Vortex Generators

Flying in and out of a 750' strip, sometimes at or near gross weight is my MKIII's most valuable ability, so having the ability to land slower, take off quicker, and enhance the already good STOL abilities of the MKIII appealed to me, vortex generators sounded like a good deal, so I gave them a try. Results? Stall speed dropped from 26 indicated to 20-21 indicated, actual speed was from roughly 33 mph to somewhere around 27 or 28 mph, a very nice improvement. But what I hadn't counted on is now it's most appreciated asset: how it handles in slow flight.

Here's how it works:

I started out with ten vg's on each side, one on every other rib near the tip, and then on every fourth rib closer in. Helped some, but not as much as I wanted. Researching turned up some data indicating that I needed a lot more of them, and I also found a web page for VG's on Super Cubs indicating that it could be helpful to put the ones in front of the aileron further forward to improve roll control in the stall. Here is the final product: Most of the vg's are 10" back from the front of the leading edge to the rear edge of the vg, the ones in front of the aileron are staggered forward by the width of a vg. There is a vg on every rib and false rib.

There are 7 alternate vg's per side staggered forward, starting at the outermost tip rib, their rear edge is even with the front edge of the adjacent ones , which put their rear edge 8.5" back. Why did I do them that way? I just had a hunch it might work, and apparently it does. I suspect that the vortexes interact and enhance each other, but that's just a guess. On the other hand, it might have done just as good if they were all back 10." For more details on how and why I chose this configuration, check the addendum at the bottom of this page.

Solo Flight Test Results

Takeoff with slight back stick, seeking to find minimum controllable liftoff speed shows 30 mph indicated.

Control at the stall break seems good, both straight ahead and in turns, accelerated stalls at cruise power seem normal. The pre-stall deck angle is much steeper, and the airframe has a little more noticeable buffet just before the stall. Best of all, the airplane no longer wants to mush out of the flare at slow landing speeds like it used to, I can now shoot approaches slower than previously. How much slower? From 55 indicated I am down to 45 indicated solo, and that seems about right for a minimum approach speed.

Stall with flaps is notably different than pre-vg's. I have my flap mechanism such that I can have 10 degrees, 20 degrees, 30 degrees and 35 degrees. At ten and 20 degrees, the only difference you notice is that the airplane stalls more nose up in the power off attitude, it seems that the angle relative to the horizon is about a level deck angle at stall. Stall is consistently at 20-21 mph indicated, and as near as I can figure, that is somewhere around 27-28 actual.

With 30 and 35 degrees of flaps, the airspeed indicator reveals it's shortcomings, it will not read low enough to tell me what is really happening at the stall, and things happen a bit different than before. Up at altitude simulating minimum speed landings, power off descents at 45 indicated with full flaps, then an application of aft stick to arrest the descent and maintain level flight (simulating flare to touchdown) results in the airspeed indicator steadily falling to 20 indicated and then stopping at 20, but it feels subjectively as if the airplane is still slowing down, things just sound and feel like it is. At the same time, the pressure required to hold aft stick diminishes notably. I suspect that the airplane has gone into "parachute mode," sinking rapidly in a level flight attitude. Also, the airplane starts to want to nose up just a bit.

After about 1-2 seconds of this perceived slowing, there is a clean sharp break and the nose will pitch down about 15-25 degrees, it is obvious the wing has quit flying. No tendency to fall off on a wing. Releasing the aft stick pressure gives an immediate recovery. The stall break and pitch down is notably sharper than with no flaps, or with ten or 20 degrees of flaps, but not alarming, it was just obvious that when it quits, it quits, period. If at any time you release aft stick or add power, it resumes normal flight.

Since I have no aerobatic training, I have not stalled it with full power, either with or without flaps. I suspect it would be pretty exciting, possibly more adrenaline than I really want to deal with...

I was able to slow flight at 30 indicated, maintaining level flight at 4700 rpm, doing brisk aileron turns, using healthy applications of aileron to roll 45 degrees either way, just enough rudder to keep the ball centered, and the airplane felt fairly solid and comfortable.

Climb at full power timed for one minute is at least 900 feet/min, even more on cold days. Maximum speed seems to be unchanged, but cruise may be better than before. The angle of attack of the wing at cruise speed is lower than before, the wing now flies flatter relative to the horizon/relative wind in level flight. Power off landings solo at minimum approach speed, maintaining 45 down final, full flaps, power off all the way to touchdown is tricky, the airspeed plays out quickly in the flare. Maintaining about 3500 rpm on final until just before the flare makes it very easy to hold 45 mph.

Wheel landings work best with vg's, because full stall landings tend to get the tailwheel touching down first, which then plops the airplane down on the mains.
Dual Flight Test Results

With two full size people in it, throttle at idle, 45 mph on final, you can get yourself in trouble in the flare. Especially with full flaps. The airplane will now fly so slow that the elevator starts to lose control authority at that speed when you pull back on the stick to flare, and the nose will not raise normally. Consequently, I also added VG's to the underside of the horizontal stab and gap sealed the stab to the elevator. Results were outstanding, with a heavy passenger, both with and without flaps, control authority at slow speeds is substantially improved. Here is what it looks like:

In any event, you want to keep at least 50 on final when you have a passenger.


