Safe Approaches in GA Aircraft
If it's not a memory aid, then why formulate it as a checklist with a mnemonic? And I disagree with much of it anyhow.
I would argue you have one too many zeros there.
Descent rate can easily be more than 1000 ft/min if you are slipping in, and you can safely hold the slip until well under 400 feet.
I was taught:
c - carb heat
r - runway clear
a - airspeed/approach stable
p - permission to land
and would argue that 'r' and 'a' are probably unnecessary - you should be looking out of the window so should see anything on the runway, and being in control of the aircraft is so fundamental to flying that it should be like breathing - not worthy of mention. I suppose your list covers carb heat in 'configuration' but really it's worthy of a lot more attention in any aircraft with carb heat, and a lot less in any aircraft without it.
Neither list mentions what you should do if you can't fix the approach, which is obviously to go-around. At least as big a problem as not recognising that there's something wrong with an approach, is to recognise that things aren't right and continue anyway.
It's laudable to want to avoid further accidents, but the problem with thinking these things up as a response is that you inevitably end up with a list that gets longer and longer as the accidents continue. It's something that happens a lot in my field {medicine} - each time something bad happens, somebody devises a form to prevent it. The end result is that your attention and time are increasingly drawn away from the things that matter the most. The other day I overheard the nurses going over the admissions paperwork for a policeman who'd fallen off his motorbike and needed his arm fixed. Did he feel safe at home? Did he live in a house with stairs? All very relevant when it comes to caring for a lady with an abusive husband who has broken her ankle, but half an hour of irrelevant paperwork for a fit young man who just needed a painkiller and a 'nil by mouth' sign on his bed. One form the nurses have for patients who need to be referred to social services is over 50 pages long and takes over a day to fill out. Paperwork to 'ensure it never happens again' is a curse of our age.
My favourite aviation safety strategy is to read lots of accident reports and 'that worst day' articles. And to be ready to go around. To be aware that there's no shame in going around. And to practice a go-around once every flying day just to reinforce that.
E Established. Not lined up on final by 400FT AGL.
S Sink rate is no greater than 1000 feet/minute
I was taught:
c - carb heat
r - runway clear
a - airspeed/approach stable
p - permission to land
and would argue that 'r' and 'a' are probably unnecessary - you should be looking out of the window so should see anything on the runway, and being in control of the aircraft is so fundamental to flying that it should be like breathing - not worthy of mention. I suppose your list covers carb heat in 'configuration' but really it's worthy of a lot more attention in any aircraft with carb heat, and a lot less in any aircraft without it.
Neither list mentions what you should do if you can't fix the approach, which is obviously to go-around. At least as big a problem as not recognising that there's something wrong with an approach, is to recognise that things aren't right and continue anyway.
It's laudable to want to avoid further accidents, but the problem with thinking these things up as a response is that you inevitably end up with a list that gets longer and longer as the accidents continue. It's something that happens a lot in my field {medicine} - each time something bad happens, somebody devises a form to prevent it. The end result is that your attention and time are increasingly drawn away from the things that matter the most. The other day I overheard the nurses going over the admissions paperwork for a policeman who'd fallen off his motorbike and needed his arm fixed. Did he feel safe at home? Did he live in a house with stairs? All very relevant when it comes to caring for a lady with an abusive husband who has broken her ankle, but half an hour of irrelevant paperwork for a fit young man who just needed a painkiller and a 'nil by mouth' sign on his bed. One form the nurses have for patients who need to be referred to social services is over 50 pages long and takes over a day to fill out. Paperwork to 'ensure it never happens again' is a curse of our age.
My favourite aviation safety strategy is to read lots of accident reports and 'that worst day' articles. And to be ready to go around. To be aware that there's no shame in going around. And to practice a go-around once every flying day just to reinforce that.
Last edited by abgd; 18th Apr 2016 at 06:27.
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My favourite aviation safety strategy