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  #23  
Old April 25th 05, 12:36 AM
Ed H
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I'm not sure just how serious this is but ... Landings are bounced due
to excessive speed, AND/OR landing on the nose gear first.


Not to be too picky, but I think that bounced landings in a nosegear
aircraft are generally due to too great a sink rate. The gear are not able
to absorb all the energy and the aircraft is literally bounced back into the
air. The airspeed is not the direct problem; it's what you do or don't do
with it in the roundout and flare. Strictly speaking, I could cross the
fence at Vne and still land without bouncing if I had a long enough runway
and enough patience to bleed off all that excess airspeed in ground effect.

I use the disclaimer "nosegear" because the dynamic is different in a
tailwheel aircraft. In a taildragger, a 3 point landing must be at full
stall. Anything faster than that will cause the tail to pitch down,
increasing the AoA and lift, and causing the plane to lift off again. A
wheel landing can be at darn near any airspeed above stall if the pilot is
skilled enough. In my Decathlon, which has a stall speed of 54 mph, I can
grease a wheel landing at 70 to 80 mph without trouble, and I'm not
particularly skilled at it.