Earthstar Forums

I've made a number of cow pasture t/o and landings, and some pretty
rough and or rutted strips. I'm pretty comfortable with the
landings. Just use flaps and hold it off til it just won't fly
anymore. The tail often hits first, but that seems to be a non-
event.

But I'm still not real comfortable on rough field take-offs. Trying
to lift the nose early in the T-o really lengthens the ground roll.
Holding the nose down gets me off sooner, but it's a real rough
ride. Usually the ASI is bouncing so much it's unreadable. So I
just guess at t-o airspeed then pull full flaps to get off the
ground, then fly in ground effect until I get good airspeed.

If anybody has a better technique I'd sure like to hear about
it.

Standard short field TO procedure is what I use if it's rough. One notch of
flaps, Hold breaks to full throttle, lift the nose as soon as possible,
level off as soon as the mains come up to gain airspeed, then climb out.

George

I use the same procedure as George except that I hold a little back
pressure on the stick from the release of the brakes to ease pressure
as soon as possible on the nosewheel

In very rough fields I usually use full flaps and a normal flare. My
tail never hits first and with full flaps the plane slows down
tremendously fast. I can be stopped very quickly. If you haven't
used full flaps I would practice them first, because as soon as you
flare you need to be prepared to put down since the airspeed will
bleed off very fast.

Jim,

That's exactly what I said. Back stick pressure immediately. Get the front
wheel off the ground as soon as possible.
The mains are much better at taking the rough, than the front wheel. I guess
I didn't express myself effectively enough about the back stick immediately..

George

Ooops, Sorry George - I just didn't read very thoroughly - I'm a
little slow you know. I'm with you now. Totally agree.

Jim C