On Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:28:25 -0600, Newps wrote:



Ron Natalie wrote:
Newps wrote:



Margy Natalie wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

Jay, I now know you understand what a really cool airplane is!!


What does the Navion cruise at at 75%? How slow can it go on final
with one person and a half tank of gas?


With the IO-550 ours bops along at 160 kts ground speed quite nicely.

I get about 160 to 165 with an IO470N and 14 GPH.


Approach speeds are very much skyhawk-like. I think the Vso is 47
in knots. You gotta be below 87 to even drop the gear.

And I though 140 was bad in the old Deb.



OK, so it's a little slow in cruise, 10-12 knots less than my 520
powered Bo, but looks like you can land it short. I assume because it

Even book figures on a Bo (at least the older ones) are shorter than a
172. Final is only slightly faster. According to the AirSafety
Foundation and American Bonanza Society the vast majority of Bo pilots
land they way too fast.

was designed 100 years ago the gear was made to land in rough areas and
you could fly final at about 60 MPH indicated. So 1200 foot strips

I might make the 60 MPH as Vso is 55 (Me and half fuel) or 60 at
gross, but I do like a bit more of a cushion than that. 1.3 X 55 = 71,
while 1.3 X 60 = 78. I typically fly final some where between 75 and
80 MPH. The Bo can get in and out of very short fields, BUT that tiny
nose gear was not meant for rough fields.
OTOH I have flown in and out of a friends pasture a few times. He had
one *relatively* flat strip for his 150.

I was flying in and out of a friends 1200 foot strip for several
years. OTOH he didn't have any trees at either end, but he did have
telephone lines at the one end.

shouldn't be a problem?

I'd think the Navion would handle rough fields far better than the Bo.

A couple years ago we had a pair of Navions take off together and
those two blade props were deafening. Naturally they did it off 18
which put them right over the noise sensitive area at just a few
hundred feet :-)) I keep saying we need a couple of T-6s on the
field, or a Skyraider.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com