Alternating one wheel landings

FastEddieB

FastEddieB

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Fast Eddie B
Over on the CT forum, the topic of intentionally landing on one wheel came up, first as a way to decrease sudden nose-down tendencies with tundra tires, then I brought it up as a possible way to make wheel landings in a taildragger a bit easier.

Anyway, I had a chance to go flying yesterday. The winds were variable, so I figured a good time to play with recording one-wheel landings with a tail-mounted GoPro on my Sky Arrow.

Hardly a "Drunken Cub" routine. More like a "Slightly Inebriated Sky Arrow"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AFSbr5g7q8
 
Enjoyed. I'll have to try myself.

Couldn't help but chuckle when your dog ran by ignoring you. Glad to see I'm not the only one being ignored.
 
Good stuff. I think the Sky Arrow is a neat airplane. If you ever make your way up to PA, I'll trade you lunch and some low lead for a ride!
 
So the tundra tire guys are having trouble dealing with the inertia of both tires? Must be a pretty light airplane.
 
Henning said:
So the tundra tire guys are having trouble dealing with the inertia of both tires? Must be a pretty light airplane.
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I have the tundra gear and can hold my nose off for a long time.

If you fly it on without moving the stick aft the nose will settle right away but if you get the stick to the aft stop you can hold it off.
 
The allegation was that sheer mass/inertia of the tundra tires touching down caused a noticeable nose-down moment, and that rolling one wheel on slightly first seemed to help this particular pilot deal with that.

I'll revisit the thread to see if he mentioned the aircraft type.

edited to add: It's a Flight Design CT, not sure which model, but a Light Sport regardless. I think in my mind I had painted it as a taildragger, which its not.
 
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FastEddieB said:
The allegation was that sheer mass/inertia of the tundra tires touching down caused a noticeable nose-down moment, and that rolling one wheel on slightly first seemed to help this particular pilot deal with that.

I'll revisit the thread to see if he mentioned the aircraft type.

edited to add: It's a Flight Design CT, not sure which model, but a Light Sport regardless.
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If I was having trouble with the inertial moment of both tires at once, I can well see the logic of rolling them on one at a time, especially since you will require a higher airspeed which gives you more control authority on the tail. However, it also means you're landing flatter and since you're in a trike, your nose wheel risks touching before your other main as we saw in the demo video, and with greater energy. So actually, you increase risk to your nosewheel with this technique.

I see better application with a tail dragger, but still, if I was having that much trouble controlling the inertia, I would be wondering what was wrong. I would be checking my rigging and brakes, because it shouldn't be a problem that requires extraordinary measures to manage.
 
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There's no problem with inertia. Somebody not used to big tires will feel a very minor tug when big tires touch down. It's accentuated on pavement. My Cessna has has 29" Bushwheels on it for about 14 years. Not a problem. I also have a pair of 29x11x10 Air Hawks. Those are heavier and have a little more resistance to spinning and slightly more tug. My Cub had 31s and it was a kitten to land. Several friends use 35s on their Cubs, the biggest and heaviest tundra tires, and they get along just fine.

I hear guys talk about alternating from one main to the other while maintaining centerline on the runway. My runways aren't big enough to do it. I've done it on floats. A couple of times it was on purpose, too. :wink2: That'll keep your feet moving.
 
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Stewartb said:
There's no problem with inertia. Somebody not used to big tires will feel a very minor tug when big tires touch down. It's accentuated on pavement. My Cessa has has 29" Bushwheels on it for about 14 years. Not a problem. I also have a pair of 29x11x10 Air Hawks. Those are heavier and have a little more resistance to spinning and slightly more tug. My Cub had 31s and it was a kitten to land. Several friends use 35s on their Cubs, the biggest and heaviest tundra tires, and they get along just fine.
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I wonder if you used big enough tundra tires, and tail wheel/skid/float assembly if you could fly a Super Cub on and off the water with the brakes locked?
 
Henning said:
I wonder if you used big enough tundra tires, and tail wheel/skid/float assembly if you could fly a Super Cub on and off the water with the brakes locked?
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Landing and taking off of short sandbars often has guys extend the runway by using the water. You don't need to lock brakes. in that case ground effect helps you plane on top.
 
Stewartb said:
Landing and taking off of short sandbars often has guys extend the runway by using the water. You don't need to lock brakes. in that case ground effect helps you plane on top.
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Even so locked wheels have a greater hydrodynamic efficiency and will plane much more easily and at lower speed. I don't think you could successfully take off from the water without locking the wheels even if the tires floated the plane.
 
My interest in big tires is primarily to reduce roll resistance while taxiing. Dragging a 180 through soft sand, gravel, and mud requires power and that eats props. Big tires are expensive but not as expensive as big props.

I stumbled on another good water assisted landings video for y'all.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0fByofsZvo
 
FastEddieB said:
As a data point...

...the "tundra tires" being discussed here on the CT are 600x6.

I think calling them "tundra tires" is kinda laughable.
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Kinda? :lol::lol::lol: if he is having trouble with the inertia of 6.00x6 either he needs to work on technique or his airplane, because they should be no issue at all. I wonder if he has the bearings preloaded too tight?:dunno:
 
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