Flaps on take-off and landing

On Thu, 14 Sep 2006 07:55:05 +0200, Mxsmanic
wrote:

Similarly, I retract the
flaps completely as soon as I'm completely on the runway for landing,
so that the wind doesn't push me around. Is this the correct way to
do it?

The first plane with flaps that I flew was a PA-18 Super Cub. When I
reached for the flap lever (it has a name, but I forget), what I got
was a rocket from my instructor in the back seat. "Don't touch
anything till you stop rolling!" Of course the PA-18 is a taildragger
and more sensitive to a pilot's inattention.

A year later I took Damian Delgaizo's bush-flying course in Andover
NJ. The plane was an Aviat Husky with a similar flap lever, and we
made much greater use of it. The splendid trick was to fly over a
cornfield (whatever) in ground effect, then dump the flaps as soon as
the mains crossed the threshold of the (grass) field, so that the
Husky stopped within 250 feet.