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What are the factors of each type? Is one best? Is it pilot or airplane or runway?
Wheels landings: You fly nose mostly level, with a little power until the mains touch, then push slightly forward on the stick to hold the plane down. Pros are good response from the controls because with the tail up in the slipstream there is air to "bite". You are less likely to stall and drop a wing or hit a tip. Also you can see over the nose on short final, and the first part of rollout. Many pilots that fly modern planes like jets are comfortable with this method. It can be used with partial flaps in a crosswind or gusty conditions. Lee and Stallion 51 have been successful for years teaching a form of wheel landings. There's lot's of pilots who can land a Spit or 51, even some who can land a 109, but to sit in the back of a dual 51 with all types takes a lot more.
Con: It is easy to come in too fast in a wheel landing, to use this type as a crutch to substitute for airspeed control. I recall one year landing at Boscobel and I was 8 knots fast and used a lot of runway despite as good touchdown. I watched lots of Mustangs come in fast and have to screech on the brakes at the end. I'd give my landing an 8 at best, but I was judged best for the fighters. The ex AAF T-6 instructor got best overall and he regularly makes 3pts. Lot's of 51 guys have gone to stronger P-63 type brakes. I agree with Lee that if you need more brakes it is likely the landing is too fast. You can use up a lot of runway by coming on too fast , and it seems an easy habit to get into if you are nervous about not seeing over the nose. You are more dependant on big flaps to slow you down when you keep more power on. With some planes there is very little prop clearance when level and easy to hit a blade, and the nose may dip if you don't have back pressure on touchdown.
3 point landings(full stall). By 3 point we mean touching on all 3 wheels at the same time, that is a full stall an inch above the runway so it sits on all 3 tires at once, nose high and tail down. This is my normal landing in a Spitfire or Cub or T-6. This is how I learned as a low time pilot and it has worked for me. If I was flying a 51, I'd do it the way the owner wanted, but a Spitfire is designed for 3pt. The RAF knows thing or two about flying tailwheel airplanes, they even had a tailwheel on the first fighter jets. Their general Pilot Manual, not type specific, advises to make " A FULLY HELD OFF LANDING UNLESS THE PILOT IS UNSURE WHERE THE GROUND IS". Thy don't elaborate on how you know you are unsure before you touch down, but I'd guess that means if it is gusty or dark. The advantages to full stall 3 pt is if done right, a Spit or T-6 is through flying and will use less runwway length and not be dependent on brakes. Lack of rudder and elevator control at approach speed, even at 75 knots is NOT a problem in a Merlin Spitfire, if anything one may find the elevator over responsive, so you don't need to be on the ground with the tail up and waving in the breeze. At 80 over the fence there is enough margin above stall. And one can use the brakes better in a Spit with the tail down, less likely to hit a prop.
Cons, of course you can't see over the nose in many tailwheel fighters when 3 point. Planes like T-6, Mustang have large very effective flaps so you can approach slightly nose down and still see the runway as you near, just before you flare. A Spitfire is much less so, probably as is a Corsair or Bearcat.. Training time in the back seat of a T-6 is a good way to prepare for this lack of forward view. A Spitfire tailwheel just follows, it does not lock or steer. When it is on the ground 3pt on rollout it does provide more stability rather than with the tail up and wheel off the ground. The thing to avoid in a 3 pt landing is stalling so high in th air that you drop in too far and lose control or cause damage.
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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK
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here is a shot of your favourite girl.
