AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014 - 65

unique. There's no such thing as a power-off
stall, for example. Chop the power and pull
the stick all the way aft, and the SuperSTOL
wing never reaches its critical angle of attack.
Instead, the airplane floats down like a parachute (with a forward speed of about 42
mph and a descent rate of about 1,000 fpm).
Ailerons remain effective, and so does the
rudder. Landing in this configuration feels
like a body slam, but the airplane seems not
to mind.
The mechanical flaps have about as
much area as a Cessna 180's, and it's best
to slow down and let the slats deploy first.
Otherwise, pulling the flap handle requires
a mighty tug.
I made a couple takeoffs and landings at Clemson/Oconee County Airport
flying a typical three-degree VASI glideslope at 60 mph with the slats pressed back
against the leading edges, and the airplane
felt conventional in every way. Then, with
Woodland's encouragement, I tried a few
much steeper approaches at slower airspeeds with the slats deployed, and that
was a mind-bender.
With full flaps, idle power, full aft
stick, and slats out, the SuperSTOL drops
like an anvil. Increase engine power and
the rate of descent moderates while pitch
attitude increases.
For extreme short-field landings,
Woodland touches down on the tailwheel
in a 30-degree nose-up attitude and lets
the main wheels bang to the ground. The
shock absorbers compress, and that lowers
the airplane's center of gravity and allows
aggressive braking without any hint of nosing over. Using this technique consistently
reduces touchdown speeds in calm winds
to 25 miles an hour, and the ground roll is
a scant 40 feet.
Woodland has flown the SuperSTOL
about 1,000 hours and provides countless
demonstrations for fellow pilots and prospective buyers. But he said he is still developing
new techniques to take full advantage of the
airplane's unique capabilities.
"When you fly a SuperSTOL like a
normal airplane, it responds like a normal airplane," he said. "It took me hours
of flying at high angles of attack with the
slats extended before I started to start to

appreciate some the things this airplane can do-and
I'm still learning."
Our hour-long demo flight provided a glimpse of
the kinds of places that become accessible in a rugged, light airplane that can fly with perfect control at
seemingly impossibly high angles of attack. Any open
space becomes a potential landing area, and runways
are irrelevant.
Getting the most out of a SuperSTOL will require
veteran pilots to "unlearn" some basic habits of selfpreservation. But the reward for doing so is access to
places that would be totally out of reach in virtually
other fixed-wing aircraft.
"I bring the SuperSTOL in and out of places that
I wouldn't even consider in anything else," Woodland
said. "That's what this airplane is all about."
AOPA
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

THE SUPERSTOL

changes the way
pilots regard the
terrain they fly over.
Every clearing
becomes a potential
landing area-and
pastures, meadows,
and driveways can
serve as runways.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 2014

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