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#1
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Soft-field landing in C172
Just curious how you guys perform this maneuver. From what I've been
taught you should flare with a little power still in to soften the touchdown, and then keep rolling to avoid digging yourself into the runway surface. I just think that it should be possible to land anyway, without any power like you normally land. Just keep the plane airborne as long as possible and keep the nosewheel up as long as you can. Keeping power in just eats up a lot of runway it seems. I mean, how often do you happen to find a rough and long field. Ususally if a soft-field landing is required, it's a pretty short field too out in the bush somewhere. Approach like a short-field and flare as long as possible to soften the touchdown would be my way of doing it. |
#2
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Magnus wrote: Just curious how you guys perform this maneuver. From what I've been taught you should flare with a little power still in to soften the touchdown, and then keep rolling to avoid digging yourself into the runway surface. I just think that it should be possible to land anyway, without any power like you normally land. Just keep the plane airborne as long as possible and keep the nosewheel up as long as you can. Keeping power in just eats up a lot of runway it seems. I mean, how often do you happen to find a rough and long field. In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your landing technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land. Ususally if a soft-field landing is required, it's a pretty short field too out in the bush somewhere. No, not really. |
#3
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In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are
anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your landing technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land. How soft can you go? I'm looking at purchasing (or homebuilding) something to operate from my farm. I have 1000 feet avavialbe that I can clean up the rest of the rocks and clear the trees at the end, but it was cultivated for many years before I purchased it. The soil is rich red clay based loam that turns to "swallow the car muck" when it gets a good rain, but with a grass cover and light rain it is just a little slippery..... There is a guideline for home strips from Aussie Gov. that recommends a light truck leaving about an inch of depression in the surface being a cut-off for flying onto, but maybe I should just invest in a good set of skis or floats for when it gets heavy? ;) Peter |
#4
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Bushy wrote: In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your landing technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land. How soft can you go? I generally avoid muddy soft, too much work cleaning up the plane. Plus you never know whats really under the mud. I don't hesitate to land on grass, dirt, gravel, dry river beds, shorlines, etc. I'm looking at purchasing (or homebuilding) something to operate from my farm. I have 1000 feet avavialbe that I can clean up the rest of the rocks and clear the trees at the end, but it was cultivated for many years before I purchased it. The soil is rich red clay based loam that turns to "swallow the car muck" when it gets a good rain, but with a grass cover and light rain it is just a little slippery..... With 1000 feet total you're in Cub territory. In really wet conditions you may be grounded for a day ot two. There is a guideline for home strips from Aussie Gov. that recommends a light truck leaving about an inch of depression in the surface being a cut-off for flying onto, but maybe I should just invest in a good set of skis or floats for when it gets heavy? ;) Get a roller and compact the earth with a nice crown in the middle for drainage. |
#5
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Use the biggest tires (tyres) available for your aircraft
Bushy wrote: In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your landing technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land. How soft can you go? I'm looking at purchasing (or homebuilding) something to operate from my farm. I have 1000 feet avavialbe that I can clean up the rest of the rocks and clear the trees at the end, but it was cultivated for many years before I purchased it. The soil is rich red clay based loam that turns to "swallow the car muck" when it gets a good rain, but with a grass cover and light rain it is just a little slippery..... There is a guideline for home strips from Aussie Gov. that recommends a light truck leaving about an inch of depression in the surface being a cut-off for flying onto, but maybe I should just invest in a good set of skis or floats for when it gets heavy? ;) Peter |
#6
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Gliders typically land on turf strips. Talk with the operators and look at
their tire sizes, etc. There are FAA documents that spec out requirements for an "official" landing strip. One caution: gopher holes. They are hard to see while landing and can give the plane a nasty bump. "jsmith" wrote in message ... Use the biggest tires (tyres) available for your aircraft Bushy wrote: In the real world all the time. I land on dirt runways that are anywhere from 1000 feet long to 5000 feet long in my 182. Your landing technique depends on what the actual conditions are when you land. How soft can you go? I'm looking at purchasing (or homebuilding) something to operate from my farm. I have 1000 feet avavialbe that I can clean up the rest of the rocks and clear the trees at the end, but it was cultivated for many years before I purchased it. The soil is rich red clay based loam that turns to "swallow the car muck" when it gets a good rain, but with a grass cover and light rain it is just a little slippery..... There is a guideline for home strips from Aussie Gov. that recommends a light truck leaving about an inch of depression in the surface being a cut-off for flying onto, but maybe I should just invest in a good set of skis or floats for when it gets heavy? ;) Peter |
#7
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"William W. Plummer" wrote in message
news:hQB8c.6087$JO3.12218@attbi_s04... Gliders typically land on turf strips. Talk with the operators and look at their tire sizes, etc. There are FAA documents that spec out requirements for an "official" landing strip. One caution: gopher holes. They are hard to see while landing and can give the plane a nasty bump. Actually I've found glider tires and undercarriages to be marginal in tough turf situations. They are typically lighter but only sit on one main tire. Concentrates the weight but it does allow you to more easily miss soft spots. A high performance glider at full gross with water in the wings is real marginal on soft turf - worse than your typical land plane. Any glider with retracts has minimally sized tires (and typically lousy brakes). And in the end, if you land but get stuck, you can disassemble. Looking at gliders makes logical sense but I think you'll find them optimized for things other than soft field ops. |
#8
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"Magnus" wrote in message ... Just curious how you guys perform this maneuver. From what I've been taught you should flare with a little power still in to soften the touchdown, and then keep rolling to avoid digging yourself into the runway surface. The increased power is not needed to soften the touchdown. It is needed to keep the airplane rolling once it has touched down. You only use it on very soft surfaces, such as mud or snow. You can land very softly in a Cessna 172 with no power and full flaps. The approach should be at the same speed as a short field landing, but not at the steep angle of a short field landing unless there is an obstacle. Basically a soft field landing is a normal landing made at the approach speed of a short field landing. You cannot use normal braking on a soft field because it is usually slippery. Dry grass (according to the C172 POH) will increase your landing roll by 40%. Mud, snow or ice would increase it still further. Nevertheless, the length of the landing area is not the critical factor in deciding whether to land a Cessna 172 there. Takeoff distances are nearly always much longer than landing distances. The increased rolling resistance of a soft field exacerbates this problem. If the length of the field is such that you are going to have difficulty landing there, odds are you will not be able to leave. |
#9
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"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
The increased power is not needed to soften the touchdown. It is needed to keep the airplane rolling once it has touched down. You only use it on very soft surfaces, such as mud or snow. You can land very softly in a Cessna 172 with no power and full flaps. I agree. If the field is truly soft, adding power at touchdown (with the yoke all the way back in your lap) will increase airflow over the elevator and allow you to keep the weight off of the nosewheel. This keeps the nosewheel from digging into the soft surface. I've flown out of some fairly soft backcountry strips in 172s (and my Cherokee) and the yoke goes all the way back at touchdown along with some power and pretty much stays that way until I've parked. It's not unusual to need 1500 rpm or more to keep the plane moving on a soft surface. John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180) |
#10
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I live on a grass/dirt 3300 foot strip. Not short but after rain can be
very soft. I've learned that 'soft' covers a lot of territory. Slippery grass, pull the wheels off mud and a bunch of variations in between. I think the 'keeping a little power-on" during the flare has value in certain (a lot of?) aircraft. When I was working out in a 60's Mooney, it was clear that without power, a minimum speed landing would result in immediate nose wheel contact unless a little power was held. That's a bad thing in mud. Among other things it may be the last thing you see clearly until the rags come out. A little power seems to be a good thing in my tailwheel Maule. When doing minimum speed stuff, it is well known that the Maule will run out of elevator authority (and get into a high descent rate condition if high). The fix is a little power. When I'm landing in the mud, I want go be able to plant that tailwheel with full back elevator in order to avoid a mud encounter followed by any nosing over, and a little power seems to help keep some positive elevator authority. But that's just my sense of things. Ironically, a little power and down elevator is the key to keeping the tailwheel unstuck at taxi speeds but (see nose over). Power and elevator control (and flaps) is the key to soft field *operations* including taxi, TO and Landing. A C172 may be fine with a power-off touch down but if you do a beautiful minimum speed full stall landing, you still have options but flying may not be one of them. Clearly some other aircraft require carrying a little power during such landings which makes the technique a valuable one to learn and be proficient at. I'm not a CFI. "Magnus" wrote in message ... Just curious how you guys perform this maneuver. From what I've been taught you should flare with a little power still in to soften the touchdown, and then keep rolling to avoid digging yourself into the runway surface. I just think that it should be possible to land anyway, without any power like you normally land. Just keep the plane airborne as long as possible and keep the nosewheel up as long as you can. Keeping power in just eats up a lot of runway it seems. I mean, how often do you happen to find a rough and long field. Ususally if a soft-field landing is required, it's a pretty short field too out in the bush somewhere. Approach like a short-field and flare as long as possible to soften the touchdown would be my way of doing it. |
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