Tail dragger deck angle

[jmodguy]

For those of you with tail draggers, what is your deck angle and how does that affect your landing? I’m measuring about 10 deg and a buddy says I should be closer to 17... he is an accomplished tail wheel instructor.
What say you?

[efwd]

wouldn't that depend on the gear and wheels your using? Certainly my deck angle is different than the STI and steeper than the speedster.

[rv9ralph]

Deck angle would only come into play if you were concerned that the wing will stall when landing when the deck angle is the same as when the aircraft is sitting still on the ramp. Not really a big issue. If you watched the videos of Draco landing at AirVenture (Follow Mike Patey's or Trent's YouTube channels) his deck angle was way higher than when on the ramp.

What happens if the wing doesn't stall at the same deck angle, the tailwheel will touch first, still not a problem.

Ralph

[PapuaPilot]

I am guessing you are asking what the nose up angle is when the plane is sitting on the ground. If so mine is about 10 degrees using the Desser 22" tundra tires.

[jmodguy]

Thanks for the quick responses!
You are both correct and I understand the mechanics of the landing and the aircraft setup. Yeah Draco is a pretty sweet machine!
I am looking for some data points, i.e. real world Kitfox deck angles and how (if) they affect landing speeds and attitudes. My friend has considerable tailwheel experience and is our “go to” guy for advanced tailwheel training. He does not have much experience with the Kitfox though so he is curious.

[jmodguy]

Thanks Phil. Thats what I’m looking for. Any issues/concerns during short field ops?

[rv9ralph]

Jeff, you have a model 5, which has more elevator authority than my model 3. The effectiveness of the elevator at flair and touchdown is what helps on landing as slow as possible. Deck angle is not that critical, it is how slow you can get before the wing stops flying. At AirVenture, I looked at Trent's and another Kitfox I believe it was a model 5 if I remember correctly, parked with the Cowboys, they both had gap seals on the elevator. This adds to the effectiveness of the elevator. My model 3 doesn't have as much elevator authority, it is against the stops (the truss at the front of the seat) when in flair. I have thought of gap seals for the elevator and will probably do that in the near future. Again, it is how slow you can get before the wing stops flying, higher deck angle is the flair usually corresponds to slower speed... and shorter roll out after touch down.

Ralph

[PapuaPilot]

Thanks Phil. Thats what I’m looking for. Any issues/concerns during short field ops?

No everything is great, but I'm sure I could land even shorter if I wanted to land tailwheel first. Normally I land in the 3 point attitude which can yield a 200-250' rollout if I'm light. I am usually at a forward CG which is not the best for the slowest stall speed/shortest landing. I upgraded to the larger elevator during my build (this elevator is standard on the SS7). I recently added gap seals on the elevator using heavy duty clear Gorilla tape and I can notice a difference in elevator effectiveness.