Short landing technique?

[Battson]

The Bearhawk's unique design and ability to keep flying at very steep angles of attack (tailwheel low) create unique challenges / opportunities when trying to land as short as possible.

What short landing technique have people found that works for them?

[Gavin Chester]

That is a Big Pot to be stirred. Need a detailed scenario, "real world".

[Battson]

Ok - more detail on the way!

Specifically, the machine will fly slow enough and at such a steep AoA, that the tailwheel would always hit first if you were to land right on the stall (slowest possible touchdown). Landing right at the stall in theory gives the shortest possible ground roll, so there's a good reason to do that.
How are other pilots getting around that problem?? And don't say "landing 5-10kts faster"

[Gavin Chester]

OK , I will assume, not nose heavy, min weight, no wind, flat and wide,short,dry,hard,grass field, good approach. standard day, sea level, touch down and "roll out" phase only.
I do not consider it a problem , so Yes , two notches of flap , tail first, full stall hard on to mains ( one foot drop ), full brakes ( skid ) , full aft stick. Its not graceful but you have "arrived" short.

[Battson]

Ok, so say it was a riverbed or other uneven/unknown surface, where you don't want to 'bang' the tail in. Or assume you're worried about cracking the tail-post bottom welded cluster.
How do you do it without whacking the tail?

[AKpatrol]

I've never flown the 4-place but I can comment on what seems to work best for me and my patrol (it also hits tail first if I try to land 3 point at lowest possible speed):


-I use the same approach described on the backcountry pilot website. Under calm conditions I feel pretty comfortable coming in around 40 mph.
-During the "flare" I give it a little power to slow my decent while maybe lifting the nose slightly.
-Right before I reach my touchdown spot I chop the power and and push the nose over, ideally in a tail low wheel landing attitude. The bearhawk gear in combination with 29" bushwheels absorbs this "plop" with ease and with no rebound.
-stick back and brakes to steer and controll height of tail.


I still have a lot of work to do to really refine my landings but so far at sea level with no wind and about 50 degrees, I can easily come in under 150' all day.

[Battson]

-Right before I reach my touchdown spot I chop the power and and push the nose over, ideally in a tail low wheel landing attitude. The bearhawk gear in combination with 29" bushwheels absorbs this "plop" with ease and with no rebound.
-stick back and brakes to steer and controll height of tail.


I still have a lot of work to do to really refine my landings but so far at sea level with no wind and about 50 degrees, I can easily come in under 150' all day.

This is exactly the technique I have been working on too! I find the landing gear are excellent at absorbing this kind of landing.

[AKpatrol]

There is a bit of a compromise between over the nose visibility and speed using this technique in my patrol. The nose ends up high enough that I have to judge my trajectory and look out the sides to know when I've arrived at my landing spot. Alternatively, if I only raise the nose just enough so that I can still just see over, I still seem to be abe to get stopped almost as short (heavy braking). In a situation where obsticles are an issue, the latter might be a more appropriate technique for my patrol. How is the visibility in the four place?

[Mark Moyle]

Dave Roberts technique. Full flaps, three point, stick back, heavy braking to keep the up. Right at full stop, just as the tail drops, stick forward with a burst of power to softly set the tail on the ground. With Marv, Dave and I...fuel maybe half full. Dave landed and stopped in about 270 feet. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Battson]

There is a bit of a compromise between over the nose visibility and speed using this technique in my patrol. The nose ends up high enough that I have to judge my trajectory and look out the sides to know when I've arrived at my landing spot. Alternatively, if I only raise the nose just enough so that I can still just see over, I still seem to be abe to get stopped almost as short (heavy braking). In a situation where obsticles are an issue, the latter might be a more appropriate technique for my patrol. How is the visibility in the four place?

My nose is 3" longer than usual, and visibility is not "amazing" when the nose is really high, but I can always see the airstrip.

I can always see well enough on short finals to hit the mark. At the final touch-down you can't see exactly what's under the wheels. Seeing to steer straight is much easier with a wheel landing. With the tail low, you lose sight of the airstrip (in long grass).

At the moment, I tend to labour it over the threshold with power on in the middle of the AoA warning 'band', then cut power, pole it forward onto airstrip on the mains, and work the brakes / keep it straight. In x-winds I get the flaps up asap, otherwise I don't bother. It seems to work alright, but I am really interested to hear what others are doing.

[Dave Roberts]

It sounds like you land very similar to the way I do. Mark gave a pretty good description of how I land. He did miss a little bit. I usually put the stick wherever it needs to be to keep the tail off the ground. Larger tires really help too. I do stick the mains on with forward stick then full aft with heavy breaking then forward with a touch of power to ease the tail down to the ground at he end of the roll.

[Battson]

I have been experimenting with other techniques, and I am finding that the shallower approaches work better for a short stopping distance.

With steep approaches, throttle closed and sometimes employing a side-slip, I find I end up with lots of downward momentum. This means I really have to time the round-out perfectly. Once I do round-out into the flare, all that downward momentum becomes forward speed, which is counter-productive.

For landing as short as possible, I am finding that coming in shallow with lots of power, behind the drag curve, is working better for me.

[Battson]

Further to this topic - I find the larger tires definitely make it easier to land short. Extra cushioning and extra AoA being the biggest help, as you can come in closer to the stall AoA without hitting the tail first, and then you can be more forceful with touchdown.

Landing on some very very steep uphill slopes in the weekend, I was thankful for the extra prop clearance!!!