Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Douwe Blumberg"
BlankHow difficult is a Piet to handle on the ground with no experience? Igot my taildragger endorsement in an L2 Taylorcraft in the last few months,I still only have about 25hrs of taildragger time. I soloed in the L2 afterabout 7 hours. Would I be asking for trouble soloing in a GN-1 with only anhour or so of instruction? I figured a Piet wouldn't be too hard to handlegiven the low speeds, but maybe the shorter tail will make it more tricky?Thanks for any tips!Steve RuseDallas, TX---________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Michael D Cuy"
this is a yellow one. I have seen it in person and it's in excellent shape.DJ----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Steve Ruse

Original Posted By:> "Steve Ruse"
Steve,As a pilot with about 450 hours in a Pietenpol GN-1 and a CFI who teachestailwheel transition training I would say that if you can keep the L2 goingstraight you can keep the Piet going straight. I have to add that I havenot flown a L2. I did just ferry a J3 and found it much easier to land andtake off than any other tail wheel plane I have flown. The reason I say itis easy is because it didn't roll more than 50' before it was ready to flyand about twice that on landing before you were taxiing. Can't get in toomuch trouble in such a short distance. The Piet rolls longer on bothlanding and takeoff, therefore giving you a longer period to try and keep itgoing straight. So, if the L2 flys anything like the Cub, it will be alittle different than the Piet. Other than that the Piet is pretty straightforward on the ground. Landing is another story.Ted Brousseau

Original Posted By: BARNSTMR(at)aol.com

Original Posted By: Rcaprd(at)aol.com
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: GN-1 flight characteristicsIn a message dated 12/6/04 9:50:05 PM Central Standard Time, nfn00979(at)naples.net writes:>We had a very good series of discussions of the landing phase of flying the Pietenpol about a year ago. I think Walt Evans started it out. It's really quite a good challenge to make good landings consistantly. The high drag of thePietenpol airfoil at high angles of attack tend to slow it down quickly, therefore to make consistant three point, full stall landings, you have to be butinches above the ground as you go through the flair. You could carry a littlepower through the flair, but then you land longer than if you don't. I like to pick out a target (I've even used a bag of flour to mark a spot) and see just how short I can land, and get 'er stopped (without applying brakes). It makes my whole day, when I can get a nice gentle touchdown, and short roll out!! Check out the archives.Chuck G.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By:
ChuckThe best part of that discussion a year ago was your second by second account of the landing. I printed it out and read it a few times before my first flight.Dick N.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Thanks for the tips everyone, I've been checking the archives, there is somegreat information in there. Basically it sounds like Pietenpols are prettydocile, but they tend to stall abruptly, which is aggravated by the factthat they have a high amount of drag which causes them to slow down quickly.One question I didn't see answered though: How much of a difference does theGN-1 airfoil make in the stall characteristic? Obviously you still are goingto slow down fast, so I'm guessing it is still pretty abrupt. Does anyonetypically round out with just a hair of power to keep it from slowing downso fast?Thanks again for the tips!Steve RuseDallas, TX-----Original Message-----

Original Posted By: Galen Hutcheson

Original Posted By:> "Steve Ruse"
Steve,You CAN carry a little power into the landing and it helps smooth it out.But, I don't recommend getting used to that procedure. What happens whenyou have to make a dead stick landing when the engine quits? I land withoutpower at least 75% of the time so that there won't be any surprises if Ihave to make a dead stick landing. (had a local EAA member do just thatlast year after flying young eagles. Totaled his aircraft. I asked him howmany power off landings he had made. He said one and he didn't like it sohe never tried again. He landing in a smooth farm field and could have keptit shiny side up if he had practiced). Like Chuck says, aim at a point onthe ground, carry speed on the approach and roundout 6 inches above theground and you will grease it on every time. How much speed on approach?Each one is different, but start with a high speed and slowly taper offuntil you find that sweet spot for your plane. Too much speed on approachwill simply mean you float a little down the runway. Too little speed onapproach will mean that when you pull back to roundout you test you bungeesbecause the descent is barely slowed down when it pancakes in.Happy landings.Ted

Original Posted By: Galen Hutcheson