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Hi Fred,
The LNC2 will do a soft field takeoff just fine. It
just takes some practice. I get my nosewheel in the air at about 40 kts.
The plane lifts off around 55 kts. The airplane is perfectly capable of doing
this safely.
We do our soft field takeoffs with about 20 degrees
of flap. Start the takeoff roll with the stick full back, just like a Cessna
150. The big difference from a Cessna is that when the elevator gains
enough bite to lift the nosewheel it will come off the ground quite
quickly. If you're not used to this or expecting it, you'll either release
too much back pressure and the nose will slam down or you won't
release the back pressure quickly enough and you'll risk a tail
strike. It really takes a bit of rehearsal to get used to the fast reactions
necessary at this stage of the takeoff. After liftoff in ground effect, again,
it takes quick reaction and a bit of practice to keep it in ground effect a foot
or two above the runway. In addition, you need to be ready to look off
the SIDE of the nose. Forward visual reference will immediately disappear
when that long nose comes up. The always sensitive pitch control is even
more sensitive in this circumstance. Stay in ground effect with the
gear down and the flaps at 20 until you gain safe climb speed (80 knots for us).
At 50 feet or so with a positive rate of climb retract the gear. We
then retract the flaps in 2 or 3 stages until we're back in a normal climb
configuration.
I'm not saying that it's particularly easy to do or
that everybody should try it, but it IS possible to do this maneuver
consistently and safely with practice. Our Florida house is on a grass
strip. We've been using this technique there, as well as sand, gravel,
coral, rock and mud strips from Guatemala to Iceland for the past 5
years in our 320.
Bill & Sue Harrelson
N5ZQ 320 1,200 hrs
N6ZQ IV 9.7031%
Don't try to do this in your LNC2. Maybe your
152, but not a LNC2. It gets into ground affect,then out of it, then in, then
out,etc,etc.It was almost worse than the 1st,"shot out a cannon"
takeoff.
Sincerely, Fred N9BF(don't fly like my
brother)
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