I was always led to believe (bear in mind I'm a beginner) that anything over 20 degrees was just extra drag and added little if anything to the lift coefficient. So if you're using a long runway (like me) there's little point in dragging it in with 40 degrees of flap and then taxiing 4,000 ft to the turn off. However today I flew to a smallish grass strip and used 40 degrees. Because the circumstances warranted it.
I do find personally that I seem to land better with only 20 degrees of flap. Don't know why. My landings with 40 degrees are perfectly fine, I just find there's a better feel with 20 degrees. My 40 degree ones tend to be arrivals, not clonking on but a nice firm 'yes the tires are on the grass' which is what you want on a short strip whereas my 20 degree ones are the sweetest brushing of Dunlop on mother concrete. Allowance for artistic license.
But then no doubt someone will be along to tell me that my 40 degree landings should be like that too. Reminds me of those flying videos you see on YouTube, you watch what seems to be a perfectly fine approach and landing and nod in approval. Then you read the comments and someone will always be along to say 'You were 6 inches to the left of the centerline and came in 1 knot too fast plus your flare was started 11 microseconds too late.'
I mean I actually bounced about 2 inches landing on my grass strip today. Back to the drawing board for me then.
Last edited by thing; 31st August 2011 at 17:51.