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Today, with pilot and new friend Jan, we’re departing IFR, using this opportunity to observe two of the leading aviation apps... live, side-by-side. Welcome aboard! Wayne, GeezerGeek Pilot

Wayne:

Nice video.

This isn't a problem with a DA40, but if you ever transition to retractable gear aircraft, your CFI may "slap your wrist" if you reach over and retract flaps while still on the landing roll going down the runway -- not a good habit since this could lead to inadvertent landing gear retraction if you hit a bump that unloads the squat switch on retractable gear. I couldn't help but notice flaps retraction right after touchdown at Oceana.

CFIDave wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:52 pm Wayne:

Nice video.

This isn't a problem with a DA40, but if you ever transition to retractable gear aircraft, your CFI may "slap your wrist" if you reach over and retract flaps while still on the landing roll going down the runway -- not a good habit since this could lead to inadvertent landing gear retraction if you hit a bump that unloads the squat switch on retractable gear. I couldn't help but notice flaps retraction right after touchdown at Oceana.

Dave, thanks for the right-on advice on "slap your wrist". I'm well aware of the retractable issue... but at 73 and not getting younger, I don't plan to own/fly a retractable gear aircraft in this lifetime .
Thanks for watching!
Wayne

waynemcc999 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:57 pm I don't plan to own/fly a retractable gear aircraft in this lifetime .

I guess I'm showing my age, because when I trained for my single-engine Commercial license (a lot of fun!) in my 2008 Lycoming DA40 XLS, I was also forced to rent a retractable gear aircraft -- an A36 Beech Bonanza was the only retractable single available locally -- just to meet the FAAs "complex" aircraft requirement that existed at that time.

For my checkride, I demonstrated all of the Commercial maneuvers in my DA40, then had to fly the examiner for two circuits around the traffic pattern in the Bonanza -- just to show him I knew how to work retractable gear -- where I would have failed the checkride had I reached over to raise flaps while still on the landing roll.

Of course the complex retractable gear requirement is now gone; a DA40 "technically advanced airplane" is now all you need for obtaining a Commercial pilots license.

But not touching the flaps right after landing might be a good habit if a friend ever lets you fly his/her Bonanza.

CFIDave wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:49 pm But not touching the flaps right after landing might be a good habit if a friend ever lets you fly his/her Bonanza.

I can't get rid of this habit - for me it's practically always during landing roll "pitot heat off, flaps up".

ememic99 wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 10:18 am

CFIDave wrote: ↑Wed Jun 09, 2021 9:49 pm But not touching the flaps right after landing might be a good habit if a friend ever lets you fly his/her Bonanza.

I can't get rid of this habit - for me it's practically always during landing roll "pitot heat off, flaps up".

Me neither. I operate out of a relatively short field, and although I don't routinely need brakes much on landing, I like having the improved braking efficiency available with the flaps raised, just in case.

CFIDave wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 9:52 pm Wayne:

Nice video.

This isn't a problem with a DA40, but if you ever transition to retractable gear aircraft, your CFI may "slap your wrist" if you reach over and retract flaps while still on the landing roll going down the runway -- not a good habit since this could lead to inadvertent landing gear retraction if you hit a bump that unloads the squat switch on retractable gear. I couldn't help but notice flaps retraction right after touchdown at Oceana.

Ah, but the Cirrus flap retraction is recommended. For short field, and to save your brakes and deal with higher cross winds.
Part of the reason the design in Cirrus specifically placed the flap switch there.

The do not touch a flap switch on landing issue, is almost exclusively a Beech issue. No other major plane company used the same switch/lever for both landing gear and flaps or placed them near each other.

Tim

I thought that the whole reason the flap switch was like a flap and the gear switch is like a little tire you grab was to make that confusion nearly impossible. I agree that it happens on older aircraft, but I'm going to increase my braking capability on THIS aircraft if I can. Similarly, I will not be worrying about my mixture too much.

Few days ago I tried not to retract flaps until leaving runway and that resulted with not retracting it at all I simply skipped that step when I usual did it and intentionally left it for later and that "later" never happened until I noticed that after shutdown.