Landing from rear seat

[Bruce]

I didn't want to high jack another thread so I moved my question here.

 

there are no reason for dual rudder pedals in a long ez . the rudders are only used during landing and take off and you can not land one from the back seat. during cruse, turns that can be made safely from the back do not require any rudder to make a coordinated turn.

Lynn, in order to be able to see well enough to land, how much higher would the back seat person need to be? 6 to 8 inches? Doesn't the approach have some to do with that as well? Make it a little flatter. I would think the view would be similar to a tail dragger being flown from the back seat. Not having any back seat time at all in a Long I'll have to defer to the experts.

[longezdave]

I once had an instructor in back and he landed my Long. I was nervous and had my hands ready to take over, but he actually did fine. I do have the strake windows in mine.

[dkreidel]

I have a lot of rear seat landings in my Long; in some instances the front seater was not a pilot and in one instance did not speak English (tv commercial with Japanese actor) In my opinion, once you are competent in flying the plane landing from the rear is not any more difficult than landing a Pitts - visibility is about the same (lousy). I don't think it would be possible to get the rear seat high enough to make make any significant difference without a major airframe redesign.

 

Note: my plane has throttle, mixture, rudders/brakes as well as frequency select and active/standby switches in the rear seat. The front seater must know how to lower the gear, and be warned about $#@%^ing around with the fuel selector valve:scared:

 

Dick Kreidel

N888EZ 2,680 hours

[Waiter]

Landing an EZ from the back seat is, well, EZ.

 

I transitioned to EZs in Gordan's (can't remember last name) O-320 powered LongEZ in Livermore Calif in the mid 80's. He had a throttle in the back seat, but no rudders.

 

If a full control landing is needed, obviously, you would want throttle, rudder, brakes, and nose gear control.

 

However, in an absolute emergency, the only thing I need in the back seat is a stick, and a way to kill the engine. i.e. kill the engine when your at High Key (overhead arrival), then dead stick around to land on the runway, you won't need brakes if the nose gear is retracted.

 

(I have an Ignition Kill switch mounted under a safety cover on the headrest/rollover structure. This switch can be reached from the back seat. I also use the switch whenever I'm working around the engine. I can see the switch in the raised position and know the ignition systems are disabled)

 

Waiter

[dkreidel]

Actually, take-offs from the rear seat give me more anxiety than landings. It is not easy to keep the plane rolling down the runway CL from the rear. It may be the compromise location of the rear 'pit rudder/brake pedals, or the fact that slight yaw diversions are not as easily interpreted from the rear. The fact is, however, a Long can be safely flown from the rear cockpit with a few caveats...the first being the pilot needs to be intimately familiar with the flying qualities of the plane and have significant front seat time.

 

Dick Kreidel

[Bruce]

Thanks guys, very helpful information.

[michaelj]

It should be plausible to install a web cam in the nose and a monitor in the back to give the rear seat a clear view to takeoff and land.

My 15 year old son has hundreds of hours with flight simulator and X-Plane. I believe with a well placed camera and a rear seat throttle he could do takeoffs and landings.

This could be the ultimate "simulator".

[Skyhigh315]

On 9/15/2009 at 8:41 PM, dkreidel said:

I have a lot of rear seat landings in my Long; in some instances the front seater was not a pilot and in one instance did not speak English (tv commercial with Japanese actor) In my opinion, once you are competent in flying the plane landing from the rear is not any more difficult than landing a Pitts - visibility is about the same (lousy). I don't think it would be possible to get the rear seat high enough to make make any significant difference without a major airframe redesign.

 

Note: my plane has throttle, mixture, rudders/brakes as well as frequency select and active/standby switches in the rear seat. The front seater must know how to lower the gear, and be warned about $#@%^ing around with the fuel selector valve:scared:

 

Dick Kreidel

N888EZ 2,680 hours

Wow.  Did you build that in yourself?