Posted by JamesB on Saturday, June 9, 2007 @ 12:51 PM:
I was landing in a crosswind yesterday where my approach speed was a little higher than normal. The spoilers were important than usual to help "plant" the glider on the runway. I tried to hold the spoilers up with my leg while I reached for the brake. As I did so, the spoilers dropped and the glider started flying again. No great problem. I let it settle and the landing was ok (no go-around was necessary)...no undue excitement.
However, it is irritating that when I let go of the spoiler control, the spoilers drop down. What I am considering is either adding a detent for the full open position or adding an adjustable block covered in suede leather so that at full open position, it adds just enough friction to hold the spoilers open. I don't want to change the normal range of movement -- just something at the full open position.
One could argue that there is a degree of safety in having the spoilers drop down, so if you have to do a sudden go around, they tend to automatically drop and allow this.
Yet, I see that as a 1 in 100 event and you are adding a greater risk of problems on the other 99 landings in having to manage more controls than you have arms. (I have seen the mod adding the brake control to the stick. Good, but not the best choice for my plane at this time.)
So, from your perspective, is there something that I'm missing....some significant reason not to have a friction point in the spoiler control so it will tend to stay open at the full open position?
Obviously, we'd need to figure out how to do this without restricting the rest of the movement or adding wear to the linkage.
But assuming that can be done, I think it would help to be able to open the spoilers to full open position and have them stay there. Is there something that I'm missing?
Thanks.
Posted by SteveBeaver on Saturday, June 9, 2007 @ 11:22 PM:
James,
I am luck enough to fly two different RF4Ds, one of which has spoilers that are a little stiffer and tend to stay where you put them. - I very much like this and have found no disadvantages so far.
Steve
Posted by Jorgen on Sunday, June 10, 2007 @ 04:22 PM:
Hello,
my experience is limited to one RF 4 D and a RF 5 b. Both have spoilers that drop down if you let go. I also would prefer to have them stay where they were you left them. You still have to retract them actively anyway to get them in all the way, over the stop so I can´t see any disadvantage with a spoiler that are a little stiffer.
In the review of the RF 4 D G-AVWY (on the US and german sites, I think) Peter Turner also states that AVWY´s spoilers tend to stay where put. Question is what is stiffer on these aircraft and can it be done on other, perhaps les fortunate Fourniers?
Just 4 fun/ Jörgen, RF 4 SE-XST
Posted by JamesB on Sunday, June 17, 2007 @ 11:32 AM:
Thanks for your input. Will investigate alternatives to getting them to stay up without adding wear to the linkage. If I find something elegant, will post it.
James
Posted by Donald on Sunday, June 17, 2007 @ 12:08 PM:
My RF3 spoilers will stay out if they are fully out but are right on the tipping point so that any little knock will dislodge them. I've always felt, and I allude to a sense of touch quite deliberately, it was a question of geometry rather than friction. Any production run of any machine will have fabrication tolerances leading to small differences between individual examples. Sometimes the tolerances will stack up to influence the behaviour one way, sometimes the other, mostly they probably cancel each other out.
However, I applaud your quest for an elegant solution. Good luck.
Posted by Bob Grimstead on Sunday, June 24, 2007 @ 12:34 PM:
Hi Folks,
I've flown about a dozen RF4s, and all but one (including my own) have spoilers that pop back in if you let go after touchdown.
I have perfected a method (that works for my personal body geometry) of holding the spoiler lever out with my left hip and upper left arm, while heaving on that heavy brake lever with my left hand and controlling pitch and roll with my right hand.
At Gap, Dave Bland was one of the guys who was kind enough to let me fly his RF4, and that one has a long, stretchy bungee from somewhere up by the left shoulder harness attachment down to the spoiler lever. This has just enough tension to keep the spoilers deployed once they're out, but is eaily overcome if you need to get them back in quickly for a go-around (rather more often than once in a hundred of my approaches, incidentally).
Particular advantages of this 'mod' are that it is quick and easy to fit, and doesn't break any laws or invalidate your insurance with issues about modifications. And you can whip it off quickly if you do crash.
However, before jumping in to stiffening or re-rigging the spoiler mechanism, don't you all think we should find out from Rene (or his son, or somebody) precisely why the spoilers are rigged like that?
Yours, Bob
Posted by joethepro on Monday, December 3, 2007 @ 09:43 PM:
Would a rubber tab attached to the side wall at about the top of the spoiler handle travel (ment to hold the handle after it has passed a certain point) solve the problem? Or maybe a set of them to indicate different amounts of spoiler deployment.
Posted by Sam M. on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 @ 00:13 AM:
Hey guys,
Our rf4's speed brakes stay up in any position when you let go.
Posted by jb92563 on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 @ 11:03 AM:
It would have been nice to have wheel brakes engage at the end of spoiler travel like a regular glider, eliminating the need for an extra hand.
I wonder if this would be all that diffucult to do?
Perhaps when it comes time to recover I'll look into it.
Ray
