----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- Pete, If you have too much grip at the moment of touchdown, you do indeed tend to go the direction the airplane is pointing. The nose gear MUST be free to pivot when it touches - even better is to have the nose wheel high in the air when the two mains touch. With side loads on the mains but NO side loads on the nose gear (which is now tracking in line with the direction of motion) the plane turns quickly to line up with the direction of motion which OUGHT to be pretty much down the centerline. Please keep practicing and make sure your tail is up to 75" when sitting on the ground! Ed Burkhead http://edburkhead.com/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: Pete Thomson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 11:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [COUPERS-FLYIN] crosswind idea's Ok Ok, somehow my request for info on the vertical card compass got transposed with the crosswind landing issue. Thanks for the info on the vertical card compass, I now have the info I was looking for. I patiently waded through the replies regarding the crosswind landing issue so I could learn from those who have been there, done that. This past Fall I had the opportunity to work some crosswind landings on blacktop at winds gusting from 25 to 35, predominately 25, at 90 degrees to the runway. I would rather have practiced on gravel because it is so forgiving, but the runway I normally use is blacktop so I did not. I did the landings by the book and darn near damaged the plane, the Coupe does not go straight down the runway after the nosewheel hits the ground, it goes in the direction the plane is facing, in this case 45 degrees to the centerline. Fortunately the runway was 150 feet wide so I was able to take over the steering and just remain on the runway, albeit way over on the side. Had this been a narrow runway I would have been in the brush. Whilst I agree that a "death grip" is not advisable under any conditions, I learned that the Coupe does have to be steered straight before the second main touched the ground. I spent 2 hours in these conditions with the gusting and the wind shear. At the end of my test I had learned a couple of things the book did not address, don't let go of the yoke as advised, and land on the upwind side of the runway, not the centerline. When I was parked, I put a couple of sandbags on the tail and checked the nosewheel, it turned just fine, neither was there a stuck brake.I have no doubt this will generate some dissent and discussion, but this is what actually hapenned to me, not a text book discussion. I learned really fast about the steering issue, the Coupe scared the heck out of me the first time, it went straight alright, straight towards the side of the runway, I had to manually steer it to keep it on the blacktop. Regards,Pete -----Original Message----- From: Jim Phelps [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 6:03 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [COUPERS-FLYIN] crosswind idea's ----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]---- I agree the tail at proper height is important, but as we know not all coupes have it up. So until they get it up, what do they do?? Here is what we do when the wind is in the upper limits, even with the tail up. We land letting the plane drift off center line toward downwind side of runway (using more degress of crosswind) at point of touch down. that way you have to turn the plane back toward center line after touch down. This will hold the upward wing down. Do it the oppsite (using less degress of croswind) You will have to turn more crosswind after touchdown to keep centerline and the upward wing will really go UP. I find the tendency is to do it the later and that is why the coupe gets a bad rap on crosswind landings. We had a ex Navy carrier pilot WWII have trouble landing a coupe crosswind. He held the crab coming in BUT straightened it up before touchdown. Scared th XXXX out of him.. Jim Phelps ========================================================================== ===To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm ========================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm ========================== To leave this forum go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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