Originally Posted by
tcasdescend
Why land a plane pitched up so that the rear wheels touch down first and risk tail strike?
Why not land at 0 degrees pitch angle?
In order to land at the lowest flying speed we need to do a couple of things:
- Reduce the rate of descend so we don’t just thump it onto the ground, we do this by bringing the nose up (slightly) to transition from a descent to almost level flight. This is called a ‘round out’ and a ‘flare’.
- Flight at minimum (low) speed requires a higher angle of attack. Since the wings are at a fixed angle to the airplane (angle of incidence) we need to bring the nose up (slightly)
- Nose-wheels are not intended to be landed on. They’re not strong enough and just there to taxi around on the ground. Once you touch down on the main wheels the nose it to be lowered gently onto the ground.
Every flight student should see their airplane with the cowlings off and learn about construction and the mechanics.
The nose wheel on Cessna single engine series are pretty much just bolted right onto the firewall that separates the engine compartment from the cockpit. Any bump is transferred straight into the structure and it is very common to find firewall damage during inspections.
See the damage ?
