Gentle take-offs at high speed

Most of the posters have been flying for too long and they forgot
how takeoff feels for a non-pilot or a new pilot.

When you set the takeoff trim to 60-65 kts on a c172 (you know the
elevator trim position by experience), the plane lifts off almost by
itself, so
smooth and effortless, and elegant. It feels beautiful. Then, you
smoothly add nose down trim a little bit at a time, as the plane
stablizes
at takeoff climb speed of 70 kts.

In the simulator, you have to move the yoke by its displacement instead
of light pressure. It is hard to give the sim yoke the right amount of
gentle
nudge, and I also found myself overcontroling the simulator yoke. The
finer
feel of the control is different and can not relate to the real plane.

The real thing is beautiful, and hard to explain in words unless you
experience
it. Like explaining the joys of sex. You get the feel when you can do
the takeoff with only two fingers on the yoke, in calm air.

As the other poster explained, the airplane wants to fly and it is
easier
to control in the air.



wrote:
Mxsmanic wrote:
Is there any harm in taking off at a relatively high speed and very
gently? There seems to be plenty of runway in most cases for small
aircraft. If I leave the ground at 120 kts instead of the normal
rotation speed, I find that I can lift off ever so gently. Plus I
have lots of airspeed if something goes wrong during my gentle climb.
Are there drawbacks to this that I'm missing?

Of course!

A normal takeoff is very gentle and comfortable compared
to rumbling over a real-world bumpy runway at 120kts.
Your simulator is wrong if it says that a high speed takeoff
is more gentle. I suspect it's not accurately simulating
runway texture and bumps. Air under the wings makes
a far more comfortable shock absorber than the oleo strut.

Tire wear is greatly accelerated by going faster than the rated
speed. A blowout at faster than rated speed would not
be pretty.

Crosswind gusts are a potential safety issue while your wheels
are contacting the ground, but they're not a big problem once
you're airborne. The gear was not designed to take strong
side loads.

To maximize options if an engine goes out, you want to have
plenty of altitude under you, not over you. It's best to climb
to a reasonable altitude quickly.

"P S" wrote in news:1163209397.165388.182990
@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Most of the posters have been flying for too long and they forgot
how takeoff feels for a non-pilot or a new pilot.

Not this pilot. I call it magic EVERYTIME the wheels leave terra firma.

Especially when the air is calmer then calm and the plane pretty much does
what it was designed to do so effortlessy as the ground falls away from
me....

Allen

I always thought I was the only one who sweated takeoffs more than landings.
I consider a perfect takeoff (at least from smooth pavement) one in which
you don't know you've left the ground until you look down.

mike
"A Lieberma" wrote in message
. 18...
"P S" wrote in news:1163209397.165388.182990
@k70g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Most of the posters have been flying for too long and they forgot
how takeoff feels for a non-pilot or a new pilot.

Not this pilot. I call it magic EVERYTIME the wheels leave terra firma.

Especially when the air is calmer then calm and the plane pretty much does
what it was designed to do so effortlessy as the ground falls away from
me....

Allen

mike regish writes:

I always thought I was the only one who sweated takeoffs more than landings.
I consider a perfect takeoff (at least from smooth pavement) one in which
you don't know you've left the ground until you look down.

Statistically, nearly half of all accidents occur during landing, so
it's logical to be more worried about landings. Take-offs are more
fun, so perhaps that also distracts pilots from the potential risks.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Mxsmanic wrote:
Statistically, nearly half of all accidents occur during landing,

The Nall Report indicates 30% of all accidents occur during landing, not
50%.

It also indicates that only 3% of all fatal accidents occur during landing.

On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:40:15 +0000, Jim Logajan wrote:
The Nall Report indicates 30% of all accidents occur during landing, not
50%.

It also indicates that only 3% of all fatal accidents occur during
landing.

One could argue that nearly every fatal accident is related to the
landing... Unless the person died during a mid-air collision and it was
obvious that they were dead before they hit the ground, they died upon
coming in contact with the ground (i.e. 'landing')... sick-grin

There are 3 ways to die:
1. During ground operations (i.e. before the aircraft has left the ground)
2. During flight (i.e. mid-air collision)
3. Upon impact with the ground (i.e. 'landing')

The recent accident up in KT where the airliner departed from the wrong
(i.e. too short) runway was a landing accident since they hit the berm or
whatever at the end of the runway and became airborn... It's rather
unlikely that *this* killed anyone, but the subsequent 'landing'
definitely did...

I'm not thinking in terms of risk, but of finesse.

mike

"Mxsmanic" wrote in message
...
mike regish writes:

I always thought I was the only one who sweated takeoffs more than
landings.
I consider a perfect takeoff (at least from smooth pavement) one in which
you don't know you've left the ground until you look down.

Statistically, nearly half of all accidents occur during landing, so
it's logical to be more worried about landings. Take-offs are more
fun, so perhaps that also distracts pilots from the potential risks.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

"mike regish" wrote in
:

I'm not thinking in terms of risk, but of finesse.

Yep, agree 110 percent with that. Something no simulator will ever even
get close to reproducing!

Just got my plane back from it's yearly annual, and wow, what a difference
a well tuned engine makes! Well before me reaching the 1000 foot runway
markers, the plane gracefully lifts off.

Allen