PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - What happened to the "impossible turns" thread?
Old 19th Jan 2012, 13:34
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The500man
 
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I think it's worth putting effort into working out how to make a successful turnback for the times when there is no other reasonable option (particularly if you fly from that type of runway regularly) but if you had a suitable landing site ahead or even to one side why would you turnback?

If the only option was to ditch, would you consider that better than attempting a turnback if you had what you considered to be sufficient altitude for a turnback based on prior practice at altitude?

Out of interest do people that would turnback think they would still have enough spare capacity to make a mayday call? Landing with a tailwind could mean using a lot of runway, and someone else could well have already lined up behind you. Obviously you would have to rely on fast reactions from non-radio aircraft on the ground or on short final.

When you really think about it, is it worth the effort training yourself to turnback? Unless you do fly from a no-other-option-airfield regularly what are the chances you will have an efato somewhere that actually requires a turnback?
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