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My short-field landings have been suffering lately, and I think it's due to ground effect. I've been trying to keep my landings light lately, simply because my ego enjoys hearing the crew complimenting my landings. XD Unfortunately, on shorter strips, my light landings all too often result in pucker-inducing floating down the runway, and either the inability to stop without nosing the plane over or overrunning the pavement. Do any of you have any tips for getting the plane to settle without slamming her down onto the pavement?

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Practice Practice Practice.
And be sure to aim well behind your proposed touch down point because you will float. You may also be coming in a little to fast.
But this all comes down to Practice.
Hope this helps.

Heh. I tried "shooting low" on my last approach, and it worked well, along with coming in on a lower, shallower glide slope. Touched down without any problems, but I'm worried that it might not work all that well on a field with trees at the end. XD Guess if I'm coming into a short field over an obstacle, I'm just going to have to bring it in a bit hard and fly it to the pavement, huh?

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I have a short video I shot of Liberty Belle landing at Long Beach airport earlier this year
and as I watched her coming in it did seem like she "floated forever" before the actual
touchdown. Looking at the video later it did seem like she touched down quite some
time after being "level".
I know I've felt this in FSX with the A2A B-17G.

Paul

This also goes back to practice in making it smooth but my technique (there are many) is to come in just above stall speed, high, and with a slip that puts my glide just above the tree line and as far behind my touch down point as possible.
Once again hope this helps.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try that out on my next flight.
On another note, will riding the front wheels as long as possible help the plane slow down on a short strip, or am I better off using the brakes and holding the yoke in my lap to keep the plane from nosing-over?

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Well this depends on your set up if you have rudder pedals with the potential to vary the force on the brakes then I have found it best to keep the tail up and apply some brake but if you can only pick between full brake or tail up then go with brake.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the recommended way to land
the B-17 was to use a three-point landing.

Paul

Really everything I have read so far has pointed a main gear landing as best.

Not sure about the B-17 but most tailwheel aircraft I have seen come with a recommendation that they be "three-pointed"

It provides aerodynamic braking, deals with any "prop clearance" issues and as the forward movement is at a much higher AOA, stops you flying earlier. Many tricycle gear aircraft are landed tail low for much the same reasons. Some are, however, best "driven on" to the ground.

Take it for what it's worth....

regards


Darryl

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...Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for Merlin parts...

Actually, during WWII, the British trained all their pilots to land "tail low", not "full stall" (i.e. three-point). This method calls for the tailwheel to be about 6 to 12 inches off the ground at landing. This allowed for them to hold rudder authority longer but get most of the benefits of having the tail low. Additionally, with them landing on grass a lot, it ensured they didn't "plop" the plane on which could result in the landing gear digging in and flipping the plane on soft ground. I know several current warbird and tailwheel pilots who advocate this method for all aircraft for the same reason - it prevents you from rounding out too early and the plane "falling" to the ground and potentially hurting them.

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Good to know but that isn't a three point.
I have always been told that the only time for a three point landing is in strong winds.

Well, the question comes up because of a video I watched recommending three-point takeoffs from short fields. They say that since the wing's angle of attack is greater at a 3-point attitude, that it provides more lift, and therefore less wheel drag, allowing the plane to get off the ground easier. I was wondering if the opposite could be applied on landings; remaining in a two-point attitude to reduce lift and increase wheel drag.

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Well you should be slow enough that on touch down you stall and thus the lift is more or less gone so it really shouldn't make a difference.

Chad,

I don’t mean to be overly critical or contrary; but it’s just the opposite of what you said - in a tail-dragger you always do a wheel landing in strong winds. Just think about it; you wouldn’t want to be flying near the ground when near or at the stall and at a high angle of attack with strong winds blowing. When an airplane is flying at or near the stall, it is in its most unstable condition and, accordingly, vulnerable to any kind of wind.

1. A sudden cross-wind gust could easily upset the aircraft when it is flying so close to its minimum airspeed. A wing suddenly dropping when so close to the ground could be catastrophic. Because the controls are sloppy and least effective at or near the stall, the pilot might not have enough control authority to correct it, even if using full throw.

2. A sudden cessation of wind speed, or a reversal of wind direction, whether vertical or horizontal (a wind shear), which occasionally occurs when the winds are strong, might in the case of a sudden horizontal wind change, cause a sudden loss of airspeed and with it a sudden loss of lift. This would cause the aircraft to suddenly drop. In a sudden vertical wind change, an aircraft could be violently thrown to the ground; one flying more slowly being that much more vulnerable to this. As you know, many horrible crashes of aircraft of all sizes and weights have been caused by this phenomenon. While under certain extreme conditions of this kind there is little a pilot can do, extra airspeed in the landing when the winds are strong is the best insurance against this kind of accident. The lower airspeed in a three-point landing is surely not going to give you that insurance.

3. A sudden increase of wind speed could cause the aircraft to rise because of the increased lift associated with the now increased airspeed. In this situation, with stick or yoke being held back, the nose would also suddenly rise because the increased airspeed has caused the raised elevator to suddenly become more effective. Now the aircraft’s angle of attack has suddenly increased, possibly to and possibly beyond the stall angle of attack, causing a stall or possibly a deep stall before a pilot can reduce the back pressure on the stick or yoke to correct the rising nose. So, here we have an aircraft at an increased altitude from the runway and in a stall. You do the math.

As you know, a wheel landing is done at a slightly higher airspeed than a three-pointer. This higher airspeed gives greater control authority and a buffer against the above situations because the aircraft’s greater airspeed causes it to be more stable and less susceptible to gusts and such. Additionally, in a wheel landing, the nose is at or near level, and the angle of attack is not at or very near the stall while the aircraft is in the air. Accordingly, unexpected wind conditions will not tend to cause a sudden unwanted increase of altitude which cannot be immediately corrected. In a wheel landing, the stick or yoke is held near neutral. A sudden increase of wind will not be as much of a problem with regard to increased elevator authority. Extra airspeed during a landing in strong winds will give the pilot increased control and ability to correct if the wind causes something unexpected or unpleasant to happen.

Of course, in strong winds, you must never lower your guard, particularly just after touchdown. That’s when ground loops occur. An airplane must be flown at all times until the engine(s) are off and it has been tied down.

Even when landing at a short field, a wheel landing will cause no problem when the winds are strong, even if you are landing at a slightly higher indicated airspeed. Assuming that you are landing into or nearly into the wind, your ground speed will be lower than your indicated airspeed. Lower ground speed will, of course, reduce your landing roll.

Regarding landing in a strong wind, we used to say: "Add five m.p.h. for the wind, and five m.p.h. for the wife and kids."

Mitchell