Take off and Landings

This forward facing GoPro footage shows what its like to land in a cross wind in the T6 Harvard, however what it doesn't show is the shear terror on my face as I try and land the beast with only 13 hours on the T6 Harvard and a total of 80 hours on tail wheel aircraft. I am fairly happy knowing that I have either Neil Oakman or Glen Fricker in the back to assist me when I get it wrong... How they can help from the back is beyond me as you cant see a damn thing from the back of the T6... ?

Years and years of skill which is admirable... It shows me the bench mark that one day I want to achieve and that is instructing from the back however i don't think i have enough time left on the planet for that to become a reality... Indeed a rare skill.

This was a practice in wheeler landings. My biggest mistake was not fully understanding the technique and then rehearsing it wrongly in my head... The concept of a lower approach seems logical and then kissing the wheels on with a touch of power, then power off is logical even with the 600 - 1000 feet per minute descent rate with gear and full flap down... The illogical thing was to then push the stick forward and to the left as the wind was coming from my left... Holding the tail up until it naturally wanted to drop and then pulling the stick back and to the left to lock in the tail wheel pin... As all this was happening the drift has been stopped and now its time to dance on the pedals keeping it pointing in the right direction.

All in all I practiced this for about 3 hours and the penny started to drop. I learnt so much in those 3 hours! Most of my time has been on Cessna Caravans, Islanders and Twin Otters which I have to say are training aircraft compared to this advanced trainer.... Now I know that rudder pedals are not just "Foot rests" I should do better next time...

The wheeler landing is a great way to land the T6 and is debated often. Yes, you do use a lot of run way, so fly from an airfield with a long runway... We are not trying to practice deck landings here just trying to get down in one piece without a ground loop! You land Spitfires in a 3 point attitude, dont you?... True and also between the 3 point attitude and also a wheeler however this is a T6 and she doesn't mind being wheeled on, plenty of prop clearance and as the speed naturally drops and the tail comes down in to the three point attitude you are fairly slow but the flight is far from over .... Keep on working those pedals and keep that wing down in to wind!

All in all thrilling and at times damn scary but i know its all coming together... Not a machine to be underestimated however a delight to fly once airborne...