technique in ctsw

[iaw4]

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/transportation/2017/05/16/rogue-gusts-wind-can-scare-even-most-experienced-pilots-especially-landings/326416001/

[FlyingMonkey]

All of the below statements are my opinion, take it or leave it as you wish.  It's based on about 500 hours and 1200 landings in a CTSW, in a lot of different conditions.

iaw4, it seems like you are creating potential problems by trying to avoid problems that have not happened.  You are hearing the same thing from several CT pilots, at least one of whom is a CFI.  At some point you have to admit you might be the one out of step on technique.  

Your techniques seem to be based around fear of "rogue gusts".  You are using incorrect techniques on every landing that might or might not help you once in awhile, but meanwhile *all* your landings are suffering.  Additionally, you are ingraining these habits into your technique over time, making them harder to break.  Even if you do change them later, for a long time afterwards if you are under stress you are likely to immediately go back to "what you know" -- poor technique.

Fast landings don't just mean you use more runway, they are dangerous.  As a thought exercise, would you ever run a CT down a taxiway at 55kt, pushing the stick forward to hold it down?  If so you are braver than I am.  The airplane will be squirrelly as hell, and it will be hard to maintain directional control with the nosewheel.  If you do manage to stay out of a ditch, you are fighting the airplane the whole time, because it wants to *fly*, not taxi.  You are essentially doing that every single time you land at 55kt.  Why not touch down at a speed where the airplane wants to be on the ground?

Also, impact energy is equal to mass times velocity squared.  The mass of your airplane doesn't change much, but any change in velocity is squared in the equation, making it much more dangerous.  45 squared is  2025, but 55 squared is 3025.  Since weight is fixed (call it 1320lb) , that means that adding just that ten extra knots means that any impact you have will have 50% more impact energy to dissipate.  Physics is a bitch, and she wants to buy you a drink...

So in addition to being more likely to lose directional control, if you do you have a mishap will be more likely to be injured or killed if it happens out of proportion with the speed difference.  Instead of trying to work around fear of gusts,  it's better to just fly the airplane in the conditions that actually exist.  If a gust happens and you are not comfortable in your ability to correct it, go full power and go around.  Easy in a CT -- they have very good power to weight and a low wing loading.  Just leave the problem behind and try again. 

The extra speed you are using in landing is far more likely to hurt you than a gust, even one that slams you into the runway.  It's kind of like flying with your hand always tightly gripping the BRS handle...just in case.