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New to taildraggers

Felipemg

I'm New Here
I just solo'd on my RV4 (N7071J) and I'm new to tail-draggers, 1,400 hr private IFR used to fly a Piper Malibu where my approach and landing speeds were much higher.

I'm amazed of how slow you have to get in order to actually touch on all 3 wheels and I'm slowly getting used to these new parameters.

I've seen on this forum that there are 2 lines of thought on this issue, some argue to land on the mains then to slow down to lower the tail while the other argue to land on 3 even on x-wind conditions.

So far I've landed in nothing but calm conditions and 3 wheel landings, close to stall speed, have been relatively easy to learn but if feels a little exposed in the case of gusty x-wind conditions.

Can anyone share their experience on this subject to further my learning

Thank y'all for your help

Blessings

Felipe
https://flightaware.com/photos/view/283135-e6828636b08507e3ba958648c8ee815ff74af45f/aircrafttype/RV4
 
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Good pointer from Ed.

Another one, runway < than say 1200’ = 3 pointers = shorter roll out.
> than say 1200” (or whatever, meaning for me it’s closer to 1K) choose whatever suits u. Basically I always 3point since it is what I learned first and runways can be pretty short around here...
In a nutshell, don’t set your approach speed to your ego, but on your aircraft characteristics, and those RVs fly surprisingly slow ;)
 
The short-wing RVs have a high enough wing loading and sit so low to the ground that cross winds are not a problem even in a 3-point. I 3-pointed my -6 about 95% of the time. My runway is 1500' long@640' elevation and I seldom had to use brakes.
 
Mike Seager gave an EAA webinar earlier this weeked titled "Critical RV Flying Skills" that you might find insightful.
 
Here are some articles by Van himself that may be of interest:


Also, "The Compleat Taildragger Pilot" is a great book on flying taildraggers.

Part 2 mentions slow flying down the runway. I used this technique to help with wheel landing. I would fly down the runway at 75 - 80 mph in the RV-4 trying to keep the wheels just off. At some point the wheels will kiss and you have landed. Find a nice long runway.
 
Here's a small tip that I've found helpful. On base or final, I wiggle my ankles. Sort of reminds them that I might need them and tells 'em to wake up.

Dave
 
I prefer to 3-point my RV4, & find the wheel landing more difficult (..to achieve consistency).
I work to a 15kt x-wind personal limit, but have had no problem with x-wind 15G25kt... If I think it might be 'challenging' (as this case) I prefer the grass runway.
I always remember guidance from the guy who originally did my conversion training... his point was :
1)RVs have great control authority, even at stall speed, and
2) the tail has to come down sometime...better to touch-down 3-point at minimum speed, than wheel on, only to ground-loop when the tail comes down !
Just my 2c
PS - In a strong/gusty x-wind I also tend to select half-flap ? but I think that's more habit than anything, as I cant really feel much difference in roll-response, between that & full-flap
 
Wheel landing

My RV4 seemed best when three pointing however my 8 does not seem to and I wheel land 99% of the time. In short do what the airplane feels best at. I prefer wheel landing because it gives more consistent rudder practice upon landing rollout. Agree with David Paule, my instructor always said the same thing on final, ?wake them feet up?
 
I think we have over 50 RVs at 52F. Most seem to prefer the wheel landing.

Something you may want to try is to fly to an airport with a long runway. Go to takeoff but, than reduce power with the tail up. Drive down the runway on the main gear and you will have a longer time of seeing the sight picture of a wheel landing and using the rudders to keep you on the centerline during your really fast taxi. Eventually lower the tail, taxi back, and do it again.

Coming into land (at the same long runway) try what others have suggested by flying down the runway and not letting the tires touch. Keep it straight with stick into the wind and rudders to keep you on centerline. Keep just enough power in to where your main tires may kiss but the tail never comes down.

Something else to get used to is the need to "pin" the mains after touchdown. This requires you to push forward on the stick after the mains are down and than slowly "fly" the tail down. If you don't push forward (which is hard to make your self do at first), the tail will fall after the mains touch when this happens you have an AOA and some speed...so the airplane may want to skip or bounce. The forward push on the stick is needed to prevent this.

If you have a school near by with a Citabria or another taildragger this maybe worth practicing with a CFI. Once you are comfy with wheel landing your will have more confidence in fine tuned landings.
 
I think we have over 50 RVs at 52F. Most seem to prefer the wheel landing.

That's because with the wheelie it's easier to avoid those embarrassing dribbles down the runway in front of the peanut gallery. ;) It's harder to do an absolutely perfect 3-pointer than an absolutely perfect wheelie. Wheelie gives lots of room for varied touchdown attitudes and airspeeds, not to mention lots of pilot just like the feel of "security" with more airspeed at touchdown. Nothing prettier to me than a perfect min. energy 3-pointer.
 
3-pointers

I owned and flew a Luscombe 8A for years, and this made sense to me: One of the most critical and risky times in a wheel landing (which is difficult in itself) is the time the tail wheel ISN'T touching the ground. That's when we get into trouble...so...why not get that sucker onto the ground as quickly as possible? Granted, a wheel landing in strong winds can help, but I just tried to avoid that situation. It always made sense to me (knock on wood) that doing 3-pointers in order to get that tail wheel on the ground ASAP was a good thing. In fact, a nice soft touchdown of the tail wheel first made me very happy. ( Not sure the RV will do that)
 
?Wheel? landing

The well loved ?Wheel Landing? isn?t complete. IMO, the landing isn?t complete until all wheels are on the ground and you?ve come to a safe stop.

That said, I see no reason to taxi at high speed, risking a ballon back into the air, or a directional excursion, and consume more runway than necessary, when landing. Gotta put that tailwheel down sometime - why not just at/after touchdown?

Best (safest) to land at minimum speed and get all wheels on the ground as quickly as possible. That?s a three pointer. Learn that technique from the start.
Not as easy to make *look good* (due to the springy RV gear) but not difficult to do safely.

Others certainly welcome to their opinions.

Keep it straight!
Peter
 
I flew the pattern yesterday and did the bouncy bounce more times that I would like to admit, PIN the wheels would have helped a lot

Thanks to all of you, I'm very impressed with the good camaraderie and good will.

God bless you

Felipe
 
Just land with what you feel comfy with. There are no hard and fast rules, Mother Nature takes no prisoners sometimes:) Personally I do tail low wheelers in my 8, touch down on the main followed by the little wheel a couple of secs latter, works for me everytime:)
 
Landing the RV-4

The question was ask to Vans himself at the 40th Anniversary of the RV-4 at Oshkosh last year. What is the preferred method of landing the RV-4 and his answer was to three point it.

I have always three pointed mine and have never done a wheel landing. This was the way I was taught so I don?t know the other way.

Happy flying.
 
Master the three point first them work on the wheel landings. keep in mind the tailwheel planted gives you directional control. In a wheel landing you are most vulnerable when the tailwheel is not down. In time you will be fine with wheel landings I actually prefer them but I have years of practice doing both types
 
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