Flaps question

[JoeDiamond 67]

6 hours ago, Ralgh said:

I think Joe and I work for the same airline. I flew the 737 for almost 14 years. We actually have had a few tail strikes on takeoff all at flaps 1. The count was five or six when I left the fleet. I flew with the guy who did the very first one actually. The interesting thing, at least the last time I heard the statistics, was that all were made by the captain. When I first started flying the 737 HUD use was not mandatory but even after it was, for whatever reason, some guys did not follow the HUD guidance. The most common reason guys had takeoff tail strikes was when they adjusted V1 for a wet runway and the rotated at the V1 call instead of the “rotate” call. 

We do work for the same company.

I've been on the airplane for five years.  I believe the events you are referring to were well before that.  I can't recall any takeoff strikes since I joined the fleet, that I'm aware of anyway.  Training has done a good job raising awareness of tail strike potential on takeoff, especially when you have a V1-VR split like you describe.

The hot issue recently has been tail strikes on landing.  What's surprising is that most of them happen with flaps 40.

[MarkJHarris 128]

That takes some doing too. I think by the fact you have the HUD I can guess who you both work for. Not many operators use it, and the Sandpit one would leave you too knackered to actually get on a PC and post...

To tail strike with Flap 40 you really have to try some! 

Anyway, this is a sim forum so we really should limit the real world banter a bit. I''ve only been on the -800 for 4 years  btw. Turkish firm first 2,  then UK operator. No HUD, no Fail Operational and flying the basic model when it comes to options...

[downscc 1,327]

2 hours ago, MarkJHarris said:

this is a sim forum so we really should limit the real world banter a bit.

No.  Put simply both sim and active pilots enjoy this and it is usually closely related to the product so don't feel constrained.

[JoeDiamond 67]

3 hours ago, MarkJHarris said:

To tail strike with Flap 40 you really have to try some! 

Here's how you do it:

1. land with power above idle.
2. Bounce said landing.
3. Chop power to idle after the bounce causing the spoilers to deploy.  The resulting pitch up moment caused by the spoilers causes the tail to strike the runway.

Here's a demonstration:

 

[MarkJHarris 128]

I flew in Turkey for two years. If anyone can mishandle a plane... they can! It's a -900ER with extending tailskid as on SFP2 package. It's so much easier to touch it down as the landing speeds are far slower than they would be without. 

At ESB, we hjad a couple of -800SFP2. They always landed like they'd been shot down, till we tried adding 7 kts and then they landed just fine!