A320 with gear problem over LA

Happy Dog wrote:

"George Patterson"

Brakes are used during a soft field landing where the point is to put as
little weight as possible on the nose gear.

Not the way I was taught. You stay off the brakes to keep the nose light.


Keeping it light is good. Keeping it in the air (as it will be after TD
with full up elevator) is pointless and increases the landing roll. Use the
brakes after TD until the speed gets to the point where elevator authority
is insufficient to hold the nose up or keep it light enough for the
conditions. How much you use then depends on the length of the strip.

I'm guessing now that you aren't a pilot. You want to keep the nose in
the air as long as possible on a soft field. This may well be
impossible even with full elevator as the drag on the mains can be
substantial depending on how soft the field is. I've landed in fairly
deep snow before and it was hard to keep the nosewheel in the air below
about 40 MPH in my 182.

If the nosewheel touches a soft field at too high a speed, you may well
lose the nosegear and make a much more sudden stop than you desire.


Matt