Thanks, Mach - that's interesting.
Originally Posted by
Mach E Avelli
Don’t take the “no flaps for ditching “ to apply to all types, or even as generic wisdom. It depends on aircraft type. In this, the POH or AFM should be your guide. Failing specific advice from the manufacturer about landing configuration, slow is good, by whatever means achievable. I have no idea whether flap does much for Cherokee stall speed or whether it is primarily a drag device that only changes stall speed by a few knots, so possibly that is why Piper say it’s not recommended for that airframe?
The vast majority of my flying thus far has been in PA-28's of various flavours and capabilities, so it's pretty much all I know. The first 2 stages of flaps in the Archer/Warrior/Cherokee models are lift and the last stage basically all drag - so I get that you may not want ALL flaps out for ditching, but with the first two out you gain ~10kts before stall so that's what surprises me.
Hopefully Clare Prop can enlighten us, but maybe the concern is full or part flaps encouraging the aircraft to flip? Or maybe speed is better for a water landing?? Otherwise I've no idea why or where Piper say it's "not recommended for that airframe". I've never seen anything specific to ditching in the AFMs I've read and the airframe is stuffed anyway.