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Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 1:27 pm
by maules.com
Ah, but that is why you do have inertia belts.
A simple practice is to taxi along the taxiway or runway at gradually increasing speeds in a crosswind if possible and get used to dropping the flap lever and raising it without changing the aileron/yoke position you have selected for the crosswind. You will find it is very easy and it will prepare you for the day when you have large tyres and cannot see the ground directly in front anyway.
You can hook your three fingers under the lever to hold it and hook your index finger over the top of the button for perfect control.
The point of the landing box for the left wheel is to get used to picking a target spot and adhering to it.
It is very difficult to hit anything with a rifle unless you have defined the target first, then aligned your eye, backsight, front sight and defined precise target.
Not the whole round target, but the bullseye.
Not the airstrip, but the specific spot.
Only this way can you hit it with precision.

Gusty x-wind landings

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2011 6:22 pm
by Tapiola
Hi there Jeremy:

Been a while since I last posted. I am presently in Cut Bank, Montana for a week or so getting instruction from Rick Geiger. Rick is an excellent instructor and has 4000+ hrs in Maules. Spent 4 hours today on short/soft fields and hi x-wind landings on grass. By 4pm she was gusting 28 x-wind and I am startin' to feel happier. Hopefully with 5 days to go before I jet back to Cape Breton, I will be able to get my M4 180V into my own 700ft strip! :D Reading again all the x-wind advise on this site it is all starting to come together. Chris.

Posted: Sun May 01, 2011 7:44 am
by xwildcat
If bouncing is happening, there's too much energy left in the plane. The old timers who say to prolong the touchdown are right because they are "draining" the energy out of it and that's why it works.

Even though we're taught to roundout and flare, it's not the best way to land a STOL aircraft well. It works on paved runways and most grass strips... but also results in nice opportunities for ground loops. As a rule, pitch changes should not happen late on final. Navy pilots (always STOL and some of the best in the world) never make deck angle changes late... they use power to hit their mark.

Watch this video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQy89lNu ... r_embedded

... you'll see many different applications of skill sets with basically the same aircraft. Naturally the results are quite different.

At 5:13 there is WAY too much energy. In fact, this pilot adds energy to his plane by diving for the deck because he is too fast and high and feels he's going to miss his mark. This would spell disaster in an offairport situation. Anybody wanna fess up? :oops:

Compare that to the landings at 6:07, 6:26 and 6:42... these guys drained their planes of the energy and timed it much better. The best landing that typifies the Maule happens at 7:58. He makes no pitch changes and squats down without the need to brake. It's the only STOL landing on the video.

FWIW... fatalities while flying usually happen because too much energy is to quickly applied to the body. Get rid of the dangerous amount of stored energy and it's a safer, better way to land.