I now have over a hundred hours on my 6. I am happy to say I can consistently land her pretty well. That wasn?t the case when I started flying it. You may have read my post when I first started flying it. I was having trouble landing. I was bouncing the heck out of it and couldn?t seem to get it on the ground smoothly. My first landing was a 3 point landing and I somehow landed pretty good, but it was all down hill from there. I have flown a bunch of different aircraft and quite a few tail draggers. The usual Cessna and pipers while training, and then a Rans S-10, Tailorcraft, EAA bipe, Luscombe, Citabria, Skybolt, Pitts, and a bunch of different ultralights etc. I was always able to grease what ever I flew on to the runway. Even my friends RV-4, I had no problem, 3 pointing it every time. I have to say that landing to me was always the most fun part of flying. It takes the most skill and I just enjoyed it most. When I would fly my Rans S-10, I would get bored buzzing around the sky and always want to go do some landings. Then I got my RV-6 flying and I thought I had lost my touch. Here is my 2 cents for those interested. I in no way pretend to be an authority on this, but maybe I can help someone having the same problem.
First my 6 has the tall main gear. My friends 4 had the older short gear. Big difference in my opinion. The 6 with tall gear does not behave the same and I?m guessing any tail dragger RV with the tall gear will be the same. It does not want to 3 point. The aircraft sits at exactly the angle required to float down the runway to the lowest possible speed. A slightly higher angle of attack and it would be stalled. A slight lower angle of attack and it would sink onto the ground. Once on the ground the wings are so close to the ground that the stalled wing wants to still fly. In order to 3 point it on you must get it to a higher angle of attack than when it sits on the ground. This is really high and it is difficult to see down the runway. Plus it is awkward at this angle. It seems to slightly stall and then grab some air all of a sudden, making it difficult to float smoothly down the runway. I have never flown a plane that had this strange behavior. You can be 1 foot off the ground cruising down the runway bleeding off speed and all of a sudden she drops quickly, so you pull back on the stick and now your all up and down and out of shape.
I now routinely land it in a tail low wheel landing, as others have called it. I never liked wheel landings before. The aircraft I had flown could be landed very well in a 3 point attitude and that was the slowest landing possible. I liked landing slow. The 6 wants to wheel land. My problem in the beginning was that I was not lifting the tail enough after touching down and it was still bouncing along down the runway. What I did was to pick the tail up on a support while sitting next to my hanger. I leveled the plane and then got in and sat in it. The tail was way higher than I though it would be when sitting in the plane level. The next time I landed it I had the confidence to raise it much higher than I had been. This plants it on the ground.
My procedure now is to come in over the fence at between 75 and 80 MPH and slow it in a slightly tail low attitude and hold it there. Sometimes it still will do the, almost stall thingy, but I?m waiting for it and can catch it with more pitch if needed. I hold it off and gently let it down. I can tell when I?ve real greased it on when one wheel touches slightly before the other and I feel a slight yaw toward the first wheel to touch, then it yaws back slightly when the second wheel touches. I?ve never felt that in another plane. I think it?s the short wings that allow the slight yaw. Then as soon as it touches I lift the tail way up level. As it slows I can hold the tail off till I?m almost stopped if I?m using brakes. Then I let the tail down real gentle. I?ve heard guys talking about the saw tooth method of dropping the aircraft down slightly with each push of the stick till they touch the mains, but I haven?t had much luck with that. I seem to always bounce it when I try to get it on the ground this way. You must hold it at an angle that keeps you floating for a long time. Longer than and at a desent angle much less than most other aircraft. I think it?s the springy gear also. They are less forgiving of a little bounce and so really bounce you back up if you hit with any sort of speed.
Now that I?ve got some time in it, I went back to try 3 point landings again. I figured I could do it now that I was more familiar with the plane. I can get it to do 3 points but it just does not feel comfortable to me. She does not stall on like other aircraft I?ve flown. I think it is because the wings are so close to the ground and the angle of attack is so high when the tail is on the ground. To 3 point it I get the tail wheel to touch first, and roll down the runway with the tail wheel on the ground till she stalls on then full back stick. Even then it still seems to be real light on it?s toes and twitchy.
