Keeps the tail out of any rough stuff, better vis over the cowl, you can get on the brakes.
Then why not make a level attitude wheel landing so you have better visibility over the nose during touchdown........personally, over the nose visibility over the nose in a Supercub is kind of a mute point since you have good visibility in the 3 point attitude. You can get on the brakes.......yep and go over on your back if not careful. This goes back to the.........which is better wheel landings or 3 point. Again, get a good instructor and practice. Safe Flying
Brian
Brian,
The reason not to use a more level attitude wheel landing in the rougher stuff is to minimize impact to gear and airframe at touchdown.....slower is better, and a tail low wheel landing, properly executed, provides almost exactly the same touchdown speed as a well executed three point. Minimizing speed at touchdown minimizes stress on the airplane and is essential to off airport (and on airport for that matter) operations.
I would argue that the wheel landing is most assuredly NOT just useful in crosswinds. In fact, I teach tail low wheel landings extensively to my students. Here are a couple of reasons this technique is useful:
First, as noted earlier, this technique protects the tailwheel, tailspring and aft section of the airplane. Off airport this is essential, but even on airports, plunking that tailwheel down at speed is tough on structures and the wheel itself. I've said for years that the toughest job of any part of an airplane is that of being a tailwheel. Consider the size of that poor little wheel, and then think about the spin up of that wheel upon touchdown. Wheel bearings, tire wear, etc, etc. Now, consider the structures that the tail wheel and spring are attached to.....those take a beating as well. I'm an advocate of being kind to one's tailwheel, and the wheel landing does that job, but putting the tailwheel down at minimum forward speed, and minimum side loading.
Second, as noted by Raised by Wolves, using a wheel landing in off airport ops permits the pilot to better visualize your landing zone. As Pete says, you can see out both sides of the plane, but even on airports, there can be things in the middle of a runway that can cause havoc. Anybody remember the Air France Concorde disaster? That was caused by debris on the runway, which shredded a tire on the Concorde, which opened a fuel tank, etc. Point is, even on a major airport, there can be things out there that can damage an airplane. Getting the tail up right after touchdown helps the pilot (particularly short guys like me) visualize what's in FRONT of the airplane, not just what's to one or the other side of the airplane. In off airport ops, you're frequently faced with a lot of rocks, logs, etc in the landing area, and being able to see those as you roll out is essential. Additionally, many off airport landing zones are curved or have a dogleg.
The tail low wheel landing also ensures that the airplane is pretty much out of energy at the touch, thus minimizing the likelihood of a bounce, or balloon. The airplane is pretty much done flying at the touch, and then rolling it up onto the mains kills the angle of attack of the wing almost entirely. Even a fairly hearty gust of wind won't cause the airplane to balloon, because the airplane is slow, and the angle of attack is essentially level.
Unlike Pete, I've never really developed the perfection to achieve that zero descent rate just prior to the touchdown EVERY time. Sometimes, I haven't quite got to that level of nirvana, and the tail low wheel landing allows me to arrive with just a smidge more descent rate that "optimal", and the airplane still forgives me, rather than ballooning up mightily, thus requiring a go around. Done properly, the tail low wheel landing puts the airplane in an attitude and airspeed where it is simply done flying at the touch.
Finally, the tail low wheel landing offers basically the best of both the wheel and three point landing techniques: Slow touchdown to minimize stress on the airframe and to reduce bounces and balloons, visibility over the nose, etc.
Oh, yeah, after just a little practice, the tail low wheel landing is a WHOLE lot easier to pull off a nice landing, and the airplane is a WHOLE lot easier to manage once it's on the runway, since it's speed is so much lower.
Try it, you might like it......But again, all this stuff is best accomplished with an experienced instructor in your aircraft type and this technique.
MTV