Sport Pilot Talk

Just curious what speeds you guys taxi at in your LSA? I tend to taxi between 10 and 15 knots if a long stretch of taxiway is ahead of me, or about 7-8 knots if obstructions are nearby or if I'm turning soon. I've been with some CFIs who felt that taxing at 15 knots was too fast, but didn't really feel that fast to me. As long as you don't have a big quartering tailwind while taxing, any reason that taxing even at 20 knots would be a bad idea? Thanks in advance!

10-15 is way too fast. These things are kites mounted on shopping carts not go karts. 'Drive' them accordingly.

The AIM says no faster than a “brisk walk” but I’d say no faster than 10 knots on a long straightaway.

Hmm. I usually go by RPM and taxi at 2000 RPM with my Rotax 912.

Several years ago there was a channel on TV called Wings. They used to air little clips to fill in time called Wing Tips. One of those echoed what the AIM says, taxi no faster than you can walk. I have been in light sport airplanes when the GPS was showing 15 knots while taxiing, and they were starting to feel unstable to me. I would suggest slowing it down to 10 knots or under. That is what I teach students, and I also try to follow personally.

Thanks guys! I'll slow it down to 10 knots or less.

Just enough to have rudder authority and not have to use differential braking.

Not too fast

kicktireslightfires wrote: ↑Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:33 am Thanks guys! I'll slow it down to 10 knots or less.

If you are flying with a ROTAX, recommended RPM is not less than 2000, to protect the gearbox. I’ll be the first to say, this causes you to “Fly” down the taxiway/ramp, not to mention the toll it takes on your brakes. LSA’s with ROTAXS’ are a different breed and one must adjust accordingly.

Sling 2 Pilot wrote: ↑Mon Apr 05, 2021 6:45 am If you are flying with a ROTAX, recommended RPM is not less than 2000, to protect the gearbox. I’ll be the first to say, this causes you to “Fly” down the taxiway/ramp, not to mention the toll it takes on your brakes. LSA’s with ROTAXS’ are a different breed and one must adjust accordingly.

Yes. brake pads are a lot cheaper than a gearbox overhaul.

If your airspeed indicator is "indicating" you're going too fast. I was taught a "brisk walk" is all you need. I do keep it over 2000 rpm and occasionally have to tap the brakes to slow me down. I don't have nosewheel steering so I have no choice but to use my brakes to steer, the rudder is useless at taxi speeds.

I taxi just a bit on the high side. My last 3 planes have all had free-castering nosewheels, and I find just a bit more speed aids in rudder effectiveness for steering. Dragging a brake to keep the nose straight has actually caused brake fires in Cirrus aircraft, so there can be consequences beyond increased brake wear.

Another handy tip: all runways and taxiways have a crown to them. Taxiing a bit on one side or the other of the crown can minimize the amount of rudder and/or brake needed to keep the nose straight. Obvious caveat is to be sure your offset doesn't interfere with things like taxiway/runway lights.

10-15 mph max ( based on my GPS ground speed ), anything above that feels wrong - our planes are just clumsy beasts on the ground and there is no way around that.

On very smooth ground at "good" airports I'll usually taxi at 10-15. Sometimes 20 if I really have to expedite, like landing on a huge runway and being told that another plane is about to turn final when I'm still half a mile from the next exit.

On my home airport the taxiways are so bad that I have to taxi at 3-5 kts.

I never taxi based on RPM, only by feel (and GPS ground speed). Flying into airports in the mountains in California means sometimes I'll need to run the engine at 3,000 or even 3,500 RPM just to crawl up the slope.

My plane uses about 250-300 feet of runway. My home airport's runway is 7,002 ft long, and the first turnoff taxiway is roughly 2300 ft from the threshold. Given my 32 mph stall speed, any time I'm doing a full-stop landing, I use a runway stripe that is past the mid-point of that first segment as my target touchdown point, specifically so I don't have to taxi quite so far... I usually tell the tower I'm landing a bit long, to expedite traffic flow, which they seem to appreciate. (There are times when we have as many as 8 airplanes in the pattern!)