If I had it to do over, I would just buy vg's from STOLSPEED - great for the price

But - for the frugal - here is how to do it cheap

Made the vg's from soft aluminum strips, cut out of some surplus aluminum guttering, which is sturdy enough for the purpose, light, and easy to paint. Above is the pattern I used to draw the vg's on the aluminum strips with, 3.75 inches on the back side, 2.75 inches on the front side, 1.5 inches front to back, and bent to 3/8" high at the vane. (That's what the notches in the pattern are for, just to indicate the 3/8" bend line, don't cut any notches into your vg's!) I riveted them to the ribs with one rivet and also glued them down with Goop, (WalMart, sporting goods section) which adheres to Stits like crazy. They didn't really need the rivet. Don't use rivets on yours. You can easily bend them to conform to the shape of the wing and rib. Be sure and smooth off the edges of the vanes, and round off the sharp corners, or the next time you wash the wing, you will cut the fool out of yourself and bleed on your airplane. (Guess how I know this?)

How do you measure back from the leading edge to get the 10" and 8.5" figures? You make a measuring tool.

Here is the concept. A square, a clamp and a ruler. Here is the application. Make a mark, stretch a string.

Others on the Kolb list have tried variations on the number and placement of the vg's. Vince Nicely, who lives nearby and provided much of my guidance in this direction has the vg's on his FSII at 11 inches back, and has obtained similar results. IMHO, this is one of those areas where there is probably an ideal position and number of vg's used, but apparently a sufficient number of vg's anywhere between 10" and 11" inches back will work pretty well.

Conclusions? I think the MKIII gets off the ground quicker, it certainly climbs out much better, lands slower solo, and control response in slow flight feels as solid as at cruise speeds, which is certainly the most important factor of all. Having the airplane fly rock solid 10 mph above the stall is much more valuable than merely stalling slower.

Subjectively, the airplane seems "lighter" and very pleasant, almost as if it weighed much less. I am well satisfied with vg's on the MKIII. Cost to make and install them? Under ten dollars and less than eight hours of time including paint and cosmetics. That much improvement for that little money is a real bargain.

But once again, if I had it to do over, I would just send STOLSPEED some money and use theirs.


Addendum - February 25, 2007

It has recently been brought to my attention that a certain individual who represents himself as a guru on another homebuilders web page has seen fit to describe my process of choosing the number and placement of vg's on my MKIII as being nothing more than "placing a haphazard amount of eyeballed VG strips on the wing." I assume that this is because I had not thought it fitting or necessary to go into all that was involved in my process of choosing the number and placement of vg's. The purpose of this page is not to impress anybody with what a great meticulous experimenter I am, but to save other Kolbers from reinventing the wheel.

However, since the usefulness of this modification has been brought into question, here is how I chose the number, size and position of the vortex generators on my Kolb.

I am not the first experimenter to try vortex generators on a Kolb. Jack Hart's use of vg's on his Kolb (all current high-wing pusher Kolb's use the same airfoil and wing planform) covers many years of experience and were an invaluable help. You can find his excellent website here and several pages on vg's beginning here.

A respected friend, Vince Nicely, has flown a Kolb Firestar II for a number of years, he is a true scientist in the most literal way, and had made a huge number of carefully documented notes on his experiments with vortex generators. Since the Kolb MKIII and the Firestar II have an identical airfoil, and a similar wing, it was not too much of a stretch to work confidently from the premise that what worked on his airplane would apply in at least some fashion to mine. So I used his notes as my baseline.

I spent several months reading everything I could find on the topic. I began my efforts by duplicating Vince's efforts exactly. Several hours of testing followed. Then came modifications, increasing the number of vg's and also moving them slightly fore and aft, looking for the optimum placement. The placement of vg's on Cubcrafter's Super Cub wing impressed me greatly, using a staggered location ahead of the ailerons, and in the process discovered that a mixed stagger seemed to work very well on my wing. (That web page is gone now but it was like this)

 

Then came more flight testing, in both calm and active air. All tests were done using a mini voice recorder so that I could record slow flight and stall speeds, objective and subjective changes and differences in aircraft behavior as promptly as I noticed them, without having to write anything down. Flight testing included unusual attitudes, but no aerobatic maneuvers or spins. Deep stalls were a concern and were extensively explored. By the time I had finished, I was satisfied that my results were an improvement and enhanced the safety and pleasure of flight of what was already a good flying airplane. At that point I put up this web page to share what I had learned.

Subsequently I was involved in the building and the initial 40 hours of flight testing of a Kolb FirestarII during which time vg's were added to it. Flight testing and vg modifications on that aircraft took over a month of flying several times a week before satisfactory results were obtained. Several different configurations were tried, based once again on previous known good configurations. The final results were different from my experience with the MKIII, and the configuration of Vince's FSII. Notably, all configurations were an improvement over the bare wing, but some configurations were better than others, and the final configuration chosen was selected for it's consistent and benign handling qualities. Since I am not a professional aerodynamicist, I cannot tell you why something works best a particular way, simply that it does. If that makes me cannon fodder for someone who knows nothing about the specifics of what I did or how I did it, so be it.

Bottom line - this vg placement and configuration works on my MKIII, you might prefer something differnt on yours. If you decide to add vg's to your Kolb, (and this is a Kolb page, what is on this page may not pertain to non-Kolbs) what you find here might be a good starting point, as would Jack Hart's page. My advice is to consult with those who have actual experience with your type of aircraft or very similar, (whom you trust and whose judgement you respect) think, study, learn, start cautiously, explore gradually, take notes, and enjoy how much nicer your airplane will fly when you get done.

PS: Vince also tried vg's on his Sonerai. Exhaustively. They did nothing useful. Depending on your non-Kolb airfoil, vg's may be an exercise in futility. Be advised...


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