I had a close call (at least to me it seemed so...)
RV-8
90 degree crosswind with full windsock?let?s say 15 kts.
I had a good cross-control going with nice alignment on centerline. I got a little slow over the numbers(70 kts indicated) and decided to try for a 3-pointer instead of the wheel landing. As soon as my tailwheel hit, it went into free-swivel mode?I was going slow enough that the rudder alone didn?t have enough bite to counter the crosswind-induced weathervaning to the right. The tail was already too far around for me to consider differential braking?it would have tied the knot in the ensuing ground loop?
The only thing left to try was to let her depart the runway and slow down in the weeds, or to gun it and try to get her off before I hit the edge of the runway. I gunned it.
I did a tiny crow-hop in ground effect and settled her back down on the mains?all was well. Gotta love that throttle!!!
I guess it makes sense that the tailwheel would have gone into free swivel mode since I had so much rudder dialed in when I touched down. The tailwheel would have been in a ?turn? when it hit going straight?this probably exceeded the breakout force limit and set her free?I have my chains set pretty loose to prevent exactly what happened?
What should I have done differently to prevent this? If I had wheel-landed her, I could have kept her straight with differential brakes?I don?t know what I could do given the same situation and a 3-pointer?any thoughts?
RV-8
90 degree crosswind with full windsock?let?s say 15 kts.
I had a good cross-control going with nice alignment on centerline. I got a little slow over the numbers(70 kts indicated) and decided to try for a 3-pointer instead of the wheel landing. As soon as my tailwheel hit, it went into free-swivel mode?I was going slow enough that the rudder alone didn?t have enough bite to counter the crosswind-induced weathervaning to the right. The tail was already too far around for me to consider differential braking?it would have tied the knot in the ensuing ground loop?
The only thing left to try was to let her depart the runway and slow down in the weeds, or to gun it and try to get her off before I hit the edge of the runway. I gunned it.
I did a tiny crow-hop in ground effect and settled her back down on the mains?all was well. Gotta love that throttle!!!
I guess it makes sense that the tailwheel would have gone into free swivel mode since I had so much rudder dialed in when I touched down. The tailwheel would have been in a ?turn? when it hit going straight?this probably exceeded the breakout force limit and set her free?I have my chains set pretty loose to prevent exactly what happened?
What should I have done differently to prevent this? If I had wheel-landed her, I could have kept her straight with differential brakes?I don?t know what I could do given the same situation and a 3-pointer?any thoughts?