Landing Bounces: Minimizing Them
Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 1:10 pm
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
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