VGs

[Ron E]

I'm just curious to know if anyone has vortex
generators on their Thunder Gulls.

If so, I'm sure everyone would like to know if
they have improved flight characteristics as
far as slow flight, i.e. take-off speed/distance,
stall speeds, and landing speeds/distance. As I
understand it, the location on the wing is important,
and is something that must be experimented with.
Therefore, any suggestions for a starting/ending point
would be good. And finally, if they were homemade, what
are the dimensions & shape, and material used.

My J model is a bit heavy at 440 #s, and I'm no
lightweight, so short field performance suffers,
and is in bad need of improvement. I'm not exactly
sure why the plane is so heavy. It was factory built
with a dual carb 503 & electric start, 24' metal wing,
750# BRS, EIS, upholstery, wingtip strobes, etc. Not
much I can actually consider removing. It flies great,
just sluggish on take-off. Climb is about 700-1000'/minute,
and it will not stall at full power. My buddy's J with
a 447, no BRS, 20' fabric wing weighs about 100#s less,
and out-climbs me. His prop is pitched for climb, so
cruise is in the mid 6,000 RPM range, while mine is in
the mid 5000 RPM range. I would consider repitching
the IVO, but my EGTs are in the 1100 degree range and
6000 RPM cruise is 90 MPH. I hate to make a change.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ron Carroll
Independence, Oregon
ron.carroll@att.net

[jrc712]

Ron,
I have a Gull 2K and do not have any vortex generators on mine at
all. I don't see the need to put any on mine at the moment, so I
can't really comment on them. If you haven't already done so, you
might need to check some of the other boards and see what some of the
other types have done. The minimum traffic on this board doesn't
look to be giving you many answers.

Jim C