The quote below is self explanatory, so, I won't.
Landing Techniques
The highest percentage of accidents occur in the landing phase of a flight (37%).
There have been a couple good articles in the past discussing three point (full stall)
landings. Club members have been doing a good job keeping us informed about
aircraft maintenance information, but not much is said about what you have to do
every time you fly i.e., land the airplane. From the many pilots I've talked with (I
have over 300 180/185's insured). Most say they use a three point (nose
high attitude) full stall technique for the majority of their landings. They
indicated this is the way they were taught. Set up the airplane, full power
and flair a few feet AGL, hold the yoke back until the airplane settles on the
runway. For wheel landings carry a little extra speed and pin it on the
runway. Nothing could be further from the truth. Neither procedure is the
"best" way to do it.
I believe many of you were never initially trained to do wheel landings the
right way, I wasn't. Most are told you only do wheel landings in strong cross
winds. Some are afraid of them.
Except for soft field landings, I believe a wheel landing is actually the preferred
way to land, it's easy. I'll briefly discuss why. Many of you know of the
"MAF" Missionary Aviator's Fellowship out of Redlands, CA. For
over 20 years they have been training their pilots to fly C180/185's and 206's
in countries all around the world and still have over 40 180/185's in service.
Their training consists of hundreds of classroom and flight hours with several
training flights to Idaho to fly the back country. They have instructors with
over 10,000 hours of 180/185 time alone. I know there are other training
facilities, but for my money these guys are the real experts. They have to fly
these aircraft for a living in all conditions. Obviously they had to
develop, standardize and use procedures and techniques to insure consistency and
safety.
Guess What? They use the wheel landing 98% of the time, except on soft surfaces.
Landings depend on feeling, reaction, and response. You want each landing to
be as "predictable" as possible and a wheel landing is the most
"predictable". Landing on wheels allows you to
1) better see the approach, touchdown, and rollout.
2) Puts all the weight on the main wheels for most effective braking (a
three point landing puts 500-600 pounds on the tail, this weight is now "free wheeling"),
3) eliminates more lift because the angle of attack is less, keeping you on the runway,
4) there is less chance for floating, or drifting in cross winds, and
5) better directional control on a bounced or a bad landing.
Misconception: Wheel landings are done at a higher approach speed.
Truth: A typical good wheel landing approach is at 60 knots IAS unless
conditions require differently. Yes you saw it correctly 60 knots.
Remember a 10% increase in approach speed equals a 21% increase
in landing roll! That's a lot folks!
Misconception: You should "pin it on" the runway at touchdown. Truth:
If done correctly you never pin it on, you fly it until the wheels 'touch', then chop
the power and apply the brakes and there is very little or no
bounce. With this approach you have to resist cutting power until the wheels
touch. It takes practice.
Here's the technique: Get established on final. At 1 mile out you should be
at 60 knots IAS (depending on wind conditions), 500 feet above the
runway and descending at 500 FPM carrying about 13"-14" MP with
full flaps. Trimmed to hands off. The aircraft should come over the
threshold almost level. Do not flair and do not pull your power until you
'feel' the wheels touch (resist the temptation). This has to be learned
because your natural instinct is always to pull power. Almost
simultaneously when you pull power at wheel contact, come on with as
much brakes as you need and hold neutral yoke. The torque from
braking will help keep the tail up. Then as the speed is reduced and the
tail settles come back with the yoke. Power controls rate of descent, if
you reduce your power your descent rate will increase (even at 2'), then you'll have
to flair to compensate and you'll be chasing the airplane. You want as few
changes to correct as possible. This technique takes out the guess work - if
you're low add power, if high reduce. Never change attitude or trim, it's simple.
A full stall landing has everything changing at the same time which
includes: power, speed, attitude, yoke, visibility and pitch. This is not as
predictable because you're waiting for things to happen, you're chasing it.
This wheel landing technique is near bulletproof if learned correctly. It is
being used all over the world by pilots much more knowledgeable than I.
"MAF" uses wheel landings at all the airports in Idaho they fly into. That
includes Soldier's Bar, Allison Ranch, Bernard, Krassel and more. All you do is
cut power, brake and turn off the runway.
Until you learn it correctly, stick with the technique you're most comfortable with if
it works for you. I recommend you practice this with a CFI that really knows
the technique. He can better see your mistakes. I took several hours of training
from "MAF" a few years ago. It really improved my proficiency. Once correctly
learned, you'll wish you had known this years ago. Happy Flying!
Bill White