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New Pilot Questions
Just started flying N12HR. An RV 4 with 800 hours.
Do most people 3 point od wheel land in crosswinds. Also is it legal to file IFR in a properly equipped RV 4? Thanks |
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Congrats!
Regarding your IFR question, I refer you to your Operating Limitations document which is required to be in the plane for flight. Most have verbiage similar to ?if equipped i.a.w FAR xxx, IFR operations are permitted. ?
Same for night operations. Welcome aboard! Vern |
Thanks for your quick reply!
I will check my paperwork |
Wheel landings
You will get a lot of opinions on this.
I only 3 point occasionally for practice but I prefer to wheel it in cross winds or gusty conditions. The -4 can handle a pretty tough xwind in the hands of a proficient and skilled https://youtu.be/IzumJUl6POc https://youtu.be/y7Dy1dG4Hh8 Cm |
Its fine
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Yes it is legal provided of course that you are IFR and current. I've found without an autopilot, they can be a handful in hard IFR conditions. Also lack of de-ice and heat could be a bummer. Ahhh, the age old question of wheelies vs 3 pt, with about 800 hrs in my -4, I personally like the smoothness of wheel landings. So do my back-seaters. So at runways of about 2900 ft+ they are sweet. For short field I fly my AOA indicator and use all 3 wheels. Landings are not as pretty but consistently 500-650 ft on grass. Happy Landings, Daddyman |
It depends....
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I started flying my early model short gear Four when we had to shoo dinosaurs off the runway before taking off! :) My dos centavos has always been to wheels land on pavement, especially in a cross wind (better rudder authority, visibility) and three point on grass, soft turf or dirt. Better prop clearance, less chance of flip over, even distribution of weight etc.. As far a filing IFR, remember what?s written on the canopy bow ?Experimental? RVs can never be certified IFR since they were never certified in the first place. You can comply with the FIH requirements for operating in IMC which are: A. Way to determine attitude B. Way to determine altitude (within IFR tolerances) C. Way to determine the final approach course of a non precision approach D. Pitot static system and mode C certification by a qualified shop with associated logbook entry. You have chosen wisely... V/R Smokey PS: If you bump into Jentezen Franklin, tell him hi for me! |
I'm sorry but after many thousands of TW hours I think it is a bit of a myth that you need to wheel land in a cross wind. Yes of course I can do it, but why?
If you land with a direct cross wind, I will agree: you can stick it on the runway with a lot more cross wind component than landing with a three point. The problem is you still need to get the tail down on the runway and you cannot put the tailwheel down in most taildraggers until you are at or nearly at stall speed. This is because most taildraggers are built so that the deck angle setting on the ground is at (or exceeds) the wings stall angle of attack. If, after pinning the mains on during an extreme crosswind, I am on the ground with the mains rolling with the tail still up, as I slow the rudder becomes less effective at keeping me straight by shoving the tail into the crosswind. The slower I get the less my ability to keep the slowing plane aligned with the runway. Should it occur that I run out of rudder authority prior to being below stall speed I will depart the runway into the wind. If I were to attempt to land on the same runway three point I would most likely go some where else if I could not get enough rudder at stall speed to keep the plane in alignment with the runway. The difference is with the 3 point I will know this with no ground contact, but with the wheel landing I find it out with the mains ( perhaps only one up wind wheel) firmly on the ground. Whether I wheel land or 3 point the tail has to come down at or near stall speed, with the 3 point this all occurs at the same time and you do not have those moments in between as the rudder looses effectiveness while the tail wheel is not yest in contact firmly on the runway. |
I see several conflicting posts wrt ifr operations. The FARs limit EAB aircraft to day, vfr operation. So to operate at night, or under IFR, you must see a waiver in your operating limitations. It will read something like ?Operation is limited to day-VFR, unless equipped per far 91.xxx? (the fars detailing equipment required for night and/or IFR).
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FAR 91.205
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