On 6/15/2023 10:51 AM, Michael Quinn 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.
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The pivot angle on the tailwheel of 211LF is exactly what is said to be
the cause of tailwheel shimmy but possibly because of the cable tension
and the Maule anti-shimmy springs it never produced a single incidence
of shimmy for me. The reason I never tried to three point land the KR
is that like most tailwheel aircraft the wing is not stalled in the
three point attitude. Even with the longer gear of 211LF the wing is
still flying and capable of touching tailwheel first and that will drive
the mains on to the pavement with a bounce. That happened on my very
first landing when trying to land as slow as possible.
Many pilots think that the touchdown speed of a wheel landing is higher
than necessary. The fact is that a wheel landing is EXACTLY the same as
a proper tail low landing and touching on the mains with trigear. At
that point they differ in that with a tailwheel you input a slight
amount of forward stick and with a trigear with light winds you hold
back stick or control yoke. Touchdown speed should be nearly identical
with both types of gear.
As for landing with considerable crosswind, I never tried to three point
with calm wind and certainly would not with cross winds. By the time
the tailwheel touched, if I needed considerable rudder deflection, I was
also needing tailwheel deflection. Any excess tailwheel deflection was
self correcting either with the springs, tension on the rudder cables to
move the peddles under foot, or side loads over powering the break-away
restriction on the steerable / full swivel feature of the tailwheel
assembly.
Consider this. If the correct way to land a tailwheel aircraft is to
three point, why isn't that the correct way to land with a nose wheel ?
If that is correct we would need tail skids on tri-gear aircraft to keep
from skinning the tail. I'm convinced that for consistency both should
be landed the same right to the point of the mains touching down.
If the pilot wants to land as slowly as possible and the aircraft has a
tailwheel then I agree a three point or tailwheel first landing will
give you the slowest touchdown speed. A three point landing is often
mislabeled as a "full stall" landing. A three point landing in an
airplane that is capable of touching tailwheel first is not a "full
stall" landing. 211LF, even with it's longer gear, can touch tail first
so any three point landing in it is never a "full stall" landing.
This type of discussion is great fodder for setting by the campfire at
the Gathering while enjoying cold beverages and the company of fellow KR
builders.
How many days till the Gathering?
Larry Flesner
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