Don
Well Known Member
Generally I've kept current using wings but after a few years of not flying much at all I knew I had some rust to knock off. I'm hoping to have my 9A in the air next year and I figured I need to hone my flying skills. I have a friend who is a CFI and IA and we did a lot of very predictable air work and, like riding a bike, most of it came back quickly.
We spent part of two evening doing pattern work and I learned something really worthwhile. I've got close to 400 hours, mostly in a Cherokee 140 (that I'm flying now) and this is probably old hat to high time pilots but it was new to me as a routine practice. Instead of reducing power abeam the numbers to about 1700 rpm, like I was taught, Tom had me cut the power to idle and pitch for 70-75 mph with one notch of flaps and then fly the pattern tight, adding flaps when needed. It took two evenings before I got comfortable and another 8 or 10 landings to feel proficient. Basically every landing is a dead stick landing.
When learning to fly and when getting instruction after getting the license to fly, instructors would always advise that you should never be in a position in the pattern where, if you lost an engine, you couldn't make the field. They'd say this and I'd look at where we were turning base and I knew there was no way we'd make the field without power. It seemed like sage advice that they were passing on without the skills to make it happen.
Well, Tom's technique works to keep you within gliding distance of the field, it might save a small amount of fuel, and seems to add a real measure of safety by making every landing a dead-stick landing. If I ever lose an engine in the Cherokee I'll be feeling a lot better about setting up a dead-stick approach. Tom says the method works in most small planes - I'm curious what others think of the method but mostly I'm interested in knowing if it works in an RV...particularly the 9 which everyone says floats. I realize the approach speed may be different.
We spent part of two evening doing pattern work and I learned something really worthwhile. I've got close to 400 hours, mostly in a Cherokee 140 (that I'm flying now) and this is probably old hat to high time pilots but it was new to me as a routine practice. Instead of reducing power abeam the numbers to about 1700 rpm, like I was taught, Tom had me cut the power to idle and pitch for 70-75 mph with one notch of flaps and then fly the pattern tight, adding flaps when needed. It took two evenings before I got comfortable and another 8 or 10 landings to feel proficient. Basically every landing is a dead stick landing.
When learning to fly and when getting instruction after getting the license to fly, instructors would always advise that you should never be in a position in the pattern where, if you lost an engine, you couldn't make the field. They'd say this and I'd look at where we were turning base and I knew there was no way we'd make the field without power. It seemed like sage advice that they were passing on without the skills to make it happen.
Well, Tom's technique works to keep you within gliding distance of the field, it might save a small amount of fuel, and seems to add a real measure of safety by making every landing a dead-stick landing. If I ever lose an engine in the Cherokee I'll be feeling a lot better about setting up a dead-stick approach. Tom says the method works in most small planes - I'm curious what others think of the method but mostly I'm interested in knowing if it works in an RV...particularly the 9 which everyone says floats. I realize the approach speed may be different.
