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Old 12-29-2005 | 09:22 PM
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w8ye
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From: Shelby, OH
Default RE: Tail Dragger landings

To keep from bouncing, I've found that if the plane is fully stalled at the time of touchdown. It will not bounce back up. I bring them in well above stall speed and let the speed play out with the plane just above the ground. When it stalls, it will drop on to the ground and stay there.

The main wheels on your plane should have a very slight amount of toe-in. To look along side the wheels, they should focus on a point some 20' in front of your plane. This tends to tame down the ground loop somewhat.

As you get closer to the ground, "ground effect" adds lift to the wing. You will notice ground effect more on a low wing plane than a high wing one. As you approach the ground, you will see the ground effect take place on planes with a lighter wing loading.

Don't have your gear any longer than necessary. Being higher up, your gear causes the plane to be more susceptible to cross winds and to swerving.

Enjoy,

Jim