Quote:
Originally Posted by hockeyrcks9901
High wings are slightly more stable, weight hanging below the wing rather than balancing above it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sns3guppy
That's a myth. In fact, if that were the case the 747 would be a nightmare to fly. It's not.
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Even if it were true, we're referring to a landing in this case, not in flight.
The higher CG above the contact patch of the tire will make a high wing less stable than a low wing in the event of a tire problem. Also, a low wing (typically) has a greater distance between the mains, adding to (landing) stability.
I had a Piper Cherokee 180B several years ago. If you could keep the struts from collapsing, the "wide stance" and low CG made it handle like a go-kart on the ground - nice feature for high cross winds. That was about the only good feature of the plane - it had high fuel consumption, was slow and had a small CG envelope; although the elevator trim on the ceiling was pretty cool.
I had a Ercoupe 415D (with an O-200) as well, the natural landing stability of the wide gear, and low CG, was part of the original cross-wind landing technique - just land in a crab and let the wide, trailing link gear straighten the track on the ground (no capability of slips or skids in the original design).