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Showing results for tags 'landing technique'.
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Hello Everyone!! I have owned several Mooneys, starting with a 1984 201, followed by two 252's, two "M" Models and finally my current Ovation and have logged close around 2.300 hours in all of them and flown them everywhere in the U.S and also to see Angel Falls in Venezuela. I found that I could "roll on" practically all my landings in every Mooney except for my current Ovation. I would throttle back approaching or crossing the threshold and then just run the trim in ground effect and they would roll on all the time. This 1995 Ovation has taken me a while to master and I believe that it is because of the slick cowling without cowl flaps making it a bit more tricky to keep the final approach speed nailed as well as the nose not coming up completely after running the trim. Also, the somewhat limited view over the higher glare shield in the 1995 model change the landing "picture" compared to the other Mooneys. I do not use speed brakes on final since I prefer to master the "clean" technique with correct approach speed and believe it "rolls-on" better without them. I did this video on landing the Ovation and hope it helps those that may be interested. https://youtu.be/hnFt4vGmm7s
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Surely there must be many dozens of threads on this topic. But I'm new to the forum, and searches on "landing technique" or even just "landing" result in no hits. In my short (250 hours) flying career to date, I have only had one bounced landing that resulted in a go-around. Now 20 hours into having a Mooney M20F, including 15 dual received, with nary a problem other than getting the aircraft slowed down from altitude, I get four bounced landings/go-arounds in a row. I had previously read all the advice I could find on landing Mooneys. I am well aware that speed control is essential. Wind was calm, the runway was plenty long enough, the plane was light (me and less than half fuel). The first three times I came in over the numbers at the recommended 80 MPH/70 knots (yes, I was paying close attention to airspeed). I had a nicely controlled sink rate, low power, full flaps, and full nose up trim, flared, brought power to idle, held the nose off as the plane slowed, and... boink! The plane dropped, but only by a matter of inches. In my Cherokee, the struts would have dissipated the energy of such a small drop, but the rubber discs of the Mooney sprung the plane back into the air. The bounce was small enough that I felt comfortable letting the plane settle back to the runway, but on the second touch it boinked again and I was out of there. On the last attempt, I figured I was light enough that I could come in over the numbers at 75 MPH. The plane boinked once, I let it settle, it just barely boinked a second time, so I risked letting it settle a third time (please do not follow this example), it boinked again and I could tell a porpoise was starting, so I got the heck out of there. The airstrip was new to me in this plane (though I have landed a Cherokee there many times before) and is known to have a few undulations in the surface. Flying light in the Mooney was also new to me. At no time did the stall horn go off. I think the most likely explanation is that I still don't have the sight picture quite right. I definitely don't have the feel for setting the plane down gently after a small initial bounce the way I would in a Cherokee. I have already scheduled more time with my instructor. Would love to hear words of advice (encouragement?) from others on the forum...