Interesting thread here. I have about 400 landings and 370 hours on my 9A now. So what have I learned about landing a 9?
Well I can agree with most of what has been posted here so far as it relates to landing speeds and numbers. I use mph for all my IAS. My full flap stall is 46 mph.
It seems as though I never do full box patterns anymore when landing. I am eithier straight in or enter on a base leg etc. The one main item to contend with, is slowing the 9A down with a fixed pitch prop. This is the first item on the list and must be dealt with early, doing this makes landing so much easier. If you are fast coming into the pattern you will be wishing you started slowing down sooner.
Since I have done this so many times (being fast) I have had to develop ways to correct for my poor planning! Pulling up works good but OMG now I'm high...what to do? As others have said slipping the 9 works very well and I use this more often than not in order to lose altitude. I do not lose speed. If the power has been pulled and I am on final once the speed drops to 65 she will sink like a stone 600 FPM or better, now I am correcting for that. If I get into the flair in this condition I better be adding power or else contact with terra firma will be hard. Ask me how I know.
Those are the ways to correct for a bad setup to a landing and they work quite well I use them alot.
![Eek! :eek: :eek:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
The best way to land the 9? Slow down early. The 9 flys great at 70 and I can do this much to the chagrin of the other RV's. Flying that slow on downwind seems to scare most RV drivers. I don't normally do it that way but it can be done. Somewhere in the 85 to 90 regime is best on downwind adding some flaps to keep it there. Continue slowing down through base and final. Final at 70 is good. Carrying a little power to keep the sink at 250 -300 works real nice. Now I am set up to flair at 60 - 65 and pull power. Touchdowns at 50 to 55 are slick.
Depending on where I want to land, if it is a long runway, I might just keep flying at 70 until I want to land. Once on the ground holding the nose off and running that way is fun. Also a good rudder skill builder. Add a little power and see how long I can drive it on the mains. Till I'm ready to let the nose down.
As for crosswind landings. I have to agree that the direct crosswinds are not that a big deal in the 9. I tend to not use as much flaps and will carry more power in this instance but 20 kt crosswinds don't bother me. It is more of a bear to taxi than to land. That big vertical stab and rudder will get pushed all over the place taxiing.
Just my observations flying mine YMMV.