Velocity XL RG Owner'S Manual Download Page 8

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WNER

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LIGHT

ANUAL

in front of the rudder pedals.This places the weight of the thigh
on the thigh support, rather than the tail bone, and greatly
increases comfort on long flights.

Leaning for Cruise

Few pilots realize the extent of fuel economy benefits available

when an engine is leaned to proper “best economy” (BE) settings.
Due to cooling requirements, BE setting (50° F of leanside of peak
EGT), is allowed only below 65% power. Lycoming supplied data
shows that at BE, specific fuel consumption is 14% lower than at
“best power” leaning (approximately 90° F on rich side of peak
EGT). A pilot that cruises at full-rich is not only damaging his
engine and fouling plugs, but is burning up to 55% more fuel than
at the BE setting! Always lean at least to peak EGT when cruising
with less than 65% power.

Descent

You will find that your Velocity has such good climb perfor-

mance that you routinely use higher cruising altitudes to avoid
turbulence discomfort more often than with most light aircraft. It
is not unusual nor inefficient to climb to 12,000 ft. altitude for a
150 mile trip. Bearing this in mind, you want to plan your descent
into your destination enough in advance so that you do not find
yourself over your destination with 10,000 ft. of altitude.The
Velocity is a clean airplane and even with power at idle it may take
20 minutes to land! Using the extra altitude for a cruise descent
speed advantage will get you there a lot sooner. Do not forget to
reduce power slowly to avoid rapid cooling of the engine. Partially
richen mixture when descending. Start your descent about 6 miles
from your destination for every 1000 feet of height to lose, to
arrive at pattern altitude.

Landing

Make your approach and traffic pattern very cautiously. Most

pilots and controllers are accustomed to looking for more con-

ventional aircraft of gargantuan proportions (like Cessna 150’s)
and may ignore you completely. Best pattern speed is 85 to 90
knots, slowing to 80 knots on final approach (85 to 90 in turbu-
lence or gusty winds).The Velocity is a very clean airplane and you
can double the runway length required if you are 10 or 15 knots
fast on your approach.

Make a complete flare and touch down at 70 to 75 knots.The

normal landing technique of holding the nose off to minimum
speed should not be used in a Velocity. Make a complete flare,
then fly it down to touch down.This avoids a common tendency
to flare too high. It is better to land a bit fast than to run out of
airspeed while 10 feet in the air. Maintain a slightly nose high atti-
tude as you roll out and use aft stick to ease the loads on your
nose wheel during heavy braking.While the landing gear is strong
enough for rough surfaces, the small tire diameters will give the
crew a harsh ride.This, combined with the 70 knot touchdown
speed, makes a hard surfaced runway much more pleasant. If you
need to land on a rough field, hold the aircraft off to minimum
speed and keep the nose high as long as possible.

Crosswind landings may be flown several ways. Slight cross-

winds are easily handled using the wing-low sideslip approach.
Another method is to simply land in a wings-level crab.The land-
ing gear design makes this technique safe and easy.The best
method for strong gusty crosswinds is to approach in a wings-
level crab and straighten the nose with the rudder immediately
before touchdown. Be careful to not lock a wheel brake (full rud-
der) at touchdown. DO NOT SLIP OR CROSS CONTROL A
VELOCITY IN STRONG GUSTY CONDITIONS! Why? First,
you could stall a winglet. Second, when slipping an a/c with swept
wings, the wing opposite the direction that the aircraft is being
slipped is more perpendicular to the relative wind. This gives the
leading wing more leverage and lift than the trailing wing, thus
allowing the possibility that the aircraft could be forced into a stall