Landing Bounces: Minimizing Them

[Chris in Milwaukee]

Good afternoon all,

So I'm working on the ol' landing technique. It seems like, more often than not, that the landing count is higher than the departure count.

I've had a fair number of good bouncers since I've started slowing the landing speed down, which tells me that I haven't quite felt out the process of arresting the sink rate. I suspect that I'm rounding out too high and dropping it on, resulting in a bounce on the mains. I also suspect that I'm touching tail first occasionally, accentuating the flop.

With that in mind, I'm going to have to pay more attention to how high off of the ground that I am. I have a hard time forcing myself to look out the side window for height judgement, being paranoid about keeping it pointed straight, avoiding the ol' switcheroo. As I think about that, and coupling it with the BCP landing techniques with the slower/steeper approach, I'm thinking about the moving parts in the gear.

The plane is equipped with 8.50s, currently aired up to an unknown pressure. Search reveals that a good pressure for 8.50s is 18psi. I recall reading one person mentioning that they used to snicker at the folks landing with too high tire pressure, knowing that they were going to be attending a basketball match. Perhaps one thing to look at there (along with the paint marks to monitor tire slippage).

Regarding the oleos, I presume that if there was a lack of fluid in there that I'd certainly know it. The plane just came out of annual, so I'm sure that was checked. But I guess it can't hurt to look for myself. Just how much damping can I expect? A lot less high-tech than fancy auto suspensions these, days, but I'm sure it's quite functional. Only so much energy one can absorb there.

Anyway, just thinking out loud more than anything. Talking about it is easier than over-analyzing it in my own head. Sharing is caring.

~Chris

[pilot]

Chris, I'm sure you can get some pointers from these guys.


All I'm going to do is tell you to check your gear/oleo bolts to see if they were ever upgraded to NAS, and even at that take your fairings off and turn them to check for bent bolts. Also don't "assume" your oleos were checked/filled at annual......

[Chris in Milwaukee]

I asked my A&P about the NAS bolts. He said they're regular AN bolts (and I just looked at a photo I took of them recently and concur). I have ski fittings on, so the fairings are off and it's easy to see them.

Looks like I have an upgrade path to take.

[Mog]

Get your NAS bolts asap.

I can tell you from my experience that you will almost always have a small bounce if you are coming in super slow and nose up. This is one good reason to get 31" tires or bigger. When I get things just right I am dragging my tail then the plane flops down onto the mains and stops quickly. I tend to hit the ground with a bit of gusto for sure. But the gear seems to handle it well. I can slick the plane in all day long but I enjoy practicing my short field work when it's safe and appropriate.

Basically, take my opinion for what it's worth (not much) but it sounds like you are doing it right but you just don't have long enough legs to keep it smooth. So either land a tad faster or grow some longer legs and or get some bigger shoes.

[DeltaRomeo]

We have all found out that a Maule has about as much "float" as a manhole cover. Assuming you have elevator gap seals installed, at 1.3 times the Vso, (about 60 mph for mine) you have just enough energy for a quick flare (which will arrest the sink rate briefly), once that is done you are stalled, so you better be fairly close to touch down. Having a firm impression of the on the ground sight picture in your mind will help with determining the proximity to touch down. Releasing the flaps at touch down will spoil any extra lift that will carry a bounce. Before I added the gap seals a burst of power was required to arrest the sink rate at flare. Any trouble you might get into is usually fixed with power and/or a go round. It is a timing issue for each stage so be careful and keep the throttle handy until you build confidence in your timing.

[Chris in Milwaukee]

My plane does have the elevator gap seal, it seems. So one less thing.