Landing a Mooney

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004 01:42:19 GMT, Jon Kraus wrote:

common issue in transitioning to these planes or should I just resign to
the fact that I'm not going to get as nice a landings in my Mooney as I
did in the Skyhawk .

Jon,

Not sure about the sight picture in the Mooney, but my transition to the
Sundowner was a significant adjustment.

I found that on final, the nose pitches DOWN when deploying flaps. In the
Cessna's the nose pitches up. This means you see A LOT of ground on final.
It felt to me initially, that I was diving toward the ground, when in
reality, it was just the nose pitching down. To somewhat counter the pitch
down, I roll the trim back just a tad on downwind.

Even in normal cruise flight, I see a lot more ground then I did in a
Cessna.

Back to landings, if your Mooney is like my Sundowner, ground effect second
to speed is your friend or foe. Too much speed, and you float. Too
little, and you bottom out like a rock. You nail your approach speed, and
ground effect will cushion your landing.

I found by going to the practice area and climbing to 3000 feet and
practicing descents at my approach speed helped me tremendously.

Hope you are enjoying the joys of ownership!

Allen