Who uses breaking when landing tri-cycles? If you do it regularly make sure you have regularly inspected the discs and they are in better state than this…
No breaks is better than asymmetric breaks !
NicR wrote:
In the POH it says that there is a pressure sensor on the gear, to prevent retracting the gear accidentally whilst on the ground. Is this not standard across all planes with retractable gears?
I believe it is, but the so called ‘squat switch’ can fail or you might hit a bump or get a gust that lifts the plane just as you inadvertently raise the gear lever.
johnh wrote:
“don’t EVER do that because one day you will retract the gear.”
That’s what I was taught, too!
If you really need to even think about this….then the runway is too short!
I could start a separate thread on retracting the flaps in the flare, but I won’t 
It’s a most wonderful skill when you have it down to an art form. You could file it (and the OP) in the same library of things most people will never do, but some will find useful. Like partial stall approaches over obstacles, landing with partial brakes, experimenting with optimum rear c of g for minimum speed approaches, taking off with the alternator off, tieing up the nose oleo to get out of a muddy field.
I try to unlearn PA18-150 habits anytime I go fly retractable touring SEP
I was taught to fiddle with flaps up/down, that was an easy bit but honestly it does not make much difference to takeoff/landing performance, maybe adds 10ft extra height at 50ft and probably cuts 60ft from ground roll? however, a short field landing with full power on full flaps, that was an a*** clenching one
“I try to unlearn PA18-150 habits anytime I go fly retractable touring SEP”
Haha. Love this.
You could also say, I try not to discuss these habits on forums… as there will always be a pavement flyer to disagree 😀
Did it all the time on my Husky. I’d recommend this. If it has training wheels and a switch, leave it alone. A negative centre of gravity and a handle. Well that’s a different story altogether.
Installing Beringer brakes two years ago reduced my average ground roll by as much as about 15%.
For me that is a clear indicator, that my ground roll has (and probably still is) not been limited by insufficient tyre/ground friction caused by too much lift with flaps down but rather by my own inability to apply a proper braking technique with standard brakes.
Therefore before I would even consider to fiddle around with the flaps after touchdown I would work on further improving my braking technique.
This is obviously not a general rule but my personal experience in my personal missions which happen almost exclusively on paved runways. It obviously could be a different story when landing on own wet grass or sand where tyre/ground friction actually is the limiting factor for brake action.
The general problem in GA is that the brakes are usually strong enough to lock the wheels, and flat spotting the tyre(s) needs only a second or so of locked brakes.
Antilock brakes would be the proper solution
