Why do experimental planes park like this?

jd21476

jd21476

Line Up and Wait
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jd21476
I keep seeing certain experimental or home builts that park like this. I assume its supposedExperimental.jpg to be parked like this but how does this work and why? Do you have to manually lift the front to prop a wheel up to take off? Im confused.
 
I always wondered the same. It looks absolutely ridiculous.
 
On some canards, the unloaded cg is far enough aft that the aircraft will not sit safely on all three gear. They will pitch aft, coming to rest on the engine/prop.

Parking them nose down eliminates this issue.
 
IIRC, generally it's to protect a somewhat fragile nose gear and to avoid gust lifting the canard and allowing the plane to settle back on its prop. Also I think, but might be wrong, that Long-EZs and Cozy's when in level attitude on the ground without pax are tail heavy which could exacerbate the problem, hince retracting the nose gear once parked.
 
What Kyle said. I asked a Long EZ pilot the same thing. To answer the other OP question, when I watched the guy load up he got in it and then it raised.
 
OkieAviator said:
What Kyle said. I asked a Long EZ pilot the same thing. To answer the other OP question, when I watched the guy load up he got in it and then it raised.
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In another thread about this same topic a while back someone posted that getting in before or after raising lowering the gear depended on whether the nose gear was manual (no) or electric (yes).
 
Also, the picture I used is a from a post of a plane that is for sale locally. The owner has had it listed for a long time and I wondered why he would use a picture that (unless you know better) looks like the gear collapsed and it had damage. It was just confusing to me.
 
jd21476 said:
Also, the picture I used is a from a post of a plane that is for sale locally. The owner has had it listed for a long time and I wondered why he would use a picture that (unless you know better) looks like the gear collapsed and it had damage. It was just confusing to me.
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If you're looking for one of those to buy, you'd "know better".
 
jd21476 said:
Also, the picture I used is a from a post of a plane that is for sale locally. The owner has had it listed for a long time and I wondered why he would use a picture that (unless you know better) looks like the gear collapsed and it had damage. It was just confusing to me.
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SQ2000. They closed up a long time ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glassic_SQ2000
 
One of Rutan's original VariEzes sits in the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center. It was sitting there on all three wheels. I pointed out to the curator that it should be parked on the nose, and was told that Rutan had already pointed that out to them. A little while later someone cranked the nose gear up and put it in the proper configuration.
 
Velocity173 said:
View attachment 79838 Real canards don’t park that way. ;)
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Yup, but look at where the front seats are in that thing compared to where they are in the pic in post #1. The Velocity won't have nearly the same amount of CG shift when the occupants get out of it, and the nose won't get so light.
 
wilkersk said:
Fixed it for you! :D:D:D

(Nice looking airplane. ...I'm jealous!)
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Thanks. No show-plane by any means but presentable. Actually always liked the SQ2000 but unfortunately they came late the canard party and only a few are flying. Incredible performance for the HP.
 
IIRC in addition to decreasing the likelihood of the VariEze and Long-EZ accidentally tipping backwards and damaging the prop or airframe, Burt said that parking with the nose gear retracted (the "kneeled" position) gave the wing a negative angle of attack so the plane would be less likely to lift in a surface breeze.
 
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