boy it's changed; tailwind

"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
In article , G.R. Patterson III wrote:
That said, I won't be landing my Maule with a tailwind,
quartering or otherwise.

I don't really like doing it, but we did land in tailwinds routinely
whilst towing gliders at one glider club I towed for. On busy days we'd
do the downwind landing to cut turnaround time for the next tow.
This was in a Pawnee.

Fortunately, the field was grass and 300 feet wide which helped mitigate
some of the groundloop risks.

We'd do the same while towing banners; our field was 1800' long, with
obstructions at one end. Just beyond the obstruction (our hanger) was a noise
sensative area that we couldn't fly over. I'd always take off away from the
hanger, even on a 100F day with a 10 knot tailwind, I'd STILL use less than half
the runway (in a 160hp PA-12). Landings would USUALLY be towards the hanger,
unless it was over 15 knots directly down the runway.

One guy did get in trouble landing downwind early in the season when the field
was more like a rice paddy than a runway, he didn't hold the stick back, and had
the power back when he hit a mud puddle. It put him over on his nose. No
injuries or major damage though, thank god.

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