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Landings: How-To: HOW TO FLY A J-3 CUB

HOW TO FLY A J-3 CUB
by Dagley Reeves

[Introduction][The TAXI][The TAKEOFF][Common Mistakes]
[Air Work][Landing][Crosswinds][Emergencies]
[Conclusion][NTSB Accidents]

LANDING

If possible, try to schedule your first landing experience on a grass runway, on calm day, when your biorhythms are good. Grass runways are difficult to find nowadays (especially in Arizona where I live) but if you can't find a grass strip, try to find a dirt runway somewhere... a wide dirt runway.

A good landing is preceded by a good approach, so give yourself plenty of room to get things set up. It seems everybody has a favorite foot (mine is the right one) so be alert for the universal bugaboo, the skidding turn. Remember, there ain't much room between approach and stall speed. There are two schools of thought on the correct approach angle. One theory is to come in high enough so that were your engine to stop, you could make a safe landing anyway. I prefer this approach myself, although at a congested aerodrome this might not be practical. Remember to clear the engine occasionally during the glide, just to make sure she's still ticking and is not loaded up. You might want to use the engine for something else later, you know like, say... go-around. The other theory holds that modern aircraft engines are to be considered reliable and a powered approach is the correct way to do it. Fine if you consider 1930's technology to be modern. Whatever blows your shirt (or skirt) up. Pick one and do it consistently, all things being equal.

Fly the approach around 55 or 60 mph considering winds, gust, loads etc. I know, it will fly much slower, but speed is life, humor me. Keep that nose pointed straight down the runway using the techniques you learned in the air work earlier. Ailerons keep the wings level, rudder guides the nose. Aim the nose for a point where you want to land. If your approach is set up correctly, the nose should stay on that point without any great change in speed.

"I'm high, or at least I think I'm high. When should I slip?" Once when I was getting checked out on a sailboat, the instructor asked me a question: "When should you reef the sails?" I studdered for a moment and was about to guess when he said: "The first time you think about it!" This applies to corrections on the landing approach. Correct altitude problems early in the approach. If your high, get back on glide path. If your low, add some power and get back on glide path. Hoping it will work out and your instructor won't notice usually doesn't work. So now you are ready for the next question: When should you go around? Repeat after me: "The first time you think about it!"

Now comes the really fun part. Everything is fine until the ground starts coming up as you flare. "Funny everything looked fine a few seconds ago, now I can't see a dang thing and haven't the slightest clue where the ground is! What's he yelling up there? Oh, there it is...uh oh here it comes again!" Boing boing boing screeech. "I've got it!!!" "Oh, that was what he was saying."

Well, that was less than perfect. If it wasn't, just wait. The basic problem has to do with several things. Your strapped to a 600 pound superball, the visibility is crummy, your being yelled at and it is remotely possible you might be a little scared. Beginning to understand why most modern aircraft have nose wheels now? When you did your walk around, did you notice those fat rubber ball looking tires? They were designed for "unimproved runways", you know, dirt or grass. Did you wonder what was inside those cute little black boots on the landing gear? Go ahead, unsnap them and take a look. Inside your going to find the biggest rubber band you've ever seen in your life. "No wonder I was bouncing all over the airport like a ping pong ball!"

While the appearance of the landing gear might lead you to beleive that all those bounces were due to the bouncy looking tires and the bungees, in reality, it is the placement of the gear that is probably the culprit. As you have noticed, the landing gear on a taildragger is farther forward putting it ahead of the center of gravity. Perhaps it will help to visualise what happens when you land a nosewheel equipped airplane. As you touch down the nose wants to drop. This in turn reduces the angle of attach on the wings. Now, if you did a full stall landing, it wouldn't matter because the wing would be stalled and not providing much lift. But if you hit at a higher speed the wing would be capable of supplying enough lift to make you go airborne again. But, since the nose automatically dropped, serving as a sort of auto-spoiler, the plane stays on the ground. In a tailwheel airplane however, hitting above stall speed would cause the nose to pitch up, increasing the angle of attack. Guess what happens! Your airborne again and losing speed! If you hit really fast this can get out of hand before you know it especially if you get a cylce behind the bounces in which case your aggravating everything. Eventually, (probably at the apex of the highest bounce) the wing will stall and you will hit really hard for the last time. So, the problem is not the resilient nature of the tires and shocks so much as it is a question of speed and angle of attack. If you had decided on a full stall landing and excecuted such, you might bounce but it won't be a high bounce. The stick has to be all the way back to insure a full stall landing. It rarley is. Why, well, I guess we all have the tendancy to want to save a little elevator just in case we misjudged and need some more to stop a "drop in". Perhaps that is the falacy.

