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Landing attitude in the RV9A
My granddaughter and I flew my RV9A today. On the Vans' RV Webinar a few nights ago we were told that we should not be able to see out the window straight ahead in the landing flare. I am finding that I can see out the window just fine, yet my nose is left quite high off the ground in the flare and my approach speed seems right - 55 Knots.
I ask you, my RV flying friends, when you are landing your RV9A, can you see out the window over the cowl in the flare? Or must you look left of the cowling almost with your head tilted (I guess) to be able to get depth perception? I am really worried that I will prang the nosewheel on, but I know that I am keeping it off the ground until very slow. I am confused by this advice of not being able to see over the cowling in the flare. |
Watched too.
I was on the interweb watching and listening the webinar too. I heard the same comment regarding looking down the side of the plane when landing...but I don?t think the comment applies to you. I believe they were speaking of landing a conventional, i.e., taildragger configuration.
Perhaps some one else can validate that. |
Nose wheel planes tend to be quite forgiving of nose attitude at touchdown. That being said, you generally want to touch down at minimum possible speed, which means a nose high attitude. In my experience as a cfi, I?d say the vast majority of nose wheel pilots touch down with the nose lower than optimum. Next time you land, try to keep the main wheels 6? off the runway. Do not let the plane settle until the stall horn is on, or the stick is full aft. I think you?ll see the nose is higher than what you?ve been used to.
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Provided you approach at 55 to 60 kt, the mains touch first, you hold the nose up and the surface is firm you are very unlikely to “prang the nose wheel on”. The nose wheel/strut is actually quite forgiving and robust. I have well over 1000 landings in my 9A with most on my short, somewhat marginal grass strip. Often I have to prematurely lower the nose and with moderate to hard braking, the nose wheel/strut takes the punishment OK. Fin 9A. |
Missed it!
I would have loved to have seen that webinar. Can someone connect me with a link, or know if replays are available? Thanks.
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I would think some of that depends on height and seating position. I'm short, and even with some extra seat cushion I can't see straight ahead in the flair. In transition training we worked a lot on getting the right sight picture out the left side, about 45 degrees ahead of the wing. If you are taller or sitting up higher you may be able to see over the nose.
Chris |
If it's the "Critical RV Flying Skills" webinar, you can find it here: https://www.eaa.org/Videos/Webinars
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If I approach at 55 knots and three point my -9, is. full stall landing, then I can see straight ahead, but not directly in front of the plane like I can with a wheel landing.
The point is, you should strive for full stall landings, which gets your nose up high, regardless if you are flying a tricycle or taildragger because the stall attitude should be the same. |
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I do have a 7, so that is a huge factor in the last second before touchdown. It sits at 12 deg on the ground. I was a little surprised Mike did not mention in the webinar but he always said target for 10 ft over the threshold and 65 kts of less. I need more practice in landings myself. :o |
Have someone video several of your landings and take a look at the nose wheel position with maybe a small varity of different approach flap /speeds and you will develop a better " feel" for that nose wheel position.
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