PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Why is landing the bloody plane so hard?!
Old 5th Mar 2015, 11:26
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9 lives
 
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I'm 99.2% with Chuck on this one. In ANY certified aircraft, a power off landing (and a decent one) is possible, if set up properly. The 0.8%, there are altitude and speed combinations for every aircraft, from which a power off landing will not be possible - this goes to the set up. If you are low and slow with power, the loss of that power could leave the aircraft in a situation where entry to a glide is not possible before reaching the ground. I'll come back to that.

Engine power for landing is a crutch. It's a very useful crutch if you need to drag in an approach to maintain a glideslope, or for a soft field landing, and it's a handy crutch for assuring touchdown where you want to, as the use of power stretches the flare - infinitely, if you want.

Engine power is also a deceptive pitfall, as people get used to using it, and then one day, it's not there/available in time/effective, and they don't know what to do. And... carrying power down the approach can trap you into a gear up landing, because the throttle actuated gear up warning switch will not be actuated, 'till it's too late, if you forgot the gear!

When I train amphibian pilots, they will not go solo, until they had demonstrated power off landings from mid base - consistently well, to a gentle touchdown. There is no excuse not to be able to fly these. A C182 amphibian, at 3350 pounds, and ten or twenty flap glides very nicely to a beautiful touchdown at 80 KIAS - and a twelve degree approach path! but it works! My eight hour on type charge, demonstrated three of these to me, and I sent him solo.

Practice power off landings from a more steep than normal approach, and a bit faster than normal, 'till you get the feel. Don't attempt short fields 'till you're quite comfortable, and as said, soft field landings don't work this way.

John Farley, the Harrier pilot, told me about power off landings he flew in Harriers. His book, a view to a hover, has excellent discussion on this

It is possible with power to get a plane into a place in the sky, where upon loss of the power, you will hit the ground, before you achieve a glide. This can, to a lesser degree, be achieved on a gliding approach too. The scariest flight testing I have ever done was a highly modified (and very draggy) Cessna Caravan, and required engine cuts at slow speed and 50 feet after takeoff. Think of it this way: a stabilized approach has no vertical acceleration, you're steadily moving toward earth. To arrest that descent, you're going to have to accelerate upward a bit. That will require the addition of energy. Either the crutch of the application of power, or giving up some speed. To give up the speed, you'll have to have it. And, you have to have it in excess of the "best glide" speed, 'cause that's not "best glide, with a nice reserve to flare", that's best glide to get you to shore. So, for the silly pilots who drag the aircraft up to the first 200 feet after takeoff well below Yy, they are in for a nasty shock if it quits.

As for nice landings, they come with practice of power off landings. I was very kindly invited along in an aircraft type I had never flown before, in another country, to an airport I had never before landed, last week. I only met my host the day before. He invited me to land from the right seat on our first flight, which I accepted. Though he suggested "speeds" for a nice landing, I did not have a ready view of the ASI, so I did not refer to it. The last 50 feet of my approach was at or near idle. The landing was entirely presentable, and received a complement from left seat. It just takes awareness to what the plane is telling you, and some practice - power off....
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