High or low wing?

tony wrote:

Lots of Mooney pilots, when in the flare, retract the flaps. that helps the
airplane stop flying sooner (and the trailing edge of the flaps are really
close to the ground, which makes ground effect issues become GROUND EFFECT
issues).

I learned that trick in the Cessna 172, but I've never needed it in my
Warrior -- it stops flying just fine on its own in the flare, whether I want
it to or not.

The other thing is, what one does when landing is try to burn off the energy
the airplane has, and clarn airplanes don't lose energy very quickly. Again,
that's an argument for managing airspeed carefully.

I have to think of some reason not to be jealous of your Mooney ... let's
see ... with good airspeed control and full flaps in my Warrior, I can often
make a turnoff at the approach end of the runway, saving me maybe 5 minutes
in taxiing time. That will have to be my compensation for the hour you
saved in your Mooney during cruise.

Seriously, with all the hype about the Cirrus and Lancair composite planes,
I'm still not all that impressed -- for all the new materials and techniques
no one (except maybe Diamond with their TwinStar) seems to come close to a
1970's Mooney aircraft's combination of speed and efficiency.


All the best,


David