Originally Posted by
stepwilk
Since I have never flown aircraft long and powerful enough to whack their tails, can somebody explain to me what causes tailstrikes?
Yes, I understand that overrotation "causes" the strike, but what leads to the overrotation? Simple carelessness? Pulling too hard/fast? Not paying attention to the proper pitch indication? Nervousness about too long a takeoff roll? It seems so simple that if 10 degrees is a proper rotation and 12 degrees will hit the tail, you don't let the little veebird go past 10.
Or am I missing something?
It seems that frequently when someone in a large jet tries to takeoff erronously with the flaps up or with V-speeds much lower than they should be for their heavy weight, that they end up with a tailstrike. A good example is the 727 in Dallas many years back.
So here is my question. Why does the tail strike happen. I assume that these particular pilots know not to exceed a certain pitch angle. 10° nose-up on the 727 was about the max you wanted with the mains still on the ground.
So is it because the pilot flying rotates, does not lift off and then tries to force the aircraft in the air. I don't think that a pitch instability would be involved as the tail is probably flying fine. If I ever happen to encounter this situation on the 727 where I am at my 10° noseup attitude and not lifting off, aside from adjusting thrust, what do you recommend in terms of pitch. I might be tempted to lower the nose.
Just curious.