HELP

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awash2002
A2A ACE
Posts: 2995
Joined: 01 Aug 2013, 06:13
Location: KCZL

HELP

Post by awash2002 »

Can someone give me training on landing the T6 last time I landed the T6 I almost most flipped it I have no idea what I'm doing wrong?
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Oracle427
Chief Master Sergeant
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Re: HELP

Post by Oracle427 »

Landing tail wheel aircraft is a challenge and the T 6 is a bit more challenging than the average tail wheel aircraft.

I'll tell you the way my instructor taught me IRL.

First and foremost remember that the center of gravity on a tail wheel aircraft is behind the mains. That means that when the aircraft is moving forward on the ground the natural tendency is for the center of gravity to want to spin the airplane around do that it is in from of the mains relative to the direction of travel on the ground, aka backwards.

Your job as the pilot is to make sure that never happens!

Another important thing to keep in mind is that the narrower the main track is, or the closer the mains are to each other, the less margin for track error before you reach the point of no return in a ground loop. If the tailwheel swings close to, or outside of the track of the main wheel on either side, you're going for a ride.

So what is one to do about it? First keep the stick full back when taxiing or any other time when the tail is on the ground. The exception is when unlocking the tail wheel for tight turns.

Next user the rudder with lots of little small corrections to maintain directional control when moving at speed during takeoff and landing. Late and large corrections will spell disaster.

Sometime around this point after much ground instruction the instructor handed me a broomstick and asked me to balance it on the palm of my hand without moving my feet. You should be able to do this and remain stationary. Where you are looking is key here. You should be looking at the top of the stuck and not at your palm. If you look at your palm, or right in front of the nose of the airplane, you have too little information and you will go off track. You need to look at the top of the stick or at the far end of the runway to maintain track.

Try it if you can at home and try to see how well you do if you look down vs up. You may find yourself running all over the place when looking down. If you are doing it correctly, you should be making lots of small a rapid movements to keep the broomstick steady. This is exactly what your feet need to be doing on the rudder pedals. Lots of quick early inputs before the nose swings by a significant amount. You need to be looking down the runway as well to get the info you need to be able to make the correct inputs.

Now try fast taxiing back and forth down a long runway. Throttle up partially, let the airspeed build up enough to get the tail into the air and then being out back to idle. While this is going on, do what needs to be done to maintain your track right down centerline. Don't forgot to use and hold full stick back when the tail starts to come back down. The workload on the pedals should increase right around the time you are pulling the power back to idle as the airflow over the tail is diminished and the airplane is starting to slow down. You will find that you need to make faster and somewhat larger corrections to compensate for the reduced rudder effectiveness. This is why it is important to get the tail down when this begins to happen so that you can get the weight on the tailwheel with full back stick. Don't relax and stop dancing on the pedals at this point.

The dancing on the pedals does not stop until the airplane is stopped and chocked in place.

Hopefully this helps.
Flight Simmer since 1983. PP ASEL IR Tailwheel
N28021 1979 Super Viking 17-30A

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crippy
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Location: Arkansas

Re: HELP

Post by crippy »

I watched Scott's examples in the T-6 Release video on YouTube. He recommended holding the tail up as high as you can to maintain airflow over the rudder, or plant the tail wheel on the runway and hold it there to provide steering.

I myself have not mastered either, I always seem to let the tail slouch down, when that happens there isn't much airflow over the rudder reducing it's effectiveness.
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awash2002
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Re: HELP

Post by awash2002 »

That's my problem
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Oracle427
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Re: HELP

Post by Oracle427 »

For a wheel landing, hold the tail up with a little forward pressure. Don't keep pushing forward to hold it up. The reason for this is because you don't have much airflow over the tail from the prop or the motion of the aircraft. You won't have control.

So when wheel landing, make contact, push forward to hold the mains on the ground but don't keep paying the stick forward to keep the tail up. As soon as you feel out start to come down it's time to apply full back stick because this is the sign that the tail is done flying.
Flight Simmer since 1983. PP ASEL IR Tailwheel
N28021 1979 Super Viking 17-30A

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Paughco
Senior Master Sergeant
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Joined: 30 Nov 2014, 12:27

Re: HELP

Post by Paughco »

I found a pretty good discussion on landing the T-6. https://www.google.com/search?q=Ground+ ... ss&ie=&oe=. The link takes you to a pdf download. I recommend that you download and save the pdf and then read it. Good info. They talk about wheel vs. three-point landings.

Oh yeah - they also get into the "power push" thing. Not a whole lot of specific explanation, just a "this happened to me" story, but you can get a better idea of the hydraulic system from the details of the story.

Seeya
ATB
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Tail-dragger
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Joined: 17 Feb 2018, 10:27

Re: HELP

Post by Tail-dragger »

http://www.t6harvard.com/wheeler-landings/

I found these article and site helpful. I also still struggle with my landings especially using the two wheel approach so I have been trying to learn the 3 wheel technique. Their is also a video at this same site that shows example from pilot perspective.

https://youtu.be/zbYE7jjrx88

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