Optimal landing speed

[rwtucker]

Gary,

I am less qualified than most to comment here but I'll share a few thoughts. I am usually landing at high DA airports under conditions of variable wind. At my main airport, the windsocks at each end of the runway often disagree. Maybe because of these conditions, I am in the group that likes to carry a little extra speed on short final. I'm not sure I look at speed much after the runway is made but go more by the sight picture and feel.

Speed aside, I use the throttle as a fine tuning aid to fixing my touchdown point. My generation of DA40 (2008 XLS) seems to land most smoothly if you fly it on with slight power (~10-12 inches might be typical) and wind it down from there to idle shortly before you fly the mains on. I seldom stall the aircraft on the runway as I was taught in a Cherokee. If it wasn't already mentioned, be sure not to perform the kind of flare you might see in a Cherokee, etc. or you could end up with a bruised tail.

Rob

[perossichi]

Aside from gusty or crosswind conditions, 70 serves very well over the fence. I almost never use anything but T/O flaps. My ground roll is rarely more than 1200 ft. For my commercial test, I used 65 for short field landing. I don’t like to use 65 or less as you don’t get as much control. I routinely land at fields that are 2600 KSZP and 2400 KPAO.

The trick to keep from ballooning is a slow and moderate flare. I see Diamond pilots using too much elevator early in the flare. Most folks land at very slow speeds and this compromises control. Also, if you are planning on moving up to a higher performance plane with greater wing loading, landing slow is a dangerous habit. Also, if you encounter low level wind shear and you are slow, it could get interesting fast.

It is very useful to practice touch and goes holding the nose wheel off the ground for the entire touch and go. This gives you practice with the elevator control.

My home airport is KVNY which is very busy with a great deal of jet traffic. VFR, I’ll fly as fast as possible until short final in order to get sequenced in among jets on a long straight-in ins approach. If I’m flying in the pattern at a smaller airport, I’ll fly about 90 on downwind with 17-19 inches of MP. I’ll cut to idle abeam the numbers and fly a pretty tight pattern. I don’t hold much power at all on base and final. Of course, on instrument approaches with a std 3 degree glide slope, You have to use power to keep your speed up. I’ll fly these with a min 12 inches but frequently more until past the FAF.

[Rich]

I must say I'm mystified about statements that you can't land the DA40 "like a Cessna or Cherokee". In thousands of hours over several decades I've flown numerous different tricycle gear aircraft types: C-150s,-172s,-177s,-182s,-210s, Piper PA 28s, 24s, 22s, Columbia 350, Mooneys, and Bonanzas. I've used the same landing technique for the DA40 I've used for all those types. Basically flare above the runway and hold the nose off until touching down on the mains. How the aircraft reacts between flare and through the touchdown definitely differs among the types, but it doesn't change the pre-rollout technique at all. For example, Cherokees and Tripacers will plunk the nosewheel down almost instantly after settling on the mains. Tripacers exhibit no noticeable ground effect and use of flaps is a mere formality. And naturally the approach speed for each aircraft varies.

What's different among the various types is the sight picture. And that's influenced by things like where the top of the panel and cowling is relative to your eyeballs. For some of these types, when you're in a proper flare pre-touchdown attitude you can not see directly over the nose. (Or anywhere, for that matter. A couple of these are like looking out a foxhole.) That's definitely not the case with my DA40. Perhaps it is this aspect of the landing where the assertion of "can't land it like a Cessna" comes from. In reality I'm landing it like I always would, but it may not look the same from this particular perception. But I definitely see no reason to "fly it on" in a three-point position.

Another thing that varies among the types is how far above the bottom of the plane your eyeballs sit. The Comanches and Mooneys are similar to the DA40, but Cessnas generally sit you up considerably higher. Cherokees and Beech's are somewhere in between. You'll note that the common observation is flaring too high in a DA40.

One thing that differentiates the DA40 from all the above is the very minimal stick movement required to execute the flare and the ergonomics of doing so. All the planes above have control yokes with a significant range of travel. Some of these Cessnas will travel more than a foot, front to back. You move it quite a bit to execute a flare, and you use your whole arm, rotating all the way from the shoulder. As best I can measure, full travel of the stick at the point my hand holds it is something like 5 inches. Properly trimmed, to execute the initial flare I move it maybe one inch, with little more that hand movement - maybe a bit of forearm - and it takes very little force.