Learning to land a Mono is just like learning to ride a bicycle. It takes
some getting used to, but one you have mastered it you cannot recall what
all the fuss was about, and you get some useful benefits
Similarly. You do not find many grown ups choosing to ride a tricycle.
Cheers Bryan Allsop
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Thursby" <jthursby@tampabay.rr.com>
Subject: RE: Europa-List: wheel landings [was: Flying a heavy Europa XS?]
> <jthursby@tampabay.rr.com>
>
> Hi Chris,
> If you are that gung ho, by all means try it yourself but don't say you
> weren't warned. I thought I was smarter than Ivan Shaw once too. Against
> his wishes (and unknown to) I spent the better part of two hours trying
> to
> wheel land one of the company planes. I've been told it was some of the
> most entertaining stuff the controllers at Lakeland had ever seen. It
> will
> squeak the main on ever so gently with just a touch of power, then the
> tail
> slams to the runway and you are rewarded for your carelessness with
> another
> chance or two at landing it properly. If you recover from the resulting
> three to ten foot bounce and haven't clipped your propeller, and if you
> haven't ground looped it, and if you haven't stalled and dropped it in,
> you
> can attempt another landing. I tried many times and NEVER got it to stay
> on
> the ground. If you must attempt wheel landings in a tail dragger aircraft
> please buy or build an RV and save the Europa community from losing
> another
> aircraft from the ranks. And the prop is VERY close when on the main
> wheel
> with the plane in a slight nose down attitude.
>
> Jim T.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
> [mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Chris Beck
> To: europa-list@matronics.com
> Subject: Re: Europa-List: wheel landings [was: Flying a heavy Europa XS?]
>
>
> Jim Brown wrote:
>
>>
>>I would also suggest, to those of you who want to "TRY" to wheel land a
>>mono wheel, you need to do one thing first. With the engine off, have a
>>friend or helper raise the tail to normal flight attitude, then take a
>>look at how close the prop is to the ground or pavement. One bounce on
>>landing, and you may be buying new prop blades.
>>
>>The center of gravity is behind the mono wheel, which will make the
>>tail drop down, as soon as the wheel touches the runway, if you counter
>>with some forward stick, re-read the above paragraph.
>>
>>
>>
> Jim, what sort of clearance are we talking about?? 2"? 6"? I've got a
> mile on the 140. I'd have to be looking straight at the dirt to get the
> prop grounded.
>
> Regarding the C of G, it's the same issue on any taildragger. It's behind
> the mains, which causes the tail to drop when landing due to the inertia.
> Trick is to zero out the rate of descent just as the mains touch, then
> nail
> it with that bit of forward stick (as I'm sure you know very well from the
> Pitts). Again, is it strictly a prop clearance issue that prevents
> wheelies
> in the monowheel? Has this been beaten to death in the past where I can
> look it up in the archives?
>
> I'm just very curious about the mechanics of landing a monowheel. I've
> flown in a few different ones (a Classic and an XS). Now that I'm flying
> a
> tailwheel plan, I understand a lot more of what's going on.
>
> Chris
>
>
>
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