A Letter About Flying The Velocity


Dear Prospective Velocity Pilot,

If you ask canard pilots if their airplane is easy or hard to fly they will tell you it's about the same as a standard airplane except that it is "different". I asked that question several times before flying my Velocity and I never really got a satisfactory definition from anyone for what was "different".

Over 300 hours later, I knew what they really meant is something like this: "We have come to expect certain flying characteristics to be exhibited by all aircraft, but when we fly a canard aircraft these characteristics are either diminished, exaggerated or replaced by unique new characteristics."

So, the phrase "It is about the same as a standard airplane.", while certainly true, applies only in retrospect after one has become accustomed to these characteristic differences.

I once had the chance to drive an actual competition race car and I think I might say that it drove about the same as a standard car accept that it was "different" (Actually, a whole lot more "different" than the subject of this letter!).

Let's start with weight and balance.
In a standard aircraft you can compensate for the front seat weight by adding weight to the rear seat (up to the max. gross, of course). This is because the rear seat is behind the center of lift. In canard aircraft, the rear seat (and fuel and baggage) are more near the center of lift. Thus, for any given runway distance there is a maximum front seat weight which the canard will lift for take-off and, relative to the common aircraft, this will not be as greatly improved by passenger weight in the rear seat as it will with a typical aircraft.  In my Velocity on a calm day I do not want to take-off with more than 425 lbs. in the front seats. Any head wind will, of course, improve this.

Now, some words about take-off.
Canard aircraft use differential braking to steer making it important to get the airplane straightened out on the runway as quickly as possible to minimize the need for braking to steer which reduces  acceleration and lengthens take-off distance. Braking causes one to eat up runway but if you are taking off on a gusty, cross-windy day you can't avoid some braking so you have to expect a longer take-off. This is why the maximum crosswind for take-off is lower than for landing!

The main wing on a canard aircraft is "flying" long before the canard lifts so one does not have to be as much concerned about the Velocity stalling on take-off as the usual airplane. To minimize take-off distance, you start with "too much" trim so the canard lifts early but you push the stick a little to gain airspeed with just the mains on the ground, this also results in the earliest effectiveness of the rudders because they don't have to drag the nose wheel right or left. All in all it is about the same as making a soft-field take-off in a standard airplane. But remember, like any other airplane, the Velocity won't fly until sufficient airspeed has been attained.

Ok, now your flying.
P-factor is so slight that you don't even bother about it specifically; you simply fly the airplane straight and level to the altitude of your first pattern turn. The airplane is very slippery so about 300 feet below pattern level you cut the engine to about 2100 rpm and coast up. The rest of the pattern is flown as usual except that you drop the speed brake after turning final.

Now the landing.
Basically you want to set up your speeds so the main gear touches before the canard stalls. This means you land the aircraft in a fully flying condition. (U.S. Navy pilots know all about this kind of landing.) I prefer to land at about 85/90 kts. because this gives a wide margin before the canard stalls and at the same time really reduces the sensitivity to cross-winds. (Besides, the Velocity has big brakes.) I actually find this easier than the traditional full-stall landing because all the control surfaces of the airplane are fully functional and the airplane is very maneuverable all the way to the ground.

The brings up the subject of stalling.
"Canard airplanes do not stall." This statement is true except for certain radical aerobatics which can make it happen. The reason is simple; the canard wing stalls at a much higher airspeed than the main wing so all that happens is the nose dips causing airspeed to increase and the nose to bob back up. The farther you pull back the stick when the canard is stalling the greater becomes the magnitude of the dip and bob but nothing else. In my Velocity with the stick back as far as I can pull it she will buck like rodeo horse but, believe it or not, the little beauty will still have an average climb of about 200 feet per minute. This is a save-your-life characteristic (Thank you Burt!) and if you don't think so, imagine a full stall just after a take-off with your Piper Apache.

Some words on cruise.
The Velocity at middle and high altitudes is a very stable platform, as good or better than any of the several other small aircraft I have flown. However, at low altitudes where thermals and gusty winds might be encountered I have found that it then requires more than ordinary pilot attention. Why this is true I do not know but I have an idea about it. Swept wing aircraft do not require dihedral to have stability in roll so it could be that the sweep of a canard aircraft's wing provides a bit less equivalent dihedral than that of the typical conventional aircraft. (Dihedral equals drag so I suppose this is a designer's choice - SL500 or Rolls-Royce, take your choice.)

Dealing with crosswinds.
The rule is that swept wing aircraft should not be cross-controlled, as when slipping into a cross-wind, because the inside wing gets at such a radical angle that it could stall. I've fooled around with this at altitude and never managed to create the stall but that is nevertheless the rule. Anyway, I find that accurately slipping a canard airplane is very hard to accomplish because of the roll component introduced by those rudders at the wing tips.

All cross-wind landings are therefore made in a crab configuration with the rudders being used to kick out of the crab just before touch down. If the crosswind is high then the amount of rudder required to kick out will be high. This will dip a wing requiring that it be simultaneously picked up with a little aileron. The accuracy of the kick-out is not critical because the airplane will automatically straighten out the moment the mains touch. However, kicking-out of the crab reduces the jolt and is easier on the tires. (The landing gear itself is tough as a boiled owl so there is no need to worry about damage to it.)

Ok, now you are about to touch down in a fully flying condition and you remember that the last time you tried that in a Cessna 150 you bounced about 10 ft into the air!  Well, you bounced because the landing gear on conventional airplanes is placed at the center of lift for the smoothest possible transition to a full stall landing.  In a canard airplane the landing gear is way behind the center of lift so the nose is forced down the moment the mains touch. The really good canard pilots (not me) give a well-timed little tug on the stick so the nose wheel touches gently.

That's about it; everything will all come with a little practice.

Regards,
Lynn