I have landed it at Brookhaven which is near my home airport Spadaro?s. Brookhaven is a very large airport compared to Spadaro?s. 4200ft runways compared to 2200ft. I landed once long cause I was going to the far end of the runway. I wheel landed and rolled out for maybe 1/3 the runway and let the tail down at about ? of the way down the runway. When I let the tail down it started flying again. I couldn?t believe it! It was floating just off the ground and I had to land again. Luckily I was still flying it and I made it seem as though I did that on purpose. So my vote is for wheel landings in the RV. The funny thing is now when I fly other aircraft I of course have that tendency to pick the tail up, when I touch down, and it works fine. But I do miss that floating down the runway and greasing on a super slow 3 pointer.
First my 6 has the tall main gear. My friends 4 had the older short gear. Big difference in my opinion. The 6 with tall gear does not behave the same and I?m guessing any tail dragger RV with the tall gear will be the same. It does not want to 3 point. The aircraft sits at exactly the angle required to float down the runway to the lowest possible speed. A slightly higher angle of attack and it would be stalled. A slight lower angle of attack and it would sink onto the ground. Once on the ground the wings are so close to the ground that the stalled wing wants to still fly. In order to 3 point it on you must get it to a higher angle of attack than when it sits on the ground. This is really high and it is difficult to see down the runway. Plus it is awkward at this angle. It seems to slightly stall and then grab some air all of a sudden, making it difficult to float smoothly down the runway. I have never flown a plane that had this strange behavior. You can be 1 foot off the ground cruising down the runway bleeding off speed and all of a sudden she drops quickly, so you pull back on the stick and now your all up and down and out of shape.
I now routinely land it in a tail low wheel landing, as others have called it. I never liked wheel landings before. The aircraft I had flown could be landed very well in a 3 point attitude and that was the slowest landing possible. I liked landing slow. The 6 wants to wheel land. My problem in the beginning was that I was not lifting the tail enough after touching down and it was still bouncing along down the runway. What I did was to pick the tail up on a support while sitting next to my hanger. I leveled the plane and then got in and sat in it. The tail was way higher than I though it would be when sitting in the plane level. The next time I landed it I had the confidence to raise it much higher than I had been. This plants it on the ground.
My procedure now is to come in over the fence at between 75 and 80 MPH and slow it in a slightly tail low attitude and hold it there. Sometimes it still will do the, almost stall thingy, but I?m waiting for it and can catch it with more pitch if needed. I hold it off and gently let it down. I can tell when I?ve real greased it on when one wheel touches slightly before the other and I feel a slight yaw toward the first wheel to touch, then it yaws back slightly when the second wheel touches. I?ve never felt that in another plane. I think it?s the short wings that allow the slight yaw. Then as soon as it touches I lift the tail way up level. As it slows I can hold the tail off till I?m almost stopped if I?m using brakes. Then I let the tail down real gentle. I?ve heard guys talking about the saw tooth method of dropping the aircraft down slightly with each push of the stick till they touch the mains, but I haven?t had much luck with that. I seem to always bounce it when I try to get it on the ground this way. You must hold it at an angle that keeps you floating for a long time. Longer than and at a desent angle much less than most other aircraft. I think it?s the springy gear also. They are less forgiving of a little bounce and so really bounce you back up if you hit with any sort of speed.
Now that I?ve got some time in it, I went back to try 3 point landings again. I figured I could do it now that I was more familiar with the plane. I can get it to do 3 points but it just does not feel comfortable to me. She does not stall on like other aircraft I?ve flown. I think it is because the wings are so close to the ground and the angle of attack is so high when the tail is on the ground. To 3 point it I get the tail wheel to touch first, and roll down the runway with the tail wheel on the ground till she stalls on then full back stick. Even then it still seems to be real light on it?s toes and twitchy.
I have landed it at Brookhaven which is near my home airport Spadaro?s. Brookhaven is a very large airport compared to Spadaro?s. 4200ft runways compared to 2200ft. I landed once long cause I was going to the far end of the runway. I wheel landed and rolled out for maybe 1/3 the runway and let the tail down at about ? of the way down the runway. When I let the tail down it started flying again. I couldn?t believe it! It was floating just off the ground and I had to land again. Luckily I was still flying it and I made it seem as though I did that on purpose. So my vote is for wheel landings in the RV. The funny thing is now when I fly other aircraft I of course have that tendency to pick the tail up, when I touch down, and it works fine. But I do miss that floating down the runway and greasing on a super slow 3 pointer.
