I know the topic of STOL kits gets brought up here every once and a while so here is a review of the Sportsman STOL Kit. I know there are strong opinions here on wether or not one should get a STOL kit for there 170. Some love the idea and others think it is a waste. I hope this doesn't turn into a big debate I just wanted to share my results. For ME, I'm glad I put the kit on for the type of flying I lke to do. Hopefully this can help others in deciding for themselves if a STOL kit is worth it or not.
I got my Stol Kit installed at Q-Aeromotivet in California City. I picked up my plane yesterday and flew it home. First I went up for a little bit with glidergeek in the right seat and we did some slow flight and a few stalls and only one landing back at Cal City before flying back to Rio Vista. Today I went out by myself to see what it could do and I was even more impressed with the kit, I think having less weight and not as mush of a forward CG changed the feel a little from the first flight test. First I did some slow flight with 20 degrees of flaps and power, I could keep it level at about 35mph and start to get a slight buffet. Next I tried 40 degrees with power... this time I was flying with the ASI below 30mph. At this point you could take the yoke all the way back put in full power the ASI is fluttering back and forth between 0 and 20 and it still doesn't really want to stall. Power off stalls with 40 degrees of flaps are impossible, it would just decend at about 600fpm at 40mph indicated. You can make turns back and forth at this speed with no problem. Next I went and shot a few landings at Rio Vista on the grass next to the taxi way. Yesterday when I flew I just approached at 60mph and it felt like it used to at 70mph. Today I was flying approaches at 45mph indicated and carrying power. WOW before there was no way I could do this. Before if I got a little below 60 you could feel the plane want to drop out from under you. Not anymore, 45mph carrying power into the flair and I would plop down on the grass nice and soft and stop in about 100 feet or less... I also had about a 15mph head wind. I felt like I was flying a helicopter on approach. Taking off with 20 degrees of flaps I'm airborne at 35 mph and climbing out nicely at 45mph. Stene's site lists VX at 48mph and VY at 75mph at gross. Also on the flight back from Cal City I noticed no loss in cruise speed. Overall I'm very happy with the kit and glad I got it. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do in the backcountry this year. I hope this review can help anyone that's interested in installing the kit on their Cessna.
I have had a Sportsman on for years. I got it when they were passing around the templates and you had to make your own. It is vey impressive what it will do. One thing I did find out and compared with another 170 with same engine and prop and everything being equal except he had no STOKL kit, is that take off did not change dramatically. Not stalling and being able to fly incredibly slow did, but not take off. After debating it with others we decided that if you had it on a tricycle gear airplane and could get more angle of attack on takeoff it would probably be a great benefit. On wheels and for sure floats it really did not change the take off roll significantly.
I just put this on because you could get into the " got it in where I can't get it out of" scenario. Overall it is probably one of the better STOL kits and I would put it on again if I ever got another 170 without one.
marathonrunner wrote: I just put this on because you could get into the " got it in where I can't get it out of" scenario. Overall it is probably one of the better STOL kits and I would put it on again if I ever got another 170 without one.
marathonrunner wrote:I have had a Sportsman on for years. I got it when they were passing around the templates and you had to make your own. It is vey impressive what it will do. One thing I did find out and compared with another 170 with same engine and prop and everything being equal except he had no STOKL kit, is that take off did not change dramatically. Not stalling and being able to fly incredibly slow did, but not take off. After debating it with others we decided that if you had it on a tricycle gear airplane and could get more angle of attack on takeoff it would probably be a great benefit. On wheels and for sure floats it really did not change the take off roll significantly.
I just put this on because you could get into the " got it in where I can't get it out of" scenario. Overall it is probably one of the better STOL kits and I would put it on again if I ever got another 170 without one.
I agree that a tricycle gear plane can get off shorter because there is a lot more angle of attack available when you hold the yoke all the way back. One thing I noticed when I put on 26'' bushwheels is that the increase in angle of attack allowed it to fly off a little sooner. While there may or may not be a huge difference in actual takeoff distance between a stock wing and a sportsman wing (due to limited AoA) there will be a huge advantage in obstacle clearance. VX is now 48MPH compared to 65mph. Pretty much as soon as I rotate I can start climbing out very steeply. Before I might be able to get it off the ground but would have to accelerate in ground effect until I had enough speed to climb. I also have an 80'' seaplane prop up front that helps with the climb.
My '55 170B has the Horton STOL mod. For some reason, maybe while flying another unmodified 170B, I had fallen into a bad habit of landing with only 20 degrees of flaps down. (Maybe it was because of someone's advice, sensible or not, to use partial flaps in gusty conditions.) I found the Horton-equipped 170 to be very prone to bad landings, because it doesn't want to quit flying in a 3-point attitude. I've had the experience of the airplane becoming airborne again during rollout after a perfectly satisfactory 3-point landing. It eventually dawned on my that I needed to be landing with at least 30 degrees of flaps down -- preferably full flaps -- and then the airplane will slow down quickly enough that trying to go flying again isn't a problem. (BTW, the owner's manual recommends landing with full flaps.)
I'm wondering, has anyone noticed this issue with the Robertson kit?
John Renwick
Minneapolis, MN
Former owner, '55 C-170B, N4401B
'42 J-3 Cub, N62088
'50 Swift GC-1B, N2431B, Oshkosh 2009 Outstanding Swift Award, 2016 Best Continuously Maintained Swift
bagarre wrote:Did you notice any drop in cruise speeds?
But, with beach ball wheels and a boarer prop, you might not be worried about that
Nope I'm sure not worried about speed. If I was I wouldn't have a 170. And I wouldn't have put a seaplane prop big wheels and stol kit on either. The biggest drop in speed I got was from the 8042 it slowed me down 12mph from the 7653 to 108mph at 2550rpm. When I put the bushwheels on I was expecting a lot more loss but found it to only be a difference of 1mph on a 3hour cross country flight. And the STOL kit didn't seem to slow me down anymore after I added that.
I have found little difference from the big wheels to floats as well. It just goes 100 knots not matter what. I think with smaller tires it might pick up a few knots but then where would you land? Just airports?
