Of course there are always exceptions to any rule. I can make an Aeronca Champ hit tail wheel first also, but that’s not the strived for KMALie. But as a general rule tail-draggers are stalled onto the runway, not flown onto the runway as with a tri-gear plane. Stalling too soon (high) or too late usually results in doing multiple touch-downs (only one of which can be logged in your log book). 
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Yes fair enough.
See now the way I was taught to land a sim tail dragger in the long long ago was to come it steady and flat till your 2 front wheels touch the ground, then cut the power and let the tail settle down. As long as your flying just above stall speed this is way I do it.
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This works for me – simulator or full scale or RC airplane…
Where you cut your throttle depends on your height over the threshold. I try to be about 10 ft. high and throttle off over the threshold, and be about 10 mph over stall speed. Throttle management and side slips are used to get there. Of course this depends on the airplane, airport, wind speed and direction, and other variables. No landing is the same. Then by hours of practice get to just above stall speed about 6 inches above the runway. Then hold it off, hold it off, hold it off, until touchdown. Be ready on the rudder. Keep stick all the way back, and apply brakes as needed for a graceful slow down.
Of course this is just just a “shoot for” guideline. On the rare occasion that it works you can claim a “KMALie”! As I’m sure you know, wind conditions can dictate a wheel landing.
Here’s something interesting. In a Piper J3 Cub you have a 3 mph “window” for making a 3-point landing. In an Aeronca 7AC Champ you have a 7 mph “window”. That’s why those in the know prefer Champs over Cubs for instruction (not to mention a plethora of other reasons).
That’s a called a “wheeler” and you won’t be flying just above the stall to do it. Basically the slower you go the higher your angle of attack which means the lower your tail will be. There’re a heap of different techniques to achieve the same thing but they basically boil down to either landing in the three point attitude which involves power off and holding the attitude until it settles on the ground or landing main wheels first which typically involves keeping a trickle of power on and cutting the throttle as the main wheels touch. You have to be careful with a wheeler not to let the tail drop immediately as that can create a touch of extra lift and lead to a bounce. I find three pointers to be easiest in the sim but in real life I’d often do wheelers (talking over 20 years ago unfortunately) in certain types.
I do not fly taildraggers in the sim and never flew one in real life, but my sister & brother-in-law used to have a Luscombe Silvaire and later a Taylorcraft, so I heard a lot about how tricky they were to land! The big difference between a tricycle undercarriage and taildragger on touchdown on the main gear:
Tricycle: when the main gear touches the ground, the nose pitches down, reducing the angle of attack and reducing lift. Ergo: you tend to stay down.
Taildragger: when the main gear hits the ground, the TAIL pitches down, increasing the angle of attack and therefore a tendency to bounce/balloon
As a real-world sailplane pilot, all I can say is that it’s going to be entertaining when gliders are added in November because it appears that there are many who don’t understand aerodynamic basics. Those concerned about not being able to slow down for landing need to understand that the big fan in front isn’t there for that, and that it is pitch attitude that determines airspeed (F-18 pilots…never mind). Also crucial to understand the importance of a stabilized approach.
Glider pilots get this stuff intuitively because we don’t have an engine confusing us about what is really going on, and we’re highly motivated to get it right because every landing is a forced landing and there are no go-arounds.
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Yes, this is something even some pilots don’t understand. If you fly RC planes you really come to understand that throttle controls altitude, and pitch controls speed and rate of decent (just like a drone). I once had an RC plane with a large polyhedral wing that I would win spot landing contests with. I would throttle off, and pitch up to put it into a controlled stall. It would come down like a parachute and I would win! :o)
There are some planes that literally will not land. The Reno Pitts at idle will fly along in ground effect for ever. A real Pitts glides like a brick. This isn’t an issue of people not understanding aerodynamics, there are some poorly designed aircraft in game.
Pitch for speed is obvious in a glider, it’s all you’ve got, but if you’re flying something fast and heavy like an airliner you will find that adjusting pitch makes a big change in flight path but a small change in speed. Conversely a small change in thrust has a bigger effect on speed than flight path. Therefore it’s better to think of pitch for flight path and thrust for speed in such aircraft.
Pilots with a broad range of experience, from light aircraft to heavy, recognise that pitch plus power equals performance, ie it is a combination of both that gives you your flight path and speed. In a glider the power part of the equation isn’t there so you only have pitch and drag to play with.
Interesting. Thanks.
Just remember when making an approach:
Pitch for Speed
Power for Altitude
Its counterintuitive, but try doing a power-off landing, and you get it super quick… 
I got the dead stick award last year, and Im thinking I havent done any touchdowns with engines off, but apparently the way I fly a plane from GA to Airliner its considered a deadstick landing in the game. I have taken out a few landing lights on my way in from time to time ;p
If you’re in something light and slow like a C172, yes, but not in something heavier and faster like an A320. Try pitching up to slow down in a jet (with auto-thrust off) and you’ll just end up high on the approach and still too fast. As I said above, your performance comes from the combination of pitch and power/thrust, which of those has the greatest effect on flight path or speed depends on how much inertia you’ve got (how heavy you are), how slippery the wings are, how fast you’re going, etc. In a passenger jet approaching at 160 knots, a small pitch change has a big effect on the flight path but a small effect on speed, so in a jet you pitch for flight path and use thrust for speed. Obviously in a power off landing the thrust part of the equation is removed so you have no choice other than to pitch for speed, that’s not the case in a normal 3º approach though.
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