4-place Landing Techniques

Nev,

I'm very reluctant to give advice on this Nev because I'm not an expert. Please proceed with caution and dont bend your airplane. Your way ahead of me as far as the time and experience based on your short time flying your Bearhawk.

So, I like my approaches a little steeper than most. I practice that way for obstacle clearance on the approach end. My numbers almost exactly match your numbers. I used to fly a "the number" but don't anymore. When I do peek at it it is to make sure I'm not too fast. It usually is 46 - 48 KIAS. It took me a long time to understand the key was quicker and smaller magnitude throttle adjustments. Many small throttle changes verses two or three big adjustments. Have you noticed how a throttle increase will raise the nose if your not pushing on the stick? I'll do my best to try to use the King's English to convey my method. May get long.

Base 50 KIAS, flaps 3, full prop, 1200-1300 rpm. Turn to final, normally a high start, pull last notch of flaps. If low, stay at 3 notches of flaps. Now I start flying a very specific aim point and attitude, not so much the number. I move my head as high as I can and I put the aim point just over the front edge of cowl. Moving my head high is also setting up for the most over the nose visibility possible on flare. This sets an attitude which in turn sets a speed. Now it is keeping that aim point right there. Usually the throttle is really close to idle by now. If the aim point moves up, small throttle increase. If the aim point starts to disappear below the cowl edge, less throttle and if at idle I'll raise the nose a bit to increase sink and bring it back. The key for me is a precise aim reference where u make quick, small adjustments.

Due to the weight, inertia and drag fixing to come in on the round out, I start to increase the throttle slowly as aim point goes under the nose. My theory is this gives the elevator more authority at full flaps. I increase it just enough to keep visibility of the runway over the nose. I dont flare and loose sight of the runway in front of me anymore. This also sets the attitude and the position height of the tailwheel. I will have a tailwheel touch and on to the mains about half the time. A touch is OK with me. See the video of the Hidden Splendor landing. A tailwheel spike is not good for me. That means I had to raise the nose too much and not enough throttle. Also notice the width of the Hidden Splendor runway and the terrain on runway edges. That is why over the nose visibility is vital to me.

This doesn't give me STOL competition landing distances. It does give me a more airframe friendly touch and a little extra elevator/rudder authority for a little crosswind too. I've baby stepped into more and more aggressive tailwheel up braking on the rollout to shorten the landing distances. Brake pads are cheap and got changed at annual condition inspection.

If your target on the barn is the keyhole, you will hit the door. If your target picture is the barn, you MIGHT hit the somewhere on the wall. I have arrived at hitting the aim point every time is the most critical factor to backcountry flying success.
 
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This conversation is awesome, guys. I really appreciate the candor and detail. I'm still a couple of years from finishing my 4pl A model, but I do have a Maule M5-235C that I am going to practice all of these techniques on. I can easily get into and out of < 800' of grass on my home strip (I have 1400'), but even after 120+ hours of flying this airplane, my approaches and landings are not nearly as consistent as I would like.

Besides, if I can get this figured out on the Maule, it *should* be a lot easier to figure on the Bearhawk when I'm done..... (famous last words...)
 
My friend owns and flies a Maule. He recently flew my Model B and reported that it is "soooo much easier to land" than his Maule.
 
I'm not surprised, Rob. After 600+ hours of flying my RV-8 I figured I knew how to fly a tailwheel airplane. Then I bought the Maule. Holy crap I had a hard time with it for a while, so much so I thought about selling it. In the end I figured if I conquered it and got comfortable the Bearhawk transition would be that much easier. I'm glad I kept it as I am very comfortable landing it now although, as I said above, I still have work to do
 
<<"Grumpy-old-man" mode = ON>>
Flair is a noun that means doing something with skill or style... ("She has a flair for languages.")
Flare is both a noun and a verb. In aviation use (the landing flare), it is an action verb. The landing flare, also referred to as the round out, is a maneuver or stage during the landing of an aircraft.

And while one can flare one's airplane with flair, one does not "flair" the airplane to land.
<<"Grumpy-old-man" mode = OFF>>

There, I feel much better... ;) (And, YES, I'm just teasing – mostly.)
 
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Today I did a lot of low level circuits to practice wheeling it on. With mixed results. This is with just myself and 130L fuel, close to the FWD CG limit. My plan was to add a few knots onto my approach speed, however I found it quite difficult to wheel on, compared to the Piper Cub that I'd been flying recently. Whereas the 3-pointers were consistent, the wheelers weren't. The most success I had was touching down either in (or close to - I'm not certain) the 3-point attitude, then rolling forward onto the mains. I'm going to get someone to video a few so I can exactly what I'm doing.

In the end I lost interest and headed off into the mountains for some aviation therapy.
 
Hey Nev

I found I couldn't 3 point my RV-8 consistently so I spent 600+ hours doing wheelie landings. I found that the best technique (at least for that aircraft) was to land just a little tail low and then push the stick ahead on touch down. Landing in a level attitude (or near 3 point) just ended up causing a big bounce (or even more than one....) I don't know if this technique will work on the Bearhawk but it might be something to try if you haven't already
 
Nev said:
.... The most success I had was touching down either in (or close to - I'm not certain) the 3-point attitude, then rolling forward onto the mains. I'm going to get someone to video a few so I can exactly what I'm doing....
Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming. This is exactly what I have found to be the best landing attitude and execution for me.
 
You are on the right track - tail low wheeler is superior to going straight for the mains. Piper, Cessna, and Bearhawk / Maule all have different undercarriage types and geometry, not easily compared.
 
Thought I'd update my progress here. I've found reports from others above extremely helpful.

I've just completed 100 hours on my Bearhawk and have been doing numerous low level circuits at the local airfield. In light winds if there's no other traffic I'll often fly a figure-of-eight pattern for crosswind practice, or a dumbbell reversal for maximum exposure. This gives me about one landing every 2 minutes. I always use an aim point, usually a crossing grass runway or a displaced threshold. I also did many landings with the left wheel running along the grass edge to simulate a narrow runway. This helped alot when I ventured into some of the narrow backcountry airstrips. Having other Bearhawk pilots fly with me on occasion was a huge help.

A local gentleman is going to mow me a 100m strip in the Lucerne beside one of the grass runways at my local airport, slightly wider then my wheel track spacing. I'm pretty happy about that!

Initially I found the STOL approaches challenging, in a fun enjoyable way. Normal approaches are no problem because you just carry more speed and land like any other aircraft.

Around the 30-50 hour mark I started to relax a bit and the muscle memory was helping out. At that point I was easily hitting my aim point every time, but usually in a 3-point attitude. That was fine, but on some of the rougher airstrips I wanted to keep the tail wheel off as long as possible. I also copped some minor rock damage once I got into the mountains in my first few rocky airstrip landings.

Around the 60 hour mark I started trying to do more consistent wheel landings, but still mixed results. These gradually improved over time. I'm now landing on the mains very consistently, and with a very short landing roll - similar to a 3-point landing roll. My approach speed is still typically 50 KIAS (F4) which gives me 48 KTAS. This works well for a typical backcountry load of 2 people and some gear.

With 4 POB and CG further aft I'm preferring to carry an approach speed of 55-60 KIAS, F3, and it wheels on quite nicely with a longer (but still very respectable) landing roll. This is suitable for the local airfields rather than backcountry airstrips.

Last week I did a couple of quick circuits after completing the 100 hour check. I use AOA audio on finals, but a quick glance at the IAS showed 47 KIAS on finals which gives me 45 KTAS (I know, most aircraft have IAS lower than TAS at high AOA!). This felt quite safe, although with one POB and half fuel it was probably a similar AOA to having 2 POB and 50 KIAS.

I've now flown now on some rougher gustier days, and slowly expanding my comfort zone. Above all, still having a ton of fun getting out the other Bearhawk's and exploring the countryside.
 
He hasn't got too much to worry about - I'm still landing 30% longer !! Good fun practicing though.
 
But you have spent the time to calculate the 30% difference, which makes me think you are working on it. Clash of the Kiwi Bearhawkers !
 
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