I was updating my logbook a little while ago, and saw that I have totaled over 9,000 landings in my flying career (so far). Why we total this number is beyond me, but it causes me to remember that I LOVE to land flying machines. I?ve had the marvelous opportunity to land an incredible variety ? and all bring a little joy when handled just right. I think that landing might be the ultimate formation flying ? coming into contact softly (and without damage) with your partner, which in this case is the earth. Whatever it is, we are judged (and frequently judge ourselves) by our landings ? ?good? ones being a badge of honor among those who call themselves pilots.
We all know a good landing when we see it, or when we feel it. I am not talking about the method of landing ? that is irrelevant. Tricycle, tail wheel, wheel landing, three point, soft field, short field, spot landing?.they are all techniques ? methods for getting a particular airplane on the ground in a particular situation. I am talking about that magic moment of arrival when the airplane touches down EXACTLY when and where you want it to, perfectly timed so that you are not even sure if the wheels have started turning or not. So soft that you can feel the individual molecules of the wheel bearing grease shearing as the balls and races slowly spin past each other. No bounce or hop, just that perfect arrival and gentle slowing as the weight of the airplane transfers from the wing to the undercarriage.
These moments of perfection come rarely to all, more frequently to those for whom it matters. It is amazing how each landing becomes important when landing at your own airpark, knowing the neighbors are watching from their open hangars and back yards (most of them aviation professionals who know a good one when they se them). True pilots love to try for these perfect touchdowns, journeymen get them accidentally, but know not how, and apprentices are still trying to re-use the airplane after each landing. And some days, the best any of us can do is get the airplane on the ground within the confines of the airport ? gusty, tumbling, turbulent winds and currents conspiring to add our name to the rolls of the NTSB reports (?Witnesses reported that the aircraft departed runway after third touchdown and ended up in ditch??).
I find that the Valkyrie and I have a good rapport when loaded for normal flight, and touch down in a slightly tail-low wheel landing attitude. I can feel that slow spin up, and the compression of the gear legs as we settle, a very slight pressure on the stick keeping us pinned to prevent the skip. I have greater trouble working the kinks out of my relationship with Mikey, the RV-6. But nothing can compare with those occasional ?perfect? moments in a J-3 Cub, the door open, the grass rising to meet you as you see the right main begin to slowly spin, dampness appearing slowly as the whole tire finally becomes involved, the tail wheel doing the same thing out of sight behind. You can actually hear and feel the airplane kissing the earth as you move from one element to the other, one more rare and perfect moment to enter in the log?..
Paul
We all know a good landing when we see it, or when we feel it. I am not talking about the method of landing ? that is irrelevant. Tricycle, tail wheel, wheel landing, three point, soft field, short field, spot landing?.they are all techniques ? methods for getting a particular airplane on the ground in a particular situation. I am talking about that magic moment of arrival when the airplane touches down EXACTLY when and where you want it to, perfectly timed so that you are not even sure if the wheels have started turning or not. So soft that you can feel the individual molecules of the wheel bearing grease shearing as the balls and races slowly spin past each other. No bounce or hop, just that perfect arrival and gentle slowing as the weight of the airplane transfers from the wing to the undercarriage.
These moments of perfection come rarely to all, more frequently to those for whom it matters. It is amazing how each landing becomes important when landing at your own airpark, knowing the neighbors are watching from their open hangars and back yards (most of them aviation professionals who know a good one when they se them). True pilots love to try for these perfect touchdowns, journeymen get them accidentally, but know not how, and apprentices are still trying to re-use the airplane after each landing. And some days, the best any of us can do is get the airplane on the ground within the confines of the airport ? gusty, tumbling, turbulent winds and currents conspiring to add our name to the rolls of the NTSB reports (?Witnesses reported that the aircraft departed runway after third touchdown and ended up in ditch??).
I find that the Valkyrie and I have a good rapport when loaded for normal flight, and touch down in a slightly tail-low wheel landing attitude. I can feel that slow spin up, and the compression of the gear legs as we settle, a very slight pressure on the stick keeping us pinned to prevent the skip. I have greater trouble working the kinks out of my relationship with Mikey, the RV-6. But nothing can compare with those occasional ?perfect? moments in a J-3 Cub, the door open, the grass rising to meet you as you see the right main begin to slowly spin, dampness appearing slowly as the whole tire finally becomes involved, the tail wheel doing the same thing out of sight behind. You can actually hear and feel the airplane kissing the earth as you move from one element to the other, one more rare and perfect moment to enter in the log?..
Paul