Tamed by the Tailwheel

Yesterday I had an acro lesson scheduled, but since the ceilings were
too low we decided to do some pattern work instead since I'm also
working on the TW endorsement. The grass field at the airport had some
soft spots from the rain this weekend, so the plan was to fly over to
Queens City Airport, just outside of Allentown, PA. While I have
managed to make some good three point landings on the grass, the
majority of my eight or so hours in the Super Decathlon has been
devoted to acro, with pattern work making up only a small percentage of
my time up to this point.

Although I knew the winds were 310 with gusts between 20-24 kts, when
we departed from Rwy 25 I was still surprised at how quickly the wind
was pushing me off centerline. I corrected, but as we had been warned
by a glider pilot a few minutes earlier, the ten minute trip over was
extremely bumpy and likely made worse by the numerous ridges in the
area. After arriving I overflew the field to verify the most
appropriate runway, which was Rwy 33. My instructor informed me that
the pattern is particularly tight, with one reason being that there is
a ridge on the approach end of Rwy 33.

I flew out and made the 45 to the downwind while getting knocked around
the entire time. On the first pattern I found myself rushed and not
able to get properly set-up. I knew that I was too fast on final and
while I flared at about the right time, I allowed my attitude to fall
somewhere between that required for a wheel landing and a three point.
Combining those two factors caused me to bounce more times than I care
to remember, so I decided to go around. What became readily apparent to
me is that while one can get away with excess speed on the grass, the
margin for error on the hard top.

One the next trip around the pattern I think I was more relaxed and was
able to not only get my prop and throttle setting nailed, but I managed
to get my speed closer to where it should be. This approach was far
more stable with a good flare, but again my attitude was a hybrid
between a wheel and three point. I think part of the problem was that
I wasn't keeping the stick far enough back for a good three point
attitude. My instructor commented that if I had just given it a little
more forward pressure it would have been a good wheel landing, although
that's not what I was trying to do. We did one more trip around the
pattern before heading back and that was probably the worst of the
three.

Back at Van Sant we had about a 60 degree crosswind, but I managed to
keep the upwind wing down. Fortunately, the grass allows more mistakes
to be forgiven than on asphalt. I think my biggest problem happens to
be speed control. While I'm comfortable with no flap landings in a
172, I think the higher speed on downwind in the SD makes it harder to
bleed off speed for the approach. I'm 23 squared on downwind then once
abeam the numbers I bring the MP to 15" and prop full forward. At that
point my airspeed is about 120 mph. My instructor mentioned that he
often keeps cruise speed on downwind until abeam. I've done enough
spins and stalls in the SD to know that with throttle to idle it still
takes some work getting the airspeed down. Because I don't want to
make my pattern too wide I'm reluctant to spend too much time bleeding
off airspeed before completing the pattern.

But I think that if I can get my airspeed control nailed consistently I
can really get a handle on this. When my airspeed is on point my
landings are pretty good, but it's a matter of nailing the airspeed
more often. Doing this in a 172 is almost a no brainer. Perhaps I
should let the instructor demonstrate a few landings for me. It was
humbling experience and I felt like I was a new student pilot all over
again. I think my feet are still tired from all the dancing I had to
do.

Dave