In article . com, Ramapriya wrote:
Has anyone seen wheelbarrowing occur? Prima facie, it appears too
improbable (ludicrous almost) a thing to happen but even the FAA
Airplane Flying Handbook copy that I have mentions it!
Haven't seen it myself, but it does happen. It's a result of trying to
force the airplane onto the runway before it's ready. The nose winds
up touching down first.
This is bad for several reasons. One of which is that the nose is
ahead of the plane's center of gravity, making it directionally
unstable. One result of which is the infamous ground loop.
Tailwheel airplanes have the same CG/stability issues, so when
you hear about ground loops, it's usually associated with them.
Also, while the ways of performing a flare is mentioned at many places,
the reason for a flare is conspicuously absent everywhere. Just why is
a flare needed vis-a-vis a 3-point landing? After all, birds just come
in and sit, without having to flare...
You don't spend much time watching birds, do you? They do flare.
It's not that there's an rule requiring airplanes to flare, it just
falls out naturally as you transition from a gliding descent into
level flight just above the runway. The idea is to touch down
onto the runway at very little (almost zero) sink rate.
HTH,
Morris
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