Sport Pilot Talk

zaitcev · Joined: 05 Jan 2010 Posts: 258 Location: Albuquerque, NM

Seen this yesterday:

I'm a little surprised that someone may be not briefed on the dangers of wheelbarrowing in LSA beforehand. It's all I heard in every forum: don't land on the nose.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1390 Location: Lock Haven PA

zaitcev wrote: don't land on the nose.

The way to prevent this, IMHO, is to treat every aircraft like a taildragger. I try to teach taildragger landing techniques, even in a tricycle gear aircraft. Unfortunately, there is no requirement that CFIs have conventional landing gear experience (in fact, it's increasingly becoming only us oldtimers who have that background).

Jim Stewart · Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 259

I've never flown a taildragger (hope to change that soon), but I try to make every landing a soft-field landing. If I'm not touching down with the stick in my lap and the airspeed under 40 knots, I'm doing it wrong.

designrs · Joined: 23 Sep 2009 Posts: 144

Jim Stewart wrote: I've never flown a taildragger (hope to change that soon), but I try to make every landing a soft-field landing. If I'm not touching down with the stick in my lap and the airspeed under 40 knots, I'm doing it wrong.

Unless you've got gusts and/or crosswind!
(Student here, CFI's agree?)

dstclair · Joined: 06 Mar 2008 Posts: 212 Location: Allen, TX

I might be misremembering but I don't recall being taught to land with the nose gear touching first or some type of 3 point landing. Even with part 23 aircraft, I've landed mains first then let the nose gear settle on it's own. Seems to me just to be the right way to land. There's no advantage I can think of in getting the nose gear down too quickly.

On the opposite side, it's somewhat amusing to see PPs tranitioning to to an LSA that rotates much quicker and at a lower speed than their prior planes. They often wheel barrow down the runway essentially keeping the plane on the ground with the stick forward until they hit a familiar speed. Not good on the gear but not as bad as landing that way.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1390 Location: Lock Haven PA

Jim Stewart wrote: If I'm not touching down with the stick in my lap and the airspeed under 40 knots, I'm doing it wrong.

That's part of the correct taildragger technique, Jim. The other part is: keep that stick all the way back until you're stopped. So many folks make the mistake of relaxing their back-pressure after they touch down. That's when the ground loop occurs.

Exception: gusty crosswinds. Then, a wheel landing is more appropriate. In a conventional gear, that requires forward stick pressure.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1390 Location: Lock Haven PA

dstclair wrote: There's no advantage I can think of in getting the nose gear down too quickly.

Actually, Dave, there's one plane in which you have to: an Ercoupe (without the rudder pedal mod). That's the only way you can straighten it out on the runway!

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1390 Location: Lock Haven PA

dstclair wrote: it's somewhat amusing to see PPs tranitioning to an LSA that rotates much quicker and at a lower speed than their prior planes. They often wheel barrow down the runway

I wouldn't call that transitioning, Dave. I'd call it just hopping in and flying it without proper training. Unfortunately, that's perfectly legal...