Flying Slow

Jay has a mpg on his site of a SuperCub landing extremely short. It's worth
a look.
http://www.alexisparkinn.com/photoga...perCubLand.mpg
Jim

wrote in message
oups.com...
Z
Think about it....the airplane cares not about the wind...only how fast
its going thru the air! If you have the aircraft slowed to say 40 IAS
regardless of how you arrived at that steady speed, and you have a 40kt
wind blowing, you can literally hover over one spot. If you continue to
descend using power for your altitude control, you should be able to
maneuver the aircraft to the desired touchdown spot, reduce the power
and touchdown with no forward roll or drama.
How else can you make a really REALLY short field landing unless a wind
is blowing?
I enjoy flying a 180 slip to a touchdown on a spot from abeam in the
pattern. Lots of fun and good practice. I get a lot of satisfaction
doing it in a Stearman in particular.
I've won a lot of wagers doing the no hands landings usually in the
C-172 with judicious use of power and trim for pitch, and of course
rudder for directional. That too is rather simple once you have been in
the airplane to see how it's done.
Thanks and Cheers
Ol Shy & Bashful

On 15 Jan 2005 11:45:57 -0800, wrote:

Z
Think about it....
Yep, that didn't happen before the post.


the airplane cares not about the wind...only how fast
its going thru the air! If you have the aircraft slowed to say 40 IAS
regardless of how you arrived at that steady speed, and you have a 40kt
wind blowing, you can literally hover over one spot. If you continue to
descend using power for your altitude control, you should be able to
maneuver the aircraft to the desired touchdown spot, reduce the power
and touchdown with no forward roll or drama.
Understood. I've gone backwards on a good windy day before, so I
should've known better.

How else can you make a really REALLY short field landing unless a wind
is blowing?

You can't.

Thanks for the patience.
z

"zatatime" wrote in message ...
On 14 Jan 2005 21:31:49 -0800, wrote:

What is fun is using that same set of conditions, and landing with
virtually zero ground roll. I've won more than a few beers that I could
land and stop short within the wingspan of the airplane (C150-172).
Selway Kid


Care to elaborate? I've not pushed that far into the envelop,
especially close to the ground, and would think a 150 wouldn't have
enough power to hang on the prop without a high descent rate.


You are not hanging on the prop, you are opposing the headwind. It all depends on where you are in the drag bucket. If
the wind was strong enough, you could 'cruise' backwards...

I did get to be in the plane (J-3) once with one of the people I most
respect in aviation (and know personally) where from 2000 feet, he
entered a slip, asked me where I wanted the plane, and flew - in the
slip, and I swear below stall speed - all the way to the ground and
put the plane right on the mark I asked for. It was one of the most
amazing demonstrations of flying I'd ever seen....Even better than his
no hands landings.

I only offer the story thinking perhaps you're technique is somewhat
similar.

TIA for any response.
z

Nose into the Santa Anna winds out in California, blowing at 45 at least. Full flaps and a C-150. It is fun to try and
do a turn around a point, staying at 2500 agl or so.

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 18:31:42 GMT, zatatime wrote:

asked me where I wanted the plane, and flew - in the
slip, and I swear below stall speed

Nice story. Yesterday I flew the Cub after a four-week layoff
(weather) so worked on t.o. & landings. For some reason I was always
high / close-in on final, so I did a lot of slipping.

Indeed, I had the feeling that I controlled the plane in all three
dimensions, and could have planted it anywhere within a 200-foot
square at the south end of the runway. And I was starting from say 600
feet.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
the blog: www.danford.net

In a similar vein, I've got a mate who, when the wind is high enough and
from the right direction, will land our Taylorcaft ACROSS the runway. He
often has enough room to take back off again from the same point without
reversing. Mind you, the Tcraft stalls at about 35 mph.

Shawn
wrote in message
oups.com...
What is fun is using that same set of conditions, and landing with
virtually zero ground roll. I've won more than a few beers that I could
land and stop short within the wingspan of the airplane (C150-172).
Selway Kid

"ShawnD2112" wrote in message . uk...
In a similar vein, I've got a mate who, when the wind is high enough and from the right direction, will land our
Taylorcaft ACROSS the runway. He often has enough room to take back off again from the same point without reversing.
Mind you, the Tcraft stalls at about 35 mph.



That runway is really short....yea, but it is also really, really wide!

"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
. uk...
In a similar vein, I've got a mate who, when the wind is high enough and
from the right direction, will land our Taylorcaft ACROSS the runway. He
often has enough room to take back off again from the same point without
reversing. Mind you, the Tcraft stalls at about 35 mph.


So what does his pattern look like? Missing one leg, or adding a buttonhook
turn?
--
Jim in NC

I think when you're doing those kinds of things you're not really working a
standard pattern. Mind you, he's very careful about what other traffic is
in the area.

We used to do a competition on really quiet summer evenings when the wind
dropped to near-zero and there wasn't a soul around but us. Our airport has
10 runways (3 hard, 2 grass, both ways) and we used to see how fast we could
touch and go on all 10. I think we got it down to about 2 mins. Now that
was great fun!!

Shawn

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
. uk...
In a similar vein, I've got a mate who, when the wind is high enough and
from the right direction, will land our Taylorcaft ACROSS the runway. He
often has enough room to take back off again from the same point without
reversing. Mind you, the Tcraft stalls at about 35 mph.


So what does his pattern look like? Missing one leg, or adding a
buttonhook
turn?
--
Jim in NC

wrote in message
oups.com...
Have you ever really taken your aircraft to the bottom edges of its
flight ability and airspeed, and flown it with any degree of precision
and of more than just a few moments/minutes?

I had my CFI run through slow flight with me about 2 weeks ago at night.
Made turns with the rudder only at the slowest point, since the ailerons
were way too mushy. Also worked at lifting falling wings with opposite
rudder at stall break.

I agree with you about this being important and that's why I asked my CFI to
work with me on slow flight and stalls.

One thing though, it has been my personal rule to only practice stalls with
an instructor on board. I feel that is reasonable since I am not trained in
spin recovery. I'd be interested in other's opinions on this.

On the subject of "seat of the pants", the first time I flew with my present
instructor, he had me fly patterns without an airspeed indicator. I was
extremely nervous because my primary instructors never did this while I
trained for my private ticket. I found that it was a truly liberating
experience and as a result, I generally fly patterns by feel now.

-Trent
PP-ASEL

"Trent Moorehead" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...


One thing though, it has been my personal rule to only practice stalls
with
an instructor on board. I feel that is reasonable since I am not trained
in
spin recovery. I'd be interested in other's opinions on this.


Trent,

If you don't think you could recover from a spin, I would highly recommend
that you get some spin training, and read up on the spin recovery techniques
for your particular aircraft. A spin can happen any time the airplane gets
away from you (not just doing stalls), and knowing how to react is rather
important. Besides, they're an absoloute blast. :-)

Happy flying.

-Rob