The same must happen on any plane with a nosewheel plus rudder linkage. Why don't I have a problem on the TB20?
Springs vs direct linkage?
The trouble was I only found out landing deep into an 800 meter runway, and locking up the brakes to the extent I wore an impressive flat spot on the LHS MLG.
Hope it wasn't WMBT! Limited go-around options....a friend of mine had foliage in his landing gear going in there...such was his anxiousness in not landing long
No it was not Tioman, although I have landed there before, it was at Siracha Airport near Bangkok, where a flying school is based and no doubt the eager students were being told "and that is exactly how not to land an aircraft as I blazed passed gear a smokin!"
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Yes, I've got a sign-off for going in to Tioman....although only been in a C172 (other than commercially)....slightly easier than a jet prop no doubt!....although that power must help to get you up and away from the trees pretty quick
I actually did have a real crappy landing on Tioman last month. I've landed there many times in smaller aircraft, but this was the first time in the DA42. I made a stupid dive landing & was over the threshold (ie. the palm trees on final) at 90 kts, way too fast. Landed half-way down the damn runway at the first turn off. At least the touchdown itself was trailing link smooth.
Subsequently I've learned to set power at idle on final - the props works as speedbrakes & allows steep descent angles without acceleration.
Lovely spot and a nice easy hop from Singapore... Although when I last flew out of Seletar the Malaysians required two week's notice for clearance!(1994)....but I have flown out of Senai a lot more recently...much easier (and cheaper)
It wasn't a too windy day, only about 10 knots of wind. But I had only just been checked out in the Cessna 170, the ink not dry on my tailwheel signoff. I had decided to go to Weiser Airpark in Houston to see some friends who were re-covering their old Piper Tripacer and see if I could lend a hand.
Nearly all airfields in the Houston area have a runway that's roughly oriented southeast/northwest. The prevailing wind tends to come off the gulf, from the southeast. Weiser is different though. Its runway is pretty much oriented so it nearly always has a 90 degree crosswind. It also has T-hangars that alternately block and let through (with venturi effect) the crosswind.
So I was on final for runway 27, and perhaps a little bit high, but not unacceptably so - my touchdown point still gave me plenty of runway left. But sadly, I misjudged the flare a bit, and while intending a 3 point landing did an unintentional wheel landing, which is generally not so good because the tail continues to go down and increases your angle of attack, and you take off again. The bounce was a bit high so I added a little bit of power and re-flared for landing. That little bit of power made me crab slightly. If you've ever flown a tailwheel aircraft off a hard surfaced runway, you'll know what happened next - basically, touching down with even the slightest crab angle tends to make things go to hell in a handbasket rather quickly... And it did. I started swerving and crowhopping down the runway, and all the while the school bus park and power lines on the departure end of the runway were making it quite clear that a go around was now no longer possible. Unlike most tailwheel aircraft, the C170 has great forward visibility on the ground, so I could quite clearly see the airport spectators who liked watching the planes land on a nice Saturday afternoon all scatter and run for cover as I careered down the runway. Finally needing full rudder and brake to stop the aircraft from hurtling off the right side of the runway and into the shrubbery, the aircraft lurched to a stop.
I sheepishly taxied in, trying to not make eye contact with anyone who may have seen, and parked in the furthest corner of the airfield, and found a quiet spot at the BBQ place to have lunch.
Later on as I was waiting for my friends to arrive, I was by the runway spectator spot, watching the planes land. A guy came up to me and said "Did you fly in with the C170?" "Y...e..ss... did you see me land?" "Oh no, I'm just an instructor in the club and I thought it might have been you out flying". Phew. Nothing worse than having an instructor see you monumentally botch a landing.
It happens from time to time. Don't worry about it. I've been flying for 25 years and I seriously botched a landing in the Archer on Friday in a strong crosswind. I mostly fly cross-country, but I sometimes find it therapeutic to go out and do an hour of circuits to knock away the bad habits and rust.
I guess we all have the occasional crap landing. It just happens. Some, of course, are more embarrassing than others. I managed two of the worst in a while during my recent BFR in the US.....
Btw, I use a mixed technique, i.e. approach in crab and then transition to wing-down. What is important is to keep 'flying' the airplane until you are parked and tied down.
