Tailwheel Crosswind Landing

Here is my scenero as to what often happens in this situation.

As you flare the Fuselage Blocks some of the airflow over the Rudder
thus reducing its effectiveness. So just as you touch down the Rudder
becomes less effective. If the Stick is not pulled all the way back
the Tailwheel is just barely pushing down on the pavement and
contributes very little to steering. And there you have it, a good
cross wind, reduced rudder effectiveness and an ineffective tailwheel
leads to loss of directional control. As the airplane slows down the
weight on the tailwheel increases and so does the steering
effectiveness, And you may regain control, before something bad
happens.

Wheel landings, keep the rudder more effective until you put the tail
down, But there is less going on when you put the tail down and you
are more likely to maintain directional control. But be sure to really
put it down, Pull all the way back on the stick.

Or just get the stick all the way back to start with.

Or, be more prepared for a go around. When a landings starts going
bad. Throw power at it. This will increase the rudder effectiveness,
plus switch your thinking from "got to land it" to "got to fly it."


Brian
CFIIG/ASEL


wrote in message m...
In article ,
says...
Wheel landing or full-stall?
How wide was the runway?
Did you keep the rudder and aileron in or relax and neutralize the
controls once the wheels were on?
Did you suck the stick full back into your gut?
If you don't pull it all the way, you don't get enough pressure on the
tailwheel.


Landing was three point.
It was a big wide runway, 75 x 3500. Sussex, NJ (FWN)
Hard to recall, but I was probably not relaxed enough.
The stick probably could have been back further.

wrote in message
...

snip good story

I've got about 1000 hours towing banners in PA-12's Great airplanes, does
yours have the O-320 conversion? I've always wondered how one would
perform with the big engine, and all the fairings that we left off ours :-)

Back to your question, I've had the same thing happen a couple of times on
landing. It was with a Scott tailwheel, and twice it was because the
steering springs had broken, leaving me with steering in only one direction
(the direction I WASN'T going) Though, I can remember a few times where,
not because of a crosswind (we had 75' trees on either side of our field,
right up to the runway, hence, no real crosswind) but because of a rutted
field, I caught enough of a sideload on the gear to break the tailwheel
loose to caster. Just rolling along, feeding in a little right rudder, then
BAM! Hard to the left.

Get's your attention in a hurry, that's for sure! About the only thing you
can try to do is straighten out with brake (if you're lucky enough to have
good ones; ours didn't) or give it a shot of power, and forward stick to try
and get the tail up and use the rudder to straighten out. Or, if you don't
have room, stomp on the inside brake and rudder and ground loop her before
hitting the treeline that defines the edge of the runway.

Great airplanes though; deadheading ours with the O-320 and a 74" cruise
prop, I could get about 90 mph at 2200 rpm. That's with no door, windows,
no wheel pants and no fabric over the gear. No cowling, and none of the
fairings at the strut attach points or covering the trim jackscrew.

In article ,
says...
wrote in message
...

snip good story

I've got about 1000 hours towing banners in PA-12's Great airplanes, does
yours have the O-320 conversion? I've always wondered how one would
perform with the big engine, and all the fairings that we left off ours :-)


Ours is pretty stock. Just put a new O-235-C1, 108 hp. Can cruise at
110 mph with not problem. I did my private in this plane and have all
but about 5 hours of my 250 hours in it. I also have about 100 hours in
gliders.

wrote in message m...
I had a fairly gentle cross wind from the left. I had cancelled out all
sideways drift by lowering my left wing and aligned the plane with the
runway with right rudder. At touchdown, everything seemed perfect. That
is when all hell broke loose. As soon as I touched down, I started a
very fast turn to the right. At one point I was headed right between
two runway light. As I was deciding that "between" was not a bad place
to be, I finally managed to straighten everything out and managed to
stay on the runway.

It sounds a lot like what happened to a friend of mine in his Maule
M6-235 with a Scott 3200 tailwheel. He landed after a steep slip to
lose altitude and the airplane cut right and ran off the runway
almost immediately. He figured he screwed up but then it happened
again just like that a week later when he was slipping because of a
crosswind. It turned out to be a broken part inside the tailwheel
that caused it to turn with the rudder but not return when the rudder
was centered. It was the tailwheel, not the pilot. I'm sorry but I
don't know enough about it to be more specific than that.