Now we come to the wheel landing. In a wheel landing we are coming in at a speed slightly above stall on purpose. The main wheels hit. For every action there is an equal and oposite reaction so the nose of the plane is pushed up. Angle of attack increases, lift is produced and viola! Your airborn again. And again, and again. Or you could have lucked out and everything is fine. The key to getting consistent results with wheel landings is threefold. First you have to control the rate at which the wheels touch. In other words try not to hit so hard. That way the nose will not bounce up so much. Try carrying a little power to reduce your sink rate. The next thing is to use a proper approach speed. The faster you touch down, the more potential left is available to fling you back into the air. In the case of a botched full stall landing the reason is usually because you allowed the plane to touch down going too fast. Simply, the wing was not stalled. In a wheel landing, we know that the wing has lift potential and the more speed the harder it is going to be to get a good landing. The last thing is the most difficult because of our fear of nosing over. If the angle of attack goes positive the airplane may become airborne again. So how do you stop it? With the elevator. Now I am not telling you to shove the nose over with the stick when you touch down, lets be clear about that. However you might be surprised at how much forward pressure you can put on the elevator without nosing over or hitting the prop. Here is the way I do it. I carry a little power to shallow out the flare and reduce my sink rate. I also have the nose trimmed slighlty nose down. I try for for a smooth touchdown and as soon as the wheels touch, go immediatley to idle power and release the backpressure I was holding as a result of the nose down trim. Timing is everything. Putting forward pressure on the elevator at touchdown will not get you into trouble HOWEVER, if you are late and the airplane has already bounced and left the ground, be assured things will go to hell in a handbasket.

When my brother in law was checking out in the Cub he said, "I don't understand what I'm doing wrong!" I told him "Your hitting the ground too damn hard!" This was a joke of sorts obviously. The real problem was he was hitting the ground too fast in his full stall attempts. In the wheel landings he could not make himself put forward pressure on the elevator after touchdown, a holdover from his nosewheel experience.

Don't despair, this part just takes a little time. Again it would be difficult for me to try to talk you through all the elements and possible outcomes of a landing but here are some hints. Get a good visual picture of what the correct landing attitude is while your taxing out to the runway. Notice what kind of forward visibility you have, where the ground is and where you should be looking during the landing. Directly over the nose is probably not a good choice. Get the airplane "in the slot" early on in the approach and keep it there, nose right down the runway. Continue to fly the plane after you land. It is very easy to lower a wing by improper use of the ailerons after you have touched. It is very easy to run off the runway after you have touched. The old axiom, "Your not done flying until the hanger doors are closed." is not entirely inaccurate. Decide what kind of landing your going to make, a wheel landing or a full stall. Remember to trim. Surprise, the Cub does have a trim tab. Do not shove the stick forward if you bounce. Release some of the back pressure maybe , to keep from going into the bejeesus belt but don't dive toward the runway. Let her settle down, add a little power if necessary and try it again. Remember what I said about going around, the first time you think about it. If you start porpusing, go around.

Be prepared to takes some hits. I don't know of anyone who has flown a Cub and has not bounced it. Don't be too hard on yourself, this takes practice. Be prepared to by a case of beer for all your friends who were standing around watching. Sure, they are going to ride you a little but that's part of it and the reward comes when they start asking you to take them flying in a real airplane. Besides, it will go better tomorrow, I promise.

Wheel landing or full stall? Well, I don't know, there are several theories. Some say you should do a wheel landing in a crosswind to keep the ailerons effective longer. The problem with that is the tail is still up and if a good gust hits, your headed for the rhubarb patch. If you try to bring the tail down prematurely, your flying again. Actually, I think the different schools of thought on wheel vs. full stall has more to do with the personal preference of the pilot involved. Wheel landings are easy for some difficult for others and vice versa. Pilots have a natural tendency to do whatever is easiest and they do best Whatever floats your boat but you should practice both kinds. Don't put too much faith into some of the hanger talk you may hear about the subject. A Cub is a Cub, it's not a P-51 or a DC-3 so what works in those airplanes may not work as well in a J-3. For example, anyone who tries to wheel land a Pitts Special is asking for trouble but there is certainly nothing wrong with a wheel landing in a J-3. In short, there may be times when a wheel landing is appropriate and others when a full stall landing is more prudent.

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