new ppl guy
point one: if you are flying at 6000' you are flying at an IFR altitude...shouldn't you be VFR at 6500' feet? (assuming youare above 3000 agl)
point two...sometimes it is smart to overfly the field at altitude and descend after looking the field over.
point three, you haven't said if there is intervening terrain features, natural or manmade between yourself and the airport.
these are the things us OLD pilots think about.
a 500 foot perminute descent for a non pressurized plane should be considered the MAXimum for passenger/crew comfort. others have given you an idea how to calculate this...but you should enter the traffic pattern at pattern altitude and not higher ( you might descend on top of someone especially if youare in a low wing plane).
as far as the mixture goes...well, if you are concentrating on your mixture knob and not looking out for traffic you might die. if you enrichen the mixture before leaving 3000' or so, the engine will be fine and you can look out the window for traffic...YOU CHOOSE WHICH IS MORE Important.
AS TO CROSSWINDS AND WINDS OF ANY KIND. I've landed a piper arrow in a 60 knot wind, and it wasn't straight down the runway. I landed ''crabed'' and rolled about 40 feet and stopped.
So, for the new pilot, stay below the max demonstrated crosswind component. someone talked about landing a seneca...well, a twin engine plane can use assymetric thrust to enhance crosswind performance...indeed I've even used it on jet transports.
AS to landing a piper archer on a 400 metre runway( so that's about 1200 feet plus a bit). I suggest you do the following:
one...calculate the exact vref (approach speed)...using the exact weight at time of landing. fly at this speed using the techniques in the pilot operating handbook.
aim for a safe touchdown point (not right on the numbers as you might end up short)...I always told my students to aim for the SECOND stripe in the runway centerline...but you might not have the runway marked.
as soon as you touchdown, retract the flaps (the archer is a fixed gear plane...no chance of retracting the gear) and smoothly apply the brakes to a complete stop.
Landing and stopping this type in less than 1000' shouldn't be a problem PROVIDED there is a bit of a headwind...don't attempt with tailwaind or if in violation of the POH.
IF you can, go up and fly around in the landing configuration with the payload and fuel loading you expect on landing...at a safe altitude do a power off stall in the landing configuration. NOTE the airspeed of stall (recover of course) and use that speed to calculate 1`.3 times that speed for vref and use that as approach...it may be below the standard approach speed but use it and it is the proper speed for landing.
the standard speed is calculated for max landing weight, not the weight you may really be at.
the archer/warrior series is a very nice plane to fly...but if you take the time to read the POH and make the calculations based on real weight, you will get better takeoff and landing performance.
while instructing for commercial pilots, we used a turbo arrrow 3...by using the exact techniques and speeds we could make the thing jump off the ground and clear the 50' obstacle in a very impressive manner. but using the standard speeds it would be sluggish.
now, be careful, dn't stall...and you can't lose even one knot!!!! there is slop involved in the standard speeds and you lose the slop if you are ''right on''.
fly safe...try to read what I posted about unfamiliar airport entry patterns somewhere else on this forum