I thought the PC12 landing was quite impressive
…the DHC2 Beaver was even more impressive, given absence of beta/reverse.
It’s worth remembering that the STOL kits common to Cessnas (which I greatly support) have little effect on the ground roll portion of a take off or landing, other than to allow flight at slower speeds with a greater reserve of safety. For the common STOL kits (Horton and Sportsman) the ability to fly at a slower speed is had by higher sustained AoA. For the 180/185 this has a less than perfectly ideal application, as the landing gear geometry s set up for the normal stall AoA. With a STOL kitted 180/185, you can land such that the tail wheel contacts first, which is not great. A STOL kitted Cessna tricycle or floatplane does a little better with the STOL kit, as the aircraft can be taken off (not a floatplane) and landed at higher than normal AoA, and it still works okay. You can contact tail tiedown ring first if you’re careless – do not do, causes damage!
Variations to this are the Robertson STOL kit or Wing Ex wing extensions, they will actually provide slower liftoff and touchdown speeds, though there is a greater need for pilot skill.
It sounds like I’m knocking STOL kits – far from it, I’m their greatest promoter, but you have to know what you’re buying and why. All of them make the aircraft much more safe in maneuvering and >1G flight. Cheap assurance of more safe flight.
The Beaver was simply designed for STOL, and has always been great. They are a simple and gentle short/rough field plane. STOL kits are available, but not as much an improvement as they are on Cessnas.
STOL is what it is called = takeoff and landing. When I see a short ground roll followed by a needless (no actual obstacle) steep climbout, it scares the willies out of me. Any plane will climb away at an airspeed so slow that in the case of engine failure, it may be impossible to enter a glide (accelerating to glide speed) before hitting the ground in a ball. A safe STOL takeoff is to get airborne in the runway available, and then accelerate safely while clearing obstacles as required.
