Hello again VA fans,Many thanks to all of you, via your various posts, for helping me to better understand the nuances of the Maule Orion M7, a wonderful STOL aircraft. I am very new to GA and have much to learn.I have a few beginner's questions regarding the use of flaps on this bird, in particular to the default FSX model... all you pros please jump in and share your thoughts on this:1) The Maule M7 has 7 degrees of reflex flaps. I understand they can give you a nice boost in maximum cruise speed, somewhere around 5% or so. My questions regarding this are: (1) Do many of you Maule pilots use them often to achieve faster cruise speeds and are reflex flaps useful in other situations? (2) Is there a particular "safe" cruising speed range in which to use reflex flaps and is there a speed or configuration that makes it dangerous to use reflex flaps (that is, are there cases or phases of flight where they should never be used)?2) Regarding the flap configuration of the Maule M7 in FSX... the settings are -7, 0, 24, 40, 48. How does this configuration compare with the default Cessna 172P of 0, 10, 20, 30. Will the use of flaps during landings "feel" significantly different among the two planes? Does 48 degrees of flaps in the Maule affect the aircraft or make it behave a lot differently than 30 degrees of flaps in the Cessna? From my very limited landing practice of both planes (using flaps to the best of my beginning skill level), extending the flaps to 40 and 48 degrees had a much more dramatic effect on the Maule (airspeed seemed to drop much faster and more sharply), than it did on the Cessna in the 20 and 30 degree notches. I definitely "felt" the Maule respond as soon as I extended the flaps the 2nd and 3rd time, whereas on the Cessna, it seemed less noticeable, more gentle, and smoother overall. Perhaps there were other variables during these flights that accounted for this, but it's what I perceived at the time, nonetheless. Just wanted to gather your insights and experiences regarding this.3) Finally, the flap lever in the Maule indicates that you need to "Pull on 2nd Notch for Takeoff" and "4th Notch for Landing". I'm confused as to the degrees of flaps the "2nd and 4th notches" represent. My first thought (assuming 0 degrees is the "1st notch") was 2nd notch means 24 degrees of flaps for takeoff and 4th (or last) notch means 48 degrees for landing, but this is only a guess. Please set me straight on this point.I want to understand the flap settings of this plane and how best to use them during the different phases of flight.As always, any and all help you provide, is greatly appreciated.Happy Flying! :(

As with any airplane.. we're trying to make real-world characteristics filter through the FSX flight model.I've flown the FSX Maule quite a bit, but like real airplanes I fly; I don't often push the envelope to test what happens. With what I do know about FSX flight dynamics.. I know that flap use affects three parameters ... Lift / Drag / Pitch .. and they are adjustable in the aircraft.cfg file... which means (logically), that negative flap deployment would reverse the affect of all three parameters.If normal flap deployment causes drag.. reverse flap deployment would almost be like thrust. Realistically of course, that's not possible.. but if it's tied together with the other parameters.. it can yield reasonably realistic results.1,2) I'll let a real Maule pilot answer. I just treat the range of available flaps as linear (even if some are negative degrees).. and use as much (or little) as the situation calls for. For reference.. I don't use ALL the of the available flaps in even a little Warrior, unless I'm trying to squeeze it onto a short, grass field. 3) From my experience in high-performance piston singles, I'd guess that you've guessed right. .. because 24 degrees of takeoff flaps would surely be a maximum. And I think those recomendations account for short-field ops, because again 40+ degrees of flaps would mean that you're trying to accomplish a specific, short-field landing. In theory, you'd always want the lowest possible ground-speed.. so in theory you'd always want full deployment by the time the wheels touch. But that's not always convenient, or even comfortable. If you have runway to spare.. you're better of fliyng the pattern and approach with a "clean" airplane. Crosswinds will dictate flap use too.. and always keep in mind the go-around.. That's why I'll rarely have more than 50% of flaps deployed by the time I'm on the ground. Fllaps are just another control surface.. Your experience, flying style and preferences will have a lot to say about how they're used.

Firstly, forget about making a comparison with another aircraft - and in particular the Cessna. Cessna defines the 172 as an `everyman` airplane and it is entirely average in everything it does - and that is not a criticism it's a point of pride with Cessna, and given they've sold more than 44,000 of them, they were right! However, apart from the single engine and the high wing, the 172 shares almost NOTHING in common with the Maule - the Maule is a taildragger with a high lift wing, a 260hp motor and a variable pitch prop. It's designed to do one thing really, really well - to be a rugged `bush plane` capable of hoisting up to five people out of rough, simple strips, most of which tend to be short, and bumpy...So making comparisons about flap settings is for all intents and purposes, meaningless. Flaps do different jobs on different airplanes, and their choice, selection and configuration has as much to do with the other requirements for the wing as they do with providing lift and drag.But in essence that is all flaps do - provide more lift, or more drag, and usually both at the same time. The combination of lift/drag also depends on the wing type, the aircraft and a myriad other factors. The Cessna uses a modest amount of flap for the simple reason that it means it contributes to the average-ness of the flying experience - until a few years ago the aircraft actually had a 40 degree flap setting max not 30 as now, but there were a few too many inadvertent crashes by `everymen` and the aircraft actually gets a higher gross weight with the lower maximum - at a cost to balanced field length performance, of course. The Cessna flaps are optimised for drag over lift, so the field performance is actually pretty similar no matter a zero flap setting or first stage. But it makes for a nice controlled descent with airspeed at a controllable level, even for inexperienced pilots a little bit high on finals.The Maule wing and flap is optimised for lift over drag, to enable the short-field performance that is the characteristic of the marque. Inherently a `liftier` wing then has more drag as the aircraft goes faster, and the reflex flap is nothing more than a bodge to decrease slightly this induced drag. The gain is usually in the order of 5% but should only be applied in cruising flight as the change in camber alters not only the lift/drag of the wing, but also the effective spanwise flow as the pressure distribution changes around the wing and you can see the results of that in terms of increased stall speed and more sudden wing drop. You find reflex flaps a lot in long-winged, high aspect-ratio gliders but not as often in GA.The main gain of the flap configuration in the Maule is that it allows for approaches on the back of power curve. Something the Cessna is singularly not good at. A back of the power curve approach allows the pilot to hold the nose high and literally plop the aircraft on a sixpence, but requires skill and a close control of the airspeed. This is necessary for the Maule, not so for the Cessna, so the flaps on each do different things...

Brett and snave,Thank you for your excellent feedback on this topic - it was a big help. Based on this information, I researched more on the "back of the power curve" which really helped put the flap use into greater perspective for me; especially in regards to the particular application of flaps among these two aircraft.Appreciate you taking the time to share your expert knowledge with me. :(