Since I bought my Lancair 235 nearly new in 1995 I have put over 1500 landings and 875 hrs on it.  I personally replaced the O-235 engine with a IO-320, installed new radio stack in 1998, installed a MT constant-speed prop in Feb 2004, and vortex generators in June 2004.  The VGs are on  the removable part of the wing only, out to the end of the aileron.

Landings vary from "greasers" to firm, but most are just OK.   The plane is a little nose heavy and the standard spring trim is almost all the way forward in reflexed cruise.  In landing configuration with full aft trim, I still have to hold a little back pressure.  Over the numbers at 80kt indicated requires a barely perceptible flare, followed by two or three seconds of float.   At 75kt over the numbers, more flare is required and the float time is very short, usually followed by a moderate "thud".   Slower than 75kt and it is very easy to get in a nose-high condition where it is difficult to judge the distance to the ground.   I normally touch down with full flaps and power off.

With its small tail, I think the Lancair is less sensitive to crosswinds than most aircraft.  In crosswinds I usually land in a slip and try to let the upwind wheel hit the ground first.  There is often a little "tail-wag" following touchdown, but it is easily controlled with the rudder.  Keeping the nose wheel off the ground after the mains touch is nearly impossible.  Attempts to hold the nose up usually result in a small bounce.

Since I installed Tim Ong's dampers, the plane sits more nose-up on the ground, partly because I keep the nose strut pumped up for prop clearance, which is still only about 8 inches.   On takeoff with neutral elevator,  when the wing begins to reduce the weight on the main wheels, the fuselage rises slightly and it feels like the nose wheel is still rolling on the ground.   At this point it will begin to rise in a nearly level attitude.   Usually, I pull the nose up before this happens.   A full stick-back takeoff results in the plane jumping off the ground at about 50kt and the nose wanting to go way up, so it is necessary to put in a little forward stick as soon as you are off the ground.

The vortex generators have made a spectacular difference in low speed flight.   Before the VGs a full power off stall would result in the nose dropping uncontrollably to near vertical at about 50kt IAS.   With the VGs, the stick can be pulled all the way back, showing about 45kt on the airspeed and about 800fpm down on the VSI.   A very slight shaking can be felt, but the nose does not drop.   The ailerons feel mushy, but the wings can be rocked a little without feeling like the plane will tip over.    Relaxing back stick pressure results in an instant moderate nose drop and you're flying again.  Power on and stick back results in such a nose-high attitude that it is very uncomfortable, so I have not explored this regime very far.  I do not think the VGs  make landing any easier.  While they do allow the plane to fly slower, it is with a greater angle of attack, so forward visibility is lost and I worry about dragging the tail.

	STALL SPEED MEASUREMENTS  (IAS)
DATE	FLAPS	FLAPS	FLAPS	Weight	REMARKS
	FAIRED	10	FULL
	GEAR UP	GEAR UP	GEAR DN
6/25/2004	50	45	48	1430	Prior to VG test
6/29/2004	40	40	37	1490	First flight with VGs.

Here is some speed test data, done by flying a 10 mile square box and averaging the GPS speed on each leg.  This was done by creating a 5-leg flight plan in the GPS which defined an entry leg and four legs of ten miles each.    I know, there is a more accurate formula than just averaging , but the difference is on the order of one knot.    From these runs, it looks like a 3 to 5 knot speed loss with the VGs.

	4 direction TAS tests with and without VGs
	Alt	RPM	MP	GPS Knots
No VG	3500	2200	22.0	157.8
With VG	3500	2200	22.2	152.8
				5.0
No VG	6500	2400	24.0	178.8
With VG	6500	2390	23.9	175.5
				3.3

All in all, I think this plane is a dream to fly,  easy to land, and with the VGs, not so easy to get into a stall-spin.     My best landings result from holding a constant nose-up pitch and then waiting for it to settle.   The wing being so close to the ground magnifies the ground effect, when compared to other planes.  I think the most likely problems a beginner would run into are either pitch oscillations or flaring too high, then dropping it in.

I hope other VG users will relate their experience to the group.

Bob Belshe
Moraga, CA

 http://home.comcast.net/~rbelshe/

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