Great advice guys, keep it coming. Hopfully it will keep some of us out of the accident report pages
On the point of when it is best to rotate I have heard many differing views. The 172 I fly has will usually want to get airborne at about 55kts (on average of course) however in a shortfield situation i would prefer to keep it on the ground for another 10ks give or take - until it feels right. I dont rotate early as Im not fond of flying in the back end of the drag curve.
Originally Posted by wombat13
Once deployed, get it up sharpish and into the ground effect (for the low wing in particular), once required speed achieved for flight, up you go - for real.
[B]Wombat[B] suggested to lift off and fly in the ground effect to bulid up speed. Would it not be safer to leave the main wheels on the ground (provided you have the runway distance) in case of crosswind, gusts, aborting the take off etc, instead of wallowing around in the ground effect in a low speed/high drag situation?
I know there are many variables e.g. wind, weight, temp & pressure etc but is there one "safer" method for take offs?