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Old 10th Jul 2003, 17:27
  #354 (permalink)  
212man
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Den Haag
Age: 57
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I agree that the 76 is not the easiest machine to do night deck landings in, though as with all night landings it's very much a function of familiarity and practice. However, I do feel that starting a deceleration from 60 kts whilst still a mile away is not ideal and may lead to problems. Combine this with the fact that 300 ft radalt is probably not very much above the deck height and so the sight picture will appear very late in the approach, and you compound the problem.

At the end of the day, the aircraft does not know it's dark and so the approach should mirror as closely as possible the day time landing, albeit a more cautious one. This also puts the aircraft at familiar speeds and heights rather than trying to learn a different set.

If you know the deck height and the angle of approach you want, why not use a to of descent gate to give you the sight picture? e.g. 100 ft deck, 8 degree approach, TOD equals 500 ft radalt at half a mile.
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