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Just sitting here on Sat morning considering going down and starting on putting new linings in the spare wheels I have. Looks like we are about to get the first rain of the wet season here in CA.
Been thinking a lot lately about the Tcart wing and the stall characteristics and such. I think it is starting to dawn on me that at least one of the reasons Taylorcrafts are more reasonably priced and tend to be let go bad and just set on the line decaying is that it is really a pilots airplane when it comes to landing. Considering the large efficent wing that will float forever and the, dare I say abrupt, stall characteristics of the 23012 airfoil the possibility of muffing any given landing unless you are right on top of it is pretty high. I have about 3 or so different ways to put a Tcart on the ground with a certain amount of aplomb and to me they all require more than an average amount of skill/expertise to do well with this airplane.
With a ClarkY airfoil or anything similar it's possible to set up a reasonable high-drag sink rate at the end of the flare and it will plop on over some range of speed/attitude. With the Tcart I have found that you can stall it down from say a foot up and it will plop on nicely, but it is hard to get it through the ground effect without ballooning up or dropping in from about 5 feet if you have any excessive speed. You can save it from the 5 foot drop in by hauling all the way back on the wheel just as it drops, but the timing is critical.
I can also put it on by coming over the fence at a very low airspeed that puts the plane in a high drag configuration already when it encounters ground effect. This method is a continually changing flare that ends just at the ground and just when the wing quits. Of course that is the trick as the 23012 doesn't get into a wide range adjustable lift/drag mode like a ClarkY; it just pretty much glides and glides and then quits. Loosely you may say that it just doesn't mush any.
The third way I know is to come down in a fast flare (always been about 60 indicated in the ones I've had) and about a foot or less off the deck and stabilized level, smoothly push the control column all the way to the firewall. Works great when the wind is really gusting pretty much straight down the runway. One pilot I know thinks that it's the way to put it on in a crosswind, but I have my misgivings about the period right after touchdown when you are slowing up with the tail still up in the air with the crosswind pushing on it.
Summing up I think that the low wing loading with a very efficient airfoil makes it basically not have a low sink high drag mode that can be played with and milked down and that combined with an abrupt stall causes it to be a real pilots airplane that will sometimes embarass even the best pilots. (Pat on back for everyone at this point.)
Anyone want to share any other landing tricks or variations I can add to my repertoire?
DC
Been thinking a lot lately about the Tcart wing and the stall characteristics and such. I think it is starting to dawn on me that at least one of the reasons Taylorcrafts are more reasonably priced and tend to be let go bad and just set on the line decaying is that it is really a pilots airplane when it comes to landing. Considering the large efficent wing that will float forever and the, dare I say abrupt, stall characteristics of the 23012 airfoil the possibility of muffing any given landing unless you are right on top of it is pretty high. I have about 3 or so different ways to put a Tcart on the ground with a certain amount of aplomb and to me they all require more than an average amount of skill/expertise to do well with this airplane.
With a ClarkY airfoil or anything similar it's possible to set up a reasonable high-drag sink rate at the end of the flare and it will plop on over some range of speed/attitude. With the Tcart I have found that you can stall it down from say a foot up and it will plop on nicely, but it is hard to get it through the ground effect without ballooning up or dropping in from about 5 feet if you have any excessive speed. You can save it from the 5 foot drop in by hauling all the way back on the wheel just as it drops, but the timing is critical.
I can also put it on by coming over the fence at a very low airspeed that puts the plane in a high drag configuration already when it encounters ground effect. This method is a continually changing flare that ends just at the ground and just when the wing quits. Of course that is the trick as the 23012 doesn't get into a wide range adjustable lift/drag mode like a ClarkY; it just pretty much glides and glides and then quits. Loosely you may say that it just doesn't mush any.
The third way I know is to come down in a fast flare (always been about 60 indicated in the ones I've had) and about a foot or less off the deck and stabilized level, smoothly push the control column all the way to the firewall. Works great when the wind is really gusting pretty much straight down the runway. One pilot I know thinks that it's the way to put it on in a crosswind, but I have my misgivings about the period right after touchdown when you are slowing up with the tail still up in the air with the crosswind pushing on it.
Summing up I think that the low wing loading with a very efficient airfoil makes it basically not have a low sink high drag mode that can be played with and milked down and that combined with an abrupt stall causes it to be a real pilots airplane that will sometimes embarass even the best pilots. (Pat on back for everyone at this point.)
Anyone want to share any other landing tricks or variations I can add to my repertoire?
DC
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