>Turning final I trim the aircraft about four
pounds nose UP, and hold positive forward pressure all the way down
final, to keep speed and attitude just right. Maintaining this pressure
makes one very conscious of everything the aircraft is doing, because one
is really flying the plane rather than let it slide down final in neutral
trim. When I get to the flare, I just relax forward pressure, and with a
few circuits in any aircraft type, you can judge it so that at neutral
trim, at flare speed, the aircraft is perfectly trimmed already for the
touch down, and you can concentrate on any crosswind component, ie
dealing with only two axes instead of three.
As the wheels touch you keep the the stick or column slowly coming
back, which in a trike will keep the nose wheel up for as long as
required, and in a taildragger will hold the three point position without
relaunching. I have found this works for every aircraft type in all
conditions, and results in fair to reasonable landings every
time.
One thing that happens with the Europa, and catches me out occasionally
is that in the flare, the airplane is in ground effect. The downwash from
the flap is blocked so the tail suddenly has a different aiflow direction
and if you don't pull back an inch or two the nose drops. It feels as
though the airplane has stalled. Wrong. If the wheel is 2 inches off the
ground the plane will wheel land itself, usually quite neatly. Much more
than 2 inch will result in a bounce. I have often caught myself doing
this and seen others doing it quite unconsciously. It works as long as
you keep flying the airplane even though it's on the ground. Hit a bump
and it all goes to worms, as they say. Go round time.
The most reliable technique, I find is to feel for the ground with the
tailwheel, assuming I have the new tailwheel installed, (strongly
recommended for this very reason) as soon as it touches stick back the
rest of the way and concentrate on keeping straight.
The difficulty I have, being an old slow learner, is judging the height
off the ground, and this is why IMHO unless already current on Europas,
you should let someone else do your first flight, no matter how much time
you have on other taildraggers.
Graham
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