Glenn,
Your thoughtful and descriptive narrative is much
appreciated...particularly your emphasis on the outrigger lengths and
tire pressure and your description of that "zone of stability". I
logged 70 hours learning to fly in a Cub plus 560 hrs in my Stinson
108. I feel very comfortable w/ taildraggers and love to cross control
and just nail the upwind wheel to the runway in a crosswind. I'm
reluctant to discard all the excellent (and expensive!) Europa mono
hardware and go out and spend $4k+ for the taildragger conversion. But
for $175, I get the conversion plans along w/ some minimal hardware
which, if installed prior to bonding in the cockpit module (with a
weight penalty of about 4 lbs.), would make future conversion a piece
of cake. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I still have much to do before
biting any bullets.
Fred
A194
On Tuesday, October 10, 2006, at 09:30 AM, GLENN CROWDER wrote:
> <gcrowder2@hotmail.com>
>
> Hey Fred!
> I really think your'e getting all concerned over nothing. With the
> 18 lb tire pressure
> and the outriggers at the right height so all four wheels are solidly
> on the ground
> when taxiing, the mono has very sweet handling on takeoff and landing.
> I think a
> lot of pilots have trouble with the mono because of a combination of
> too high a
> tire pressure and too short an outrigger length letting the plane sway
> from side to
> side on an imperfect touchdown.
> I had a landing the other day with a passenger and 18 mph crosswinds
> and it set
> down just beautifully with no swerving. I prefer the standard Cessna
> technique of
> cross controlling down short final with the windward wing dipped
> holding
> opposite rudder to line up with the runway. The tail touched first,
> then the
> outrigger, followed immediately by the main. There is a "zone of
> stability" I think
> with the mono that I have not seen with other taildraggers. I just
> rode with a
> buddy in a Mustang II and there was a fair bit of wild fishtailing
> right after touch
> down even with no wind that I just don't get with the mono. Maybe I'm
> just
> a super pilot (yeah thats it!) but probably not as I came from flying
> a 172.
> The only time you really have to watch it on the mono is if you raise
> the tail
> too soon with a port side crosswind. The plane will veer to the left
> but still
> catchable with the rudder if you raise the tail too soon but you might
> easily need
> all of it. The solution of course is to keep the tail down longer and
> raise it slowly.
> This behaviour is very common in any taildragger of course.
>
> Glenn
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