David I respectfully disagree with you. We do not (or at least should not) land as fast as you are recommending in normal conditions. Slowing down to 60MPH over the numbers provides for less stress and wear-and-tear on the aircrafts various systems...tires, brakes, landing gear, steering assembly, shocks, etc. Also, landing at the "correct speed" (to be discussed next) allows us to land on shorter runways and more importantly allows us to use the published data to determine required runway length. Lastly, reducing speed to the correct speed requires slightly more skill, which keeps our flying proficiency levels up.
The published stall speed for a C model is 56MPH (check you POH). That being the case, I teach my students to fly around the pattern (entry, downwind, base) at 80 MPH. That is usually fast enough not to cause a traffic jam behind you. Reduce to 70 MPH when turning final, cross over the fence (airport boundary) at 65 and touch down at 60. I tell me students to remember 80-70-60. Yes, the Ercoupe will touch down and stay down at 80 (or 90 or 100) but that is not the best way to do it, most of the time. Now, if it is a windy day, I will increase the touch down speed 5,10 or more MPH, depending on what the wind is doing. The stronger the winds, the more speed I will carry. This provides a cushion in case of wind shear or sudden reduction of wind on the nose. If either of these two situations were to happen (wind reduction or wind shear), at 60MPH the Ercoupe might stall (mush) as the indicated speed would drop below the stall speed. Adding additional speed in this situation creates the cushion. Glen Davis CFII Ercoupe N3103H Grumman Tiger N70GD From: David Winters Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 1:52 PM To: 'Ed Burkhead' ; 'ety' Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: rudder pedals and strong crosswind landings Um, yeah, well, OK so my ASI is 10 mph fast. The point is that we touch down a bunch faster than the little tail draggers at full stall. That lets us handle a much higher cross wind. Nag nag. Dave -----Original Message----- From: Ed Burkhead [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 11:18 AM To: 'David Winters'; ety Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: rudder pedals and strong crosswind landings Dave, Perhaps you might need to get your airspeed indicator checked. Yes, I did come down final at 80 indicated before I got my faulty ASI replaced. Afterward, with an ASI that checked out to within a mph or two to actual speed, 70 was a better number and my actual touchdown was right close to 50. And yet, the Coupe handles 25+ mph crosswinds just fine in spite of that terrible, low touchdown speed. Ed Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/Ercoupe/index.htm East Peoria, Illinois ed -at- edburk???head.??com (remove the ? marks and change -at- to @) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David Winters Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 9:05 AM To: 'fnelson913'; [email protected] Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Re: rudder pedals and strong crosswind landings A SIGNIFICANT FACTOR of which we seldom speak is the fact that the largest single contributor to the Coupe crosswind capability is not crab, nor slip. It is the fact that the bird comes over the fence at 80 mph and lands not a lot slower. This, mathematically speaking, decreases the crosswind component vector effect on the Coupe side travel. In other words, over a given distance of travel, a 25 knot crosswind has half less effect on a bird traveling 80 mph that is does on a bird traveling 40 mph. Straight vector analysis. This can have a major impact on touchdown. The added benefit of slip sill not really contribute much. Dave W Glen Glen Davis 917 297 1111 www.ishootpictures.com www.ercoupepilot.com
