Gear Switch to tailwheel
Megaulf said:
Let?s assume you are approaching an airport and find out, after listening to the ATIS, that they have 20 knots cross winds gusting to 30. If you on final had a switch, on your instrument panel, where you could select between tail wheel or nose wheel. Honestly, where would YOU put the switch? Food for thought!
In theory from physics, flight control and inertia the tail wheel should be easier or able to land in higher crosswind.
The reason is there is more fuselage exposed to the cross wind in a tail dragger simply because the mains are further forward. Therefore there is more area and more weather vain tendency. This is reacted by proper rudder input to maintain the proper alignment with the runway, i.e. vector of travel = runway alignment. To stop the drift you put in a bank with aileron to use horz component of lift to counter x-wind. Thus your in a side-slip with cross control. There is no different in the air between gear configurations. However on the RV I think you are going to run out of wing tip clearance before rudder. The diff in RV and RV-A main gear is not that great.
IN a cross wind you touch down on the up wind main wheel first and hold it there during the ground roll until you have FULL aileron control input and than and only than does the second tire touches the runway, the down wind main. If you start to weather vain and have full rudder in you need to drag the down wind brake. Once the speed bleeds and the appropriate 3rd wheel starts to roll (nose or tail wheel) you steer as always do while using the proper anti-wind flight control inputs. I think you are going to be busy either way. The big dif is if you screw up it is assumed the nose wheel config will be self correcting and you can just plop it on in a crab and might get away with it. However the RV has a short coupled gear and thegear, especially the nose gear is not that stiff or robust. The dynamic responce may be ugly. The point you have to land well with either RV gear design.
My war story. Coming back from Oshkosh going towards Seattle (with 2 RON at Spruce Creek ID, Yea!) Landed near Fargo due to weather. The runway was rain soaked and it was 500-800 ovc 3 miles and at least 20G25, 60 degree from the runway. (Not the 30 kts x-wind you discribe, but if it was 30 kts x-wind I'll land across the width of the runway, taxiway or ramp if it was that bad. What is the ground roll with a touch down at 16 mph gnd speed?)
I did a one wheel landing with the wing tip near the ground in side-slip. Everything was normal: held the up wind wheel down, down wind wheel touched after running out of aileron, ran out of rudder at the same time the tail wheel touched. I rolled out straight. I had full aileron into the wind, almost full back with tail wheel effective and rolling at approx 30 mph gnd speed. The wind was so strong that my RV-4 was "hopping" (drifting) side ways, while still pointed straight down the runway. The speeds where very slow by this time. The hop/drift stop as I got the plane stopped on the runway, still pointed straight. The runway was 100 feet wide and drifted (hopped) down wind of the centerline of slick wet runway about 5 feet, but it felt like a mile. I SLOWLY taxied to the ramp.
The slick runway was a factor. However I can't believe a RV-A would have been easier to land and taxi or would have done anything much different in an "A-model" before 40 mph ground speed.
With the tail wheel planted I was able steer and roll straight out (granted with few hops side ways). With a nose wheel it would have taken some deft touch on the brakes to go straight. May be (MAY BE) the lower wing angle of attack of the Tri-gear would have put more weight on the main wheels, thus keeping the plane from the hop side drift. Again this is theory, and admit that the landing I described was near the planes wet runway limit and probably mine. (BTW I had a passenger and full baggage which may have helped.) I was able to keep directional control with the tail wheel while being blown sideways until I got it stopped. I have never landed a RV-A in this kind of x-wind, but have a few thousand hours in SEL factory planes, almost all with nose wheels and steering. I would say many of these factory Tri-gears would be my choice over (ANY) RV in these strong x-wind conditions, with bigger wheels, high wings (more wing tip ground clearance) and positive nose wheel steering.
Comparing a Citabria to a Cessna is not equiv to comparing a RV to a RV-A. My RV ?GEAR SWITCH? is still set to tail and will stay there. The myth and fear of tail draggers is miss-placed. I understand you think it is easier in normal conditions, which is true to a point, but in extreme conditions you will need to fly any RV all the way till it stops (and is parked).
Cheers George RV-4/RV-7