Hello to all. I'm a new member that just purchased my first airplane, a turbo arrow III. My question to any with experience with this model is- how do you land it? I'm a CFII that flies about 300 hrs a year. Most of my time is in Warriors, Lance, Saratoga and 182's. My problem is the nose gear sounds like it's taking a real beating with each landing. Is this normal? The plane just came out of an annual and the grear is relatively new. Thanks ahead of time for any input.
The TA III is less forgiving on airspeeds than other planes I've flown, aside from Mooneys.
If you carry too much speed into the flare, you float and it's difficult to get enough rotation to keep from three-pointing the landing on touchdown (one quirk of the tapered wing.) On the other hand, if you don't carry enough speed, you don't have enough elevator authority left over to smoothly set the nose down - it doesn't seem to like to set down gently on its own.
A little under 75 kts on touchdown seems to work out the best.
Thanks, I've been coming in at 68-71kts across the numbers with full flaps. The runway is only 2200 feet long and I think from what you're telling me I'm coming in a little too slow. I'll give 75kts a try and let you know.
David, you might find that only using two notches of flap makes smooth landing easier as it tends to give you a nose high attitude. I find that it works well for me though my Arrow is not a tapered wing version. I only use full flaps when landing on soft, slippery, short fields. On very windy days we use at most one notch and often no flaps at all.
David, I've been a T-Arrow III owner/operator for 14 years and SacArrow is correct. Carry a little power into the flare and your nose wheel will be most grateful.
I'm also embarrassed to admit that I didn't use this technique until about a year ago. So my poor nose gear has been getting thunk'd for 13 of my years of ownership.
I second all the above opinions! Having moved to my Arrow from a Skyhawk a few years back I had to learn to land all over again and still "thunk" the nose wheel if I don't carry a tad of power and 2 notches max of flaps. I would really like to know what the aerodynamics on the stabiliator are when the wing gets close to the ground. Seems like the tail's authority just goes away :(
Thanks guys... I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one to wince with each landing. I knew it had to be something simple. I appreciate the tips and am eager to give it a try!
<< I would really like to know what the aerodynamics on the stabiliator are when the wing gets close to the ground. Seems like the tail's authority just goes away :( >>
Just a note here regarding stabilator effectiveness. After installing Micro VGs on my Cherokee 160 with the short stabilator, I was amazed at the difference in low speed control. Much, much better!
The early Cherokees had a much narrower stabilator than the later ones. Piper added about 10 inches to each side on the newer ones, and I've seen both the short and wider tips installed. My '62 has the 'short' stab, with the short tips. It really lacked on control effectiveness at low speed.
The VGs installed on the bottom of the stabilator really made a big difference. The whole install made a big difference overall, with quicker lift-off, higher cruise, reduced descent rate, much better glide, and more positive slower landings. These were noticed over the already installed STOL kit. Our beach spot landing competition this year netted 290-320 ft take-offs, and 275-300 ft landings. Big difference from the year prior.
[www.microaero.com] makes the Micro VGs, and
www.buyplaneparts.com sells them at a discount. I installed them myself in 1 1/2 days with my IA watching my work. Easy, just a lot of little pieces to glue on.
