LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Thank you so much for defending the slip on approach (Short Final: The Land of Perfect).
My husband and I fly a Kitfox we built in 1994 (ours), a 1968 Cardinal (mine), and a 1972 Skylane (his). The Kitfox has flaperons, but they act more to increase lift than to increase drag, so slipping to land is very common, even with full flaperons. We also must have the nose aligned with the runway upon landing to keep from exciting roll-outs, which means no crab on short approach, just radical slip then transition to wing low touchdown on one main.
I got my first 100 hours in the Kitfox and the experience was invaluable in teaching control. I was able to get two hours of sailplane instruction last summer while on vacation and the instructor commented not too many pilots know how to use the rudder or how to slip for altitude adjustment like he had me do in the sailplane. Both of those were learned in the Kitfox.
By the way, I got my private pilot license at the age of 50.
We enjoy your writing!
DEE ANN EDIGER, via email
