L-33 Solo Stall / Spin Characteristics
RMagerCGM
I am a low time (under 50 hours) pilot considering the purchase of an LET
(Blanik) L-33 Solo. I am concerned about the Richard Johnson flight test review
report in the July 1995 issue of Soaring magazine in which he said that the
plane was not appropriate for low time pilots due to little (1.5 knots) of
warning before the stall, and a tendency for the L-33 to drop the wing in the
stall and spin. This is completely different than what Blanik America says.
I would REALLY like to hear from anyone who has flown the L-33 Solo concerning
their opinions and impressions of this issue, as well as anything else -
positive or negative they can tell me about the L-33. My name is Richard A.
Mager. I live in San Diego and my e-mail address is: RMag...@aol.com.
I would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone with L-33 Solo time.
Thank you very much.
Rick Mager
Sean
I've never flown the Grob 103 so I can't give a comparison between the two
but I transitioned to the Solo directly from Blanik L-13's and have never
had a problem with stalls or spins.
The Solo is a quiet ship. I keep the window cracked a bit so I can hear the
airspeed and have never 'inadvertantly' stalled the plane.
I generally fly the landing circuit a bit overspeed and adjust to best L/D
on final. This isn't due to the Solo's stall characteristics...just a
habit...but it does away with the possibility of stalling a wing when
turning base or final.
I'd recommend the Solo to anyone without hesitation. It is a lovely ship to
fly. Recovery from intentional stalls and spins is almost instantaneous.
Opposite rudder, stick forward...and you're flying again. In most cases,
simply moving the stick forward is enough to recover from anything short of
a full, intentional spin.
I don't think Johnson's evaluation of the Solo was meant to 'fault' it's
stall warning characteristics as much as to say the PW-5 has a much more
pronounced buffetting prior to stall. In my personal opinion, I consider
the Solo a very docile and safe sailplane. I'm sorry the committee didn't
choose it as the World Class ship.
If you are at all nervous, I'd recommend taking another flight with an
instructor and doing some spin training. It's fun and quickly teaches an
automatic response to a spin.
Hope this helps,
Sean
RMagerCGM <rmag...@aol.com> wrote in article
<19990509195204...@ng-ft1.aol.com>...
T. Duck
news:19990509195204...@ng-ft1.aol.com...
> I am a low time (under 50 hours) pilot considering the purchase of an LET
> (Blanik) L-33 Solo. I am concerned about the Richard Johnson flight test
review
> report in the July 1995 issue of Soaring magazine in which he said that
the
> plane was not appropriate for low time pilots due to little (1.5 knots) of
> warning before the stall, and a tendency for the L-33 to drop the wing in
the
> stall and spin. This is completely different than what Blanik America
says.
Funny you should ask this question at this time. I'm a low-time pilot (~60
hours), and I've got an L-33 Solo that I've put about 15 hours on so far. I
too was concerned about the flight report, but I did note that the one they
complained about had been damaged by an accidental opening of the airbrakes
during above-VNE flight testing. It had wrinkles in the wings.
When I bought the airplane, several members told me that it had "a nasty
stall", and warned me that it was dangerous. I figure they're all basing it
on the article, because none of them had ever flown one.
Well, just this past Saturday, while out on a long flight (3:45), I had lots
of altitude to spare (~7500' AGL), and nothing in particular to spend it on,
so I figured I'd find out for myself. I stalled the L-33, and guess what-
it stalls like a baby. It gives a nice gentle shake about 4-5 knots before
it noses over, and I never saw the first hint of any wing-drop or spin
entry. I did several gentle stalls, and two quite nose-high stalls. I even
did a turn stall, and didn't find it any different than our club K-21. It's
a pity that an article written about a damaged prototype is haunting this
ship.
One thing I did note is that the L-33, being as quiet as it is, gives
*plenty* of audio indication well before stall. It seems like a year
between dead silence and stall. The other thing I noticed is that sometime
well before stall I lost the horizon completely from the front, while the
L-33 usually has pretty good forward visibility.
I think the L-33 is a *great* ship for a low-time pilot. It's got airbrakes
enough for a C-130, and the oleo-pneumatic landing gear makes for a very
forgiving landing system. The cockpit is nothing less than plush, and big
enough for all but the very wide or incredibly tall. It fits together
pretty easily, once you've had a few tries at it- be sure to open the
airbrakes handle before you try to fit each wing, or you'll fight the
automatic connections.
All in all, I think the Solo was the perfect airplane for me. In a year or
two, I'll be ready for something with a higher L/D, so I'm already
window-shopping some birds like the 304CZ, but I did make the right choice
in a first bird. It's at the right price, it's got the features a low-time
pilot needs, and it's also got something very important- an *excellent*
in-country parts and support center. Not too many other companies can match
what Blanik America does for us.
Buy one!!
Todd Hedenstrom
LET L-33 Solo "3"
Inoj
keeps up with even the "glass' ships. Take care with your use of the handbrake
on landing..it is very effective and can put the nose into the ground if your
too hasty in pullin'em tight. She's a docile airplane and stall
characteristics have not been a problem.....Joni