With due respect to all who have replied with various techniques, it
seems everyone is working with way too much airspeed! Now I don't claim
to be the base ace or ass, whichever comes to mind, but I do have a lot
of time in aircraft with the wheel in the rear and god only knows how
many thousands of landings with them (perhaps 20-30,000+?). The
apparent discussions as to wheel or tail aka "3 point" is amusing since
the ultimate outcome is supposed to be a safe and uneventful landing to
a full stop...isn't it?
In thousands of hours in crop dusting in a variety of aircraft,
dirt/grass/asphalt/concrete for landing areas, I never knew if it was
going to be a 3 point or a wheel landing. Most of the time it was a
slow speed wheel landing with minimum roll and braking or reverse
thrust. We didn't have time to screw around with rollouts and holding
centerline or whatever. We needed to land, get reloaded and back into
the air. The time we spent not spraying was non-revenue. Many of the
strips were barely as wide as the landing gear and difficult to work
from/on.
The biggest flaw I have seen in modern pilots is speed control and
right behind that is not knowing how to use rudder/aileron coordination
for landings. It continually amazes me at the lack of skill or even
knowledge of CFI's when it comes to slips with any degree of accuracy.
It all seems to be very pedantic with little or no pilot skills
involved. I am continually reminded of that when I fly with pilots who
have gotten their certificates in the past 15 years or so.
There is no magic in flying tail draggers any more than flying trikes
vs tailwheel, turboprops vs radial engine vs piston. Its a matter of
good technique and from what I read across the boards, it is a dying
art. No wonder I am called an old gray haired hardnosed as$hole.
Anybody can fly at cruise speeds. Who can fly on the lowest reaches of
the envelope with complete control and understanding of what they are
doing? There is the challenge.
Ol Shy & Not So Bashful (this time)