Landings

[steen]

I have had my "Twinkie" ('66 B model) for about 16-17 years now and when I worked for a Piper dealer I flew charters in PA-24s and later demo'd the PA28 in '61 or so and the Twinkie in '63 to prospective customers.
Over the years the Comanche series of planes has gained a rep for "difficult to land smoothly". Part of this was due to Mr. Piper's penchant for keeping costs down so the gear is short (no step is required) so the plane has a lot of ground effect going on before touchdown. But in the early years this rep was not so!
What changed?
Pilot training!
I was taught in the '50's that you cut the throttle abeam the touchdown point and glide all the way to landing and so were most of the pilots back then.
With a twin, power is cut when the "landing is assured".
Later wisdom from on high (the all-knowing FAA) decreed that some power be maintained throughout the approach and landing with the throttle closed at touchdown.
This creates a horrible landing in the Comanche....less so in the singles but more so in the twins. Here's why (oh boy I can feel the guns being aimed at me now but I only speak from my experience, not yours).
Have you ever had this happen? Nice approach, on profile and speed, over the runway in the flare squeeze the power off and BARUMPH/BANG!
The BARUMPH is the stall shake (some call it akin to a dog's shaking when emerging from it's bath) and it is usually noisy and the BANG is the immediate arrival on terra firma. Everyone says the plane "stalled in" but it did not.
Nothing stalled.
The plane hit turbulence, that's all. Turbulence induced by the pilot.
Don't believe me? Try this. Have a trusted person land your plane, especially the twin, while you do nothing but stare back at the stabilator.
I will guarantee that you will be surprised at the amount of shaking around the stab does when you feel/hear the BARUMPH/BANG.
What happened?
As the props transition from pulling to dragging, a different wash is generated for a second and this different wash flows backwards over the stabilator. This is why the twin has a more pronounced "shake" as two prop vortices are involved. The stab goes from nice clean air to some God-awful disturbance and back into clean air but it does this just as you flare if you do the "modern method" and squeeze the throttle closed as you are about to touch down. When the stabilator loses ability to create downward lift the plane falls on it's face and a loud BANG occurs.
Solution: Close the throttle(s) earlier "when the landing is assured" and have clean air flowing over the stabilator at flare time.
I practice both throttles closed abeam the touchdown point and full flaps (the descent profile is even steeper than that of a TriPacer or the space shuttle, or so it seems) and I get nice landings. This is not to say you should try it (you only have "one pump" at the flare with full flaps - two with half- and you are out of airspeed and ideas simultaneously) but it does show that the airplane is just that.....an airplane with excellent flying qualities if you understand what's happening.
If you get out of power at 30-40 feet above runway you will have clean air over the stabilator and 1 pump with full/2 pumps with half/ 3 pumps with no flaps to spend getting your groove to a smooth touchdown.
Consistently.
Once again, only my observations over a span of 46 years or so.
Steen

[JIMICS2452]

That has worked for me in a Comanche since 1977. It also works in Aztecs and Senecas.

The real key ,IMHO, is speed control. Too fast- float, too slow- firm landing after a stall. While doing BFR's that most of the pilot population carries power too far into the approach and tries to land way to fast. And then wonders why they can not get down in the first third of a runway without an "arrival" instead of a landing.

[Scott Ducey]

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[Jay]

As stated, speed control is key. Get that right and it works, don't have it right and nothing works.

So far as power, I normally carry a little bit all the way to touchdown, but my PA 30 has the Robertson conversion so it is effectively a completely different wing.

Jay

[ics-12766]

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[steen]

[Tom Corell]

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[Zach Grant L1011jock]

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[Zach Grant L1011jock]

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[Tom Corell]