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Tail Wheel "Jounce"

longranger said:
This might be a bit picky, but what actually increased when the tail came down was the angle of ATTACK. If you land hard enough to increase the angle of INCIDENCE you have a MAJOR problem that won't be solved by holding a 3-point attitude.:eek:

Miles
Click to expand...

You are correct the angle of attack increased and the mains rebounded at the same time - thanks for that catch - I'll fix it.

I could have said that I had developed a variable incidence mechanism for the wing :)
 
My experience so far with landing the RV6 is generally good. Against all predictions I find it easier to ?three point? smoothly on concrete than grass, or perhaps I should say on long rather than short because most of my grass landings have been on a shortish 2,100 ft runway with trees and a railroad at the end. On longer runways I feel more comfortable holding the three point attitude even if I have flared too high and/or fast and am drifting long prior touch down. On the shorter grass runway I have ?jounced? when I perceived that I was floating too far and allowed the nose to drop to the ground resulting in a landing with the tail high as shown in the video. Ironically the small wheels of the RV6 make it slow down pretty rapidly on grass, especially with the tail wheel held firmly on the ground so I shouldn?t have to worry about some float. Some landings that feel like a bounce are just gear rebound and video shows that the wheels never leave the ground. I?m sure that the rough grass contributes to this too. However there is nothing quite like the sweet feel of a greaser when the aircraft meets the ground and settles gently on to it. I still haven?t fitted the leg dampeners and wondered if others felt that they helped their landings?

Jim Sharkey
RV6 ? Phase 1
 
Feel worse then they look

jsharkey said:
Some landings that feel like a bounce are just gear rebound and video shows that the wheels never leave the ground. ..... I still haven’t fitted the leg dampeners and wondered if others felt that they helped their landings?

Jim Sharkey
RV6 – Phase 1
Click to expand...

I have also came to the conclusion that some landings feel worse than they look from the sidelines. I have had landings were I thought I would get ribbed by the peanut gallery when I shut down. When nothing was said I asked "how did my landing look" and the response is usually that it looked good. The flex in the gear gives a seat of the pants feeling of more bounce than there really is. I do have the wood dampeners on the gear leg and only on rare occasions do I get a little shimmy, which a light stab at the brakes will stop. I don't think they help the bounce feeling/affect on landing, just the shimmy.
 
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