Engine Failure on Final
Quick question and please don't bite my head off just yet.
Now that I've got my constant speed and retractable endorsement, I'm flying the Tobago and the Arrow a little more.
Both of these aircraft glide like a brick, and reducing power on final can produce some pretty high rates of descent.
As a result power control is slightly more critical than a 172 , PA28,152 etc.
Now my question is, "what happens if you are at 500 feet on final, with gear out flaps out, and the engine quits?" I'm assuming that you are in a stablised approach at the required reference speed - say about 75 knots.
Now with full flap I'm not going to make the field in either aircraft. So do I raise flaps? Do I raise the gear (in the Arrow) in order to produce a better glide ratio?
One instructor I've worked with (ex military) encourages a slightly steeper approach path than others, which I guess leaves more room to glide if the engine quits.
Others want me to get a little low and on the back of the drag curve and then use a lot more power to bring the aircraft in, especially on short strips.
Can anyone advise me? Next sortie I'm thinking of going to the training area and setting up an approach at 3500 AGL and examining what happens.
We have drills for engine failure on takeoff and elsewhere, but I haven't noticed engine failure on final anywhere.
It may be that the geometry of certain strips is such that you can in theory glide the required distance, but I'm not sure if you could do it with flaps out.