SonexBuilders.net

Xenos Pilots,

These forums have an enormous wealth of material on construction, maintenance, equipment and so forth, but I don't find obvious sections on Xenos flying/handling.

In particular I'm looking for pilot reports, tips and experience on flying the Xenos - particularly landing (hard surface - [grass is forgiving]).

I'm finding that without any spoiler I'm floating on and on, but that half spoiler produces too quick a descent.

Perhaps I should be trying wheel landings. Or adding a 1/4 spoiler detente for the lever? Or maybe my idle (1200) isn't low enough?

(At the threshold I'm at 45 knots, level, no power).

Where are there discussions of Xenos handling - on or of the forum?

Thanks,

Peter Schwenn

Hi peter,
Sounds like your idle is high. I think an idle of 600-700 is better. Was talking at airventure to a gentleman who built a onex. His idle was 1600. His first flight on landing it never slowed and caused bouncing and a ground loup off the rwy in a cloud of dust.
I like your idea of 1/4 spoiler. Someday would love a ride in the xenos. Compare to our waiex. Youve got alot more wing out there.

WaiexN143NM
Michael

When I flew the Xenos, I always found that my landings went the best with zero or one notch of spoiler. Yes, it will float a bit with no spoiler, but with idle set properly (1000 rpm or so) it isn't too bad.

I don't know if a Onex relates to the Xenos, but, 1600 rpm will keep me in ground effect. I use it for a short time before touching down with 45 degrees of flaps to reduce the sink rate. My idle will run at 1000.

Hi Peter,

Due to the small number of flying Xenos (around 12 or 13) you won't find many posts related to flying them on this or any other forum. I only have experience in the Xenos and Onex and I can tell you that the Xenos is much easier to land. The Xenos has a larger flare window and more ground effect.

Your idle RPM seems to be a bit high. A good target is 700-800 RPM. Too much lower and the engine may quit on you. The best place to test that is at altitude.

I land with the spoilers half deployed. The decent rate doesn't seem too high. There is plenty of time to round out into a flare and fly in ground effect until the Xenos settles onto the runway. If you're coming over the threshold at 51 MPH you should have plenty of energy left to flare and float in ground effect.

I try not to land without any spoiler. As you've seen the Xenos will float on and on.

I've never seen any reason to try wheel landings in the Xenos; it just seems to want to float in with all three wheels landing at the same time.

You probably already know this, but: You'll need to glance to the left to determine when to flare. The nose will be too high to get a good sight picture looking forward.

-- Michael
Xenos 42
Onex 169

Hi Peter,

I have been flying the Xenos for nearly 5 years now.
I have found the only way to land it successfully is to treat it as a glider from the base turn position to touchdown.
On base I close the throttle to idle and leave it there. Then select half spoiler and modulate as required to maintain glide path.
I cross the threshold at a maximum of 50kts with half spoiler and flare to the 3 point attitude and hold off until the aircraft stalls on (about38kts). Then apply full backstick and braking as needed.
If doing a touch and go then retract spoilers ( visually check fully retracted) , and apply power as you relax the backstick towards neutral. Caution - if you retract the spoilers too soon the aircraft will get airborne prematurely.
As an aside, if you have been soaring engine off prior to rejoining the circuit for a powered landing I would recommend restarting the engine early enough to get the oil temperature warmed up in case a missed approach is needed.
I hope this is useful.

Regards,

Steve

Xenos 0035

pschwenn wrote:Xenos Pilots,

These forums have an enormous wealth of material on construction, maintenance, equipment and so forth, but I don't find obvious sections on Xenos flying/handling.

In particular I'm looking for pilot reports, tips and experience on flying the Xenos - particularly landing (hard surface - [grass is forgiving]).

I'm finding that without any spoiler I'm floating on and on, but that half spoiler produces too quick a descent.

Perhaps I should be trying wheel landings. Or adding a 1/4 spoiler detente for the lever? Or maybe my idle (1200) isn't low enough?

(At the threshold I'm at 45 knots, level, no power).

Where are there discussions of Xenos handling - on or of the forum?

Thanks,

Peter Schwenn

Looking forward to see some replies. My Xenos will be ready this spring April fingers crossed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Regarding idle speed, I always find that the sweet spot on an AeroVee is around 900 rpm. You certainly don't want it to idle over 1000 rpm. So getting the idle down will help some.

After much experimentation, I settled on landing the Xenos with one notch of spoiler. I would sometimes land with zero spoiler if I wasn't concerned about a little more float. But one notch seemed to work the best for me.

Peter I completely agree with Steve. You need to determine the aerodynamic half spoilers not just the physical half open spoilers. On a calm day in landing configuration at altitude with the spoilers closed check your descent rate then fully open the spoilers check it again to find out what your maximum increase is. Divide that in half and find out where your spoilers give you that descent rate and that is your aerodynamic half open spoilers.
Steady state 200 ft./m with spoilers closed. With spoilers fully open if you have 1200 ft./m then wherever your spoilers give you 700 ft./m is your aerodynamic half open spoilers.
The only other thing I would add is after touchdown open your spoilers fully to help keep the aircraft stuck to the ground.

FYI I have only flown a Xenos once with a couple of landings but found it very easy. I fly gliders for a living flying a few hundred hours a year.

Anyone know where I can get a prop for a Xenos? Been flying my Xenos for a year and taxied through high grass. Big mistake! Ordered a new prop from Sonex; 8 week wait. Have stage 4 cancer and have been on aggressive chemo for over a year now so I don’t know how much time I have. Want to fly my Xenos.

Willing to buy another prop or get repair on this prop. Money not a problem; kids, grandkids and great grandchildren well off when I go...Martin, N922PL, 7VGO.