High or low wing?

tony wrote:

As for crosswind landings, the ground effect in a low winged airplane is much
more pronounced, I'm not sure they are easier in general to land.

The funny thing is that that's not the case for a Cherokee, at least not the
ones with the semi-tapered wing. I had some trouble transitioning from the
172 to the Warrior because I was used to the 172 gliding forever in ground
effect, while the Warrior will drop like a brick as the airspeed decays. I
don't know exactly what the aerodynamic explanation is -- perhaps the
Warrior has a slightly higher wing loading -- but I've heard of the same
experience from many other first-time Cherokee pilots as well.

The solution (for anyone interested) is either (a) add some power in the
flare to keep the nose up, or (b) keep your approach speed right to the
flare, rather than beginning a gradual roundout higher up like you would in
a 172.

I wonder if you're noticing the different ground-effect behaviour with the
Mooney not because the wings are low, but because the Mooney is such an
amazingly clean plane. I personally lust after a Mooney 201, which would
give me 165 ktas burning only a couple of GPH more than my Warrior at 126 ktas.


All the best,


David