Landing on Grass

[RichardT]

First of all, I am a new pilot in 2022.  I have 75 hours (65 hours in my CTLS).  I have never landed on grass.  My CTLS has 400 x 6 inch tires on the mains.  Are those too small for grass strips?

[Jim Meade]

I've landed my CTSW with the same size tires on many grass strips.  Grass strips come in various flavors of smoothness and grooming.  If you can find a well-kept strip to start on you'll get the feel quickly.  Grass strips are typically more diverse in maintenance and smoothness than most hard strips.  I taxi with enough power to keep the nose light and to have good directional control and keep my eyes sharp on the ground so I can maneuver to miss holes and bumps if indicated.

[RichardT]

Excellent. This is very helpful.  Thanks for the quick response!

[FlyingMonkey]

I have probably more than half my 1700+ landings on grass with the 400x6 tires with no issues, and some of those fields were quite rough.  Just be a little cautious and you'll have no issues.

[Anticept]

Also voicing hundreds, if not thousands, of landings on grass in our CT fleet.

I will say this though: CTs are especially sensitive to noses digging in and flipping over. If you land on rough fields, you seriously run this risk.

I've seen accidents where snow that was just too deep was enough to flip one over.

[FlyingMonkey]

14 hours ago, Anticept said:

I will say this though: CTs are especially sensitive to noses digging in and flipping over. If you land on rough fields, you seriously run this risk.

I've seen accidents where snow that was just too deep was enough to flip one over.

GREAT point.  I always taxi with the stick full aft to keep as much weight as possible off the nose.  On takeoff roll I get the nose off the ground quickly and just hold it...that might lengthen the takeoff roll slightly, but it's good insurance on the nose gear -- once you break ground you can level out and accelerate a bit before climbing.  Also practice keeping the stick back on landing and holding it there until the nose wants to come down on its own.  I had a bad habit when learning the CT of "relaxing" and releasing back pressure on the stick after touchdown, those shenanigans will serve you very poorly landing a CT on grass.

[RichardT]

I really appreciate everyone taking the time to respond to my question while sharing your knowledge and experiences.   These comments and recommendations are so relevant and helpful.  I intend to report back on this thread when I accomplish my initial grass landings.  By the way, I do think I might be relaxing the back pressure too early on landings (hard surface runways).  I will be working to change that habit as well.  Looking forward to any and all addition comments!

[Eddie Cesnalis]

15 hours ago, RichardT said:

I do think I might be relaxing the back pressure too early on landings

I like to let my nose wheel fall when my speed decays enough.  When this happens my stick is at the aft stop.

Learning to fast taxi with an elevated nose wheel teaches how to balance on the mains.

[FlyingMonkey]

45 minutes ago, Eddie Cesnalis said:

I like to let my nose wheel fall when my speed decays enough.  When this happens my stick is at the aft stop.

Learning to fast taxi with an elevated nose wheel teaches how to balance on the mains.

That's how I do it too...just let the nose come down when it's ready. 

If you are going to fast taxi with the nose wheel off the ground, I suggest doing it on a runway in case you inadvertently lift off.

[Anticept]

That's all standard soft field practice for training .