I’m helping a friend finish up his PP training in his 1965 Cherokee Six 300. He has VGs which make this thing a short field beast. The problem is that while doing short or soft field landings the giant nose blocks the forward view of the runway completely once in the round out. Anyone with “Six” time have any tips or tricks?

Thanks.

Maybe the guy at the 3:10 min mark could give him some tips:

[youtube]https://youtu.be/t8-99kvpZro[/youtube]

I'm only 5'7". I sit on a "booster cushion" to put me as high as I can get at all times. It really just takes some getting used to things. I tend to lean to the left and see enough without having to see directly over the nose.

use more flaps..... but even on a normal flare the nose blocks the forward view....so, just get use to looking out the side.

^^^ what Rick said. With 750 hours in my PA32, even though I'm 6'3" I still had to use the side window and/or lean-left technique to get good alignment most of the time.

Tell them to get some practice landing flare in a C195 to find out the sight picture ain't so bad in the PA32.

PS couldn't resist.

More flaps than full flaps?

Like I said, with the VGs she has a stall speed in the low 50’s. Would make a great bush plane.

Any plane with a big engine will be like that. I’m tall and can just barely see over the nose of a 172 when in the proper flare attitude.

Use the side windows or use peripheral vision.

No it won’t make a bush plane. Those go have tried, have punched the main gear mounts through the top of the wings.

Treat it like a taildragger, or a 152 in a proper full stall attitude.

Corsair.

Get some tailwheel time.

You don’t have to see over the nose.

Lindbergh didn’t have a windshield.

I only use 10 degrees of flaps for landing in my 182 for better elevator authority in the flare. The approach is nose high 3 to 5 degrees, and requires looking down the side of the nose in the flare but easy to do with about 1000 feet of ground roll with 70 -75 MPH approach speed.

If the Piper nose wheel steering is like the Cessna's with a centering cam near full extension, that Piper is close to having no nose wheel steering.

It would have already locked out by then. And no, they don’t lock out. The nose wheel moved with the rudder even in flight, which is important to know before you lower the nose on a crosswind landing.