Pattern and Landing

[skymstr02]

I use the same speeds as GKEY, but on short final I trim almost full nose up where it takes effort to push on the yoke to maintain the glide path, so when I pull the power, all I have to do is relax the push and the airplane actually flares itself.

[John Hoffman]

Flew with an instructor who was a great Skymaster guy - he had me fly the pattern and down final with out ever touching the yoke. It was all pedals nose up trim and throttle. Had full up trim down final to finally taking the wheel just before touch down. I allways have full up trim now and as you say it pretty much lands itself if you have speed under control.

[Roger]

Two things I might suggest

1) I don't necessarily agree with full up trim on short final, becuase it's possible that you will need to go around, and full up trim will not be pretty if your need full power.

2) I have always said out-loud and used "Down wind / down Gear" as my point to put the gear down. This vs waiting until base or abeam. It's just an easy thing to remember. Once the doors are closed again the speed decrease is minimal, which keeps you moving around the pattern at a good speed, but adds one more way to "not forget".

[Skymaster337B]

My simple method:

Downwind: 100 MPH, 1/3flaps, Gear down
Base: 90 MPH, 2/3 flaps
Final: 90-80 MPH, 2/3-3/3 flaps (depends upon how well the pattern worked out)
Fence: 80 MPH, full flaps
Touch down: Whatever it takes to grease it in!

[gkey]

Maybe it is because I got scared witless one day when my gear refused to come down, or maybe because after pumping 97 times my arm was useless for a week afterwards, but I have a very healthy respect for the hydraulics system.

So, I lower my gear even before I enter the pattern, for the following reasons:
1. I want to pay full and complete attention to the gear lowering business - no distractions.
2. I want to know BEFORE I enter the pattern if I have a problem.
3. If I do have a problem, I am OUTSIDE of the busy traffic, I can break away to a quiter spot and do my troubleshooting there.
4. I can alert ATC if my problem is un-solvable, and give them time to clear the area and get ready for my pod-landing.
5. I can get color back to my face in time, because 'pale' does not look well on evening-news TV.

[dwbomber]

My two cents on the topic.
I have the habit of slowing her down ,getting in 1/3 flaps, and dropping the gear within a couple of miles of the pattern. I, also almost always only put in 2/3 flaps, unless it is real calm. The guy who sold me my first skymaster (flight instructor) showed me how easy she was to land with the nose trimmed all the way up. I do not do this, because if you encounter wind shear on final, or have to do a go around for any other reason, you might have wished you had the nose trimmed down a little. Also, it is good to take it easy on your turbos, and push and pull real easy. JIM

[rick bell]

fly your pattern at 10k, experiment with speeds and stettings then you will know your a/c