. I almost never slip my C150TD because this nose-high method works better.
FWIW I was underimpressed with the results mof the Micro VG's. Even at only $700, I would not do it again on a C150 or probably any Cessna wing. They are the same price for the Luscombe 8 series, and just might work great on them. I don't know what airfoil the Luscombe uses, but the USA-B or Clark airfoil used by Piper seems to get a lot of benefit-- I know some of the Pacer guys have reported really good results.
I seriously doubt you can "transfer" the STC paperwork to a different aircraft with a different tailnumber. The "authorization for the use of supplemental type certificate" Micro sent me I very clearly states it is for my specific airplane only, with the make, model, tail number & serial number cited. That "repaint kit" is for when you paint the original airplane, NOT for sneaking them onto a different airplane. I'm sure Micro will tell you the same thing if you ask.
When the insurance finally pays off on that Luscombe, you might wanna hang on to or make copies of the VG paperwork. The installation instructions could be of use for someone who wanted to install a set of the landshorter or other experimental VG's on their Luscombe, for research purposes only of course.

Whee... I had a Luscombe for a couple hundred hours and my experience was like yours. Mine was an O-200 conversion, no flaps. Loved the airplane! But there did seem to be a pretty fine line between float and sink. Bottom would really drop out if a couple mph too slow. Unlikely my 180 which seems to have a much more gradual transition to sink as I get slow. Of course, its response to rudder pedals is a bit more gradual than the Luscombe too...

I also flew 70 on approach, 60-65 for short field, but would really pucker up much below 60.

On the STC transfer, actually you can generally do that, you just have to pay a fee to get the paperwork switched over. Depends on the STC holder, but I've done it on a few things.