Originally Posted by barit1
It used to be military practice (assuming plenty of surplus runway) to hold the nose off for "aerodynamic braking" - reduces brake energy and maybe tire wear as well.
When I flew fighters in the military, that is exactly what we used to do. However in airline OPs at AA the practice is to put the nose of the MD-80 down immediately so that you don't drag a thrust reverser. Having said that, when you land without a nosewheel you do indeed hold the nose off as long as you have good control and then very gently lower it to the runway. Hopefully as softly as possible.