Best i.e safe way was always to hold it on the deck till a reasonable healthy speed was judged
It is the action of that judgement which has caught my eye. Two owners with whom I flew their 182s in one day, were both apparently surprised that the aircraft would fly itself off very gracefully if the nose was held light. That tells me that the judgement they would apply to "holding it on" might not be entirely appropriate to the aircraft. Hence my thread.
Yes, it's their plane, and they have entitlement to treat it as they wish, but is it not appropriate to point out that the training that they had received might have been incomplete? In both cases, these two aircraft had been damaged through less than ideal pilot technique of the respective pilots - more than $50,000 damage to each aircraft, and months out of service. In both cases, the damage would not have occurred, had the nose been held light on the runway.
The only aircraft I have ever damaged while undertaking flight was a prop on a 182, because I did not hold the nose light - I learned my expensive lesson. Do I not owe a moral duty of care to my fellow fliers to allow them to share in my experience if they choose to?