Originally Posted by
Globocnik
The Wasp was marginally worse. Heavier for one thing, the flot gear interfered with induced flow, so it came down like the proverbial brick outhouse. And then the skewed in gear, in land mode, which caused snaking on landing. It behoved one to ensure the wheel locks were out prior to the first one. At least one a season came back from Merryfield on the back of a Queen Mary having been “top hatted”.
My first EOLs were in the Whirlwind 7 in 1971, to grass, and were so gentle that you did not expect a run-on. It was said that if you missed the spot you could take off and air taxi to the correct place before running up the engine. ;-)
The contrast to the Wasp was stark. Those annual trips to Merryfield were fun, but perhaps not for the beefers, who could not really hide their terror of what we everyday pilots might do. It was no good flaring at the height of all your practice autos, or you would find yourself hanging in the air like Wile E Coyote and with a similar result. With the wheels pinned fore and aft and no brakes, any significant forward speed could see you 100m down the runway before coming to a halt. No grass for this exercise.