Part of my preflight routine on my Champ is to lift the tail and grab
the tailsprings to assure the bolts are tight. A friend had a broken
leaf spring once from landing at an unimproved strip (a harvested
cornfield).
Tailwheel maintenance is something that must not be overlooked between
annuals.
In addition to the security of the tailwheel spring bolts, you can also
check the condition of the wheel bearings, hub and axle, and pivot, lock
mechanism and bearings. Don't forget to add grease to the fitting every
couple of months.


wrote:
I am a long term lurker and have a question regarding landing tailwheel
airplanes in a crosswind. I have about 250 hours in a Piper PA-12 Super
Cruiser. The other day during a very routine crosswind landing I
started heading for the weeds faster than I new what to do.

I had a fairly gentle cross wind from the left. I had cancelled out all
sideways drift by lowering my left wing and aligned the plane with the
runway with right rudder. At touchdown, everything seemed perfect. That
is when all hell broke loose. As soon as I touched down, I started a
very fast turn to the right. At one point I was headed right between
two runway light. As I was deciding that "between" was not a bad place
to be, I finally managed to straighten everything out and managed to
stay on the runway.

In talking to my mechanic as soon as I touched down (I was sure there
was a mechanical problem), he figured that with all of the right rudder
needed to keep things straight, that my tailwheel just sent me to the
right once it touched down.

My question is, what was really going on here? Should my tailwheel
have released (castored) when I touched down? Your thoughts are greatly
appreciated.

Thanks.

Tom

john smith wrote in message .. .
Part of my preflight routine on my Champ is to lift the tail and grab
the tailsprings to assure the bolts are tight. A friend had a broken
leaf spring once from landing at an unimproved strip (a harvested
cornfield).
Tailwheel maintenance is something that must not be overlooked between
annuals.
In addition to the security of the tailwheel spring bolts, you can also
check the condition of the wheel bearings, hub and axle, and pivot, lock
mechanism and bearings. Don't forget to add grease to the fitting every
couple of months.

Amen to that. Add to it: There's a small steering lock inside the
tailwheel, and if it breaks, things can get interesting. Normally, the
pilot will usually notice the lack of directional control to one side
during taxi.
This pilot's problem likely came from a sticky tailwheel steering
pivot. The Scott needs lots of care. We run two of them on Citabrias,
and they're apart every 200 hours or so, sometimes more often. There's
a steering brake within the unit that's supposed to prevent shimmy
(which it doesn't), and if dirt or water gets into it, things get
sticky. The pilot will often complain of having to hold left rudder in
cruise, a sure sign of a sticky pivot. Using right rudder on takeoff
and climb puts the wheel to the right a bit, after which the steering
springs pull the rudder to the right and necessitating left pedal in
cruise.
Too much grease thru that fitting will foul the steering lock and
make it hard to unlock to caster the wheel.

Dan

Dan Thomas wrote:

The Scott needs lots of care. details deleted

Wow. Glad I have a Maule.

George Patterson
My mother is 82 and she still doesn't need glasses.
Drinks right out of the bottle.

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Dan Thomas wrote:

The Scott needs lots of care. details deleted

Wow. Glad I have a Maule.

George Patterson
My mother is 82 and she still doesn't need glasses.
Drinks right out of the bottle.

Then again my Scott 3200 has performed without a flaw for 500 hours with
just normal lube at annual.

Thanks to everyone that has provided some very constructive comments. I
certainly will be talking with my mechanic about looking at the
tailwheel in detail.

As for complaicency, as some suggested, I would say not during this
landing, but maybe a tiny bit on other landings. I was lined up as
straight as I ever have been. It could have been a gust as some said,
or a change in wind direction as I touched down. I definetly need to
make sure the stick is in my gut.

Thanks again,

Tom

john smith wrote in message
.. .
Part of my preflight routine on my Champ is to lift the tail and grab
the tailsprings to assure the bolts are tight. A friend had a broken
leaf spring once from landing at an unimproved strip (a harvested
cornfield).
Tailwheel maintenance is something that must not be overlooked between
annuals.
In addition to the security of the tailwheel spring bolts, you can also
check the condition of the wheel bearings, hub and axle, and pivot, lock
mechanism and bearings. Don't forget to add grease to the fitting every
couple of months.

Is there a document that describes how the tailwheel mechanism on a J-3 is
designed, and how it works? I've done a web search on it and didn't find an
explanation of the "detent".

Are most/all J-3 tailwheels the same design?

I took my first ride in a J-3, 2 weeks ago. I got a feel for the "detent"
during taxi practice. It SEEMED that if you didn't push on the rudder too
far, you stayed within the "detent" but if you pushed too far you popped it
out. I could feel when that happened.

Once it popped it seemed that no amount of pushing on the rudder had effect
- so I was castoring?

I got on the brake right away and got her straightened out, and wobbled the
rudders and it got "back" into detent. But I'd like to know, mechanically
what's happening. If there's a drawing I could look at, that might help.

thanks