With regards to my particular airframe, I'll add that the buffet is not very pronounced and is somewhat close to the stall AoA. I get more of a "rumble" first. These may not be a traditional "fair warning" but I have never had a stall occur that surprised me. As previously stated, the stall characteristics are very tame. Where one may be surprised, again only speaking from the experience of operating my airplane, is a relatively (compared to say a C-152 or Warrior ect.) high sink rate that develops about 15-20 mph above the stall speed.
Generally, in most airplanes we approach at 130% of the stall speed and bleed that extra 30% of speed during the flare to carry us safely to one inch off the ground at the stall speed (ideally). This value may not be applicable to your airplane.
I've found that if I use 1.3 X Vs, then excess power is almost always required to maintain my desired glidepath. Therefore, I have developed the following technique from experience.
My trick is to bug a speed on my EFIS airspeed indicator that I call the "minimum flare speed". It's a speed that is in essence the beginning of the "sink" range and guarantees adequate pitch control through touchdown. I will not mention that speed here because it will be different for every airplane because of many variables. You can find this speed by entering the flare at different speeds until no power is required to correct a mushy, sinking touchdown. I figure that if I ever have to perform an unscheduled power-off landing, I will use this speed as a safe maneuvering target. In fact, I use it on every landing. I don't look at any particular number on final but rather my margin above my "target" speed. Ideally, I'll be at 10 feet AGL at idle power on my target speed. Any faster and I'll needlessly float, any slower and the elevator authority will be too mushy.
I have over 1500 landings logged on my Waiex now and I don't fear getting near a stall but I am very in tune with its cues. Since we don't have any required stall warning devices I'd suggest excess operating margins until you have done 20+ stalls in different configurations and bank angles. Take a peek at your VSI during the stall exercises and you may be surprised at the rates of descent. However, I believe this exercise is somewhat flawed because the variable of the low altitude cannot be safely simulated without a simulator. The sensation of rising Earth surely makes it very difficult to not pull back and has taken many from us.
Fly safe everyone.
Edit...I suppose my speed bug target is like Dan Gryder's concept - basically a quick reference "caution" speed that provides a stall margin. In my case it's used mostly for landings but could well be applied to an emergency landing. It is, however, below the best glide speed and best viewed as a "don't go below this unless you are in ground effect" speed.
Sx1552 wrote:Does this mean that the Sonex design does not provide an inherent stall buffet to warn of impending stalls?
Sx1552 wrote:Does this mean that the Sonex design does not provide an inherent stall buffet to warn of impending stalls?