Wow, you are the living legend of KR pilots of all times!! "Presented with the "Master Pilot Award" for 50 years of flying without accident or incident. (this is the only time you'll see this tag line)"
Nothing Short of Amazing, Larry!! Can you or someone in this group help doing a test flight on my KR2? (Tailwheel). I will ship the KR2 to your home airport if you don't want to travel to my place...? V/R, Dr. Hsu On Fri, Jun 16, 2023, 9:12 AM Flesner via KRnet <krnet@list.krnet.org> wrote: > On 6/15/2023 4:53 PM, Flesner via KRnet wrote: > > > If one was to land with a cross wind in a slight crab - tail turned a > bit... if doing a 3 pointer, you would shoot off to the landing light in > microseconds if the wheel was not allowed to move differently from the > rudder. > > > ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > > This went right over my head until I read it again this morning. If you > land with a slight crab, in relation to the aircraft movement over the > ground, in a tailwheel equipped airplane, you have just initiated a ground > loop. It doesn't matter which way the tailwheel is pointed. The C.G. on a > T.W. aircraft is behind the main gear and the farther off center it is at > touchdown the more difficult it is with control input / braking to keep the > airplane from switching ends. The heavy spot (C.G.) wants to lead the > pivot point (wheels on pavement). The narrower the main gear and the > greater the distance the C.G. is aft of the main gear the more difficult it > is to correct with control input / braking to prevent a ground loop. The > BF109 with it's narrow gear had a horrific accident record on the ground. > Cessna, in an attempt to tame the ground handling of the C140, placed the > main gear as close to the C.G. as possible and in doing so lightened the > load on the tailwheel to the point that many pilots not used to using > hydraulic toe brakes kept putting the airplane on its nose. Cessna soon > came out with a fix of using a solid bar to mount the wheels several inches > forward of the gear legs. Some 140s carry that scar to this day while > other were never converted or were converted back to original and the pilot > uses more conservative braking pressures. > > The only acceptable / safe way to land an airplane in a crab of any amount > is #1. in a trigear equipped airplane #2. with cross-wind or beefed up > gear designed to take the load. A trigear has the C.G. ahead of the pivot > point (wheels on pavement) and is self-aligning at touchdown. That makes > for lazy pilots. An Ercoupe without rudder peddles has to land in a crab > with crosswinds but the gear is beefed up to handle the loads. Same on > airliners with low slung engines. The B52 has main gear that rotate to > allow the aircraft to land in a crabbed position with the gear aligned with > the direction of travel over the ground. Some C195s have similar gear and > possibly others. Many times the pilot will align the aircraft with rudder > moments before touchdown to help eliminate the stress on the gear. This is > very evident if you watch airliners land in crosswinds. > > Landing a tailwheel airplane in a crab can initiate a ground loop just as > pulling back on the stick can initiate a loop. A wing low side slip with > no lateral movement over the ground, nose pointed in the direction of > travel, is the only safe way to land a tailwheel airplane in a crosswind > and should be the practice of trigear pilots as well if the aircraft is so > designed. > > Larry Flesner > > Presented with the "Master Pilot Award" for 50 years of flying without > accident or incident. (this is the only time you'll see this tag line) > > > > > -- > KRnet mailing list > KRnet@list.krnet.org > https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet >
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