Do airplane mods work?

Just curious, have you ever compared your AOA indicator to the probe less AOA indicators? Did you notice any benefits or shortcomings?
 
The VGs on my Cherokee were amazing. I couldn't really stall it,just got a mush. It was completely controllable with the stall horn blaring. Reduced the stall speed by quite a bit. Were I flying lots of short strips I'd want them on my airplane.
 
Love your vids. Always wondered just what price was paid on the slow end for that amount of climb capabilities.
 
4 mods with STC's on my 182P work terrific. Bracket air filter, Rajay twin turbo-normalized, Robertson R/STOL kit, and Hartzell 3 blade Top Prop. As a whole, high density altitude work is a near no-brainer. Turbo cheats the altitude and R/STOL cheats the thinner air.
 
Our R/STOL is amazing. Another good friend raves about his VGs.

And of course slapping an IO-550 on a Skylane always works, too. LOL.

Some stuff works but the difference isn’t worth the price tag.
 
-IO-470: no more carb heat, ability to run lean of peak, 30 more HP, shorter takeoff roll = yes, it works

-Peterson front mounted elevator canards: STOL performance, flat deck angle, no more typical nose-heavy feeling 182 = yes, it works

-Flap gap and aileron gap seals? I dunno.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
-Peterson front mounted elevator canards: STOL performance, flat deck angle, no more typical nose-heavy feeling 182 = yes, it works
.
Click to expand...

I would love to get a better understanding of this mod so I could implement something similar on an experimental.
 
What sort of mods? Speed mods? If the airplane in question is already slippery, probably not by much. Highly incremental for the most part.

I've been in the Comanche world (mostly Twin Comanche) for most of my "GA life." I've seen, heard the stories of, flown and compared them all. The airplane can be made a little faster with a couple of the Lopresti/K2U mods. Debatable whether they're worth the cost. Sometimes there are other benefits besides speed. I like the TwinCo "WOW" cowls. Much easier to remove when you need to work on the engine, and they don't disintegrate like the stock nose bowls slowly do over time. They are theoretically worth a knot or two of true airspeed. 5+ knots - no way.

As is so often the case in life, the "common sense" mods win easily. For the airplanes with dual fork landing gear, swapping to single fork reduces drag and gives back a few free knots. A permanent speed/fuel efficiency mod upgrade which will usually pay off.

After that, getting the airplane in rig helps. A little off rig, you're slow. Mine was for a long time (still is, sometimes, I think.)

Keeping the airplane shiny and clean is worth a knot or two.

By far the most impressive speed mod for the TwinCo is adding tip tanks to airplanes which don't have them. There aren't any speed mods out there which come close to eliminating a fuel stop on a 7 hour flight. That's good for a 30-45 minute reduction in total trip time, if not more.

As for the rest of it, I haven't seen a whole lot of value for the cost. If you want a faster airplane, buy a faster airplane, all things considered.
 
Speed, nobody mentioned speed! All of the mods mentioned by the OP relate to lower speed and better control at lower speed or shorter takeoffs and landings. He's a back country pilot. You have to watch the video. He's not asking a question, he's telling you THEY WORK!
 
How long is a rope? Not all mods are created equal. Many work, but it depends on their purpose and effectiveness to determine worth.
 
MarkH said:
I would love to get a better understanding of this mod so I could implement something similar on an experimental.
Click to expand...

Special engine mount that also mounts the canards.

The canard elevator is connected to the opposite end of the yoke by pushrod, lever, and rod (no cables).

There’s a lot of info including videos on the Peterson’s Performance Plus website. Todd Peterson is also easy to talk to.

Best would be to find a plane with the mod and check it out when the cowling is off. Easier said than done, there are about 500-600 of these around the world.

And cowl-off opportunities are rare. You can come look at mine at annual late this summer. Or I can take pics when I change my oil next.

The only other guy on POA that I know that has one is @islandboy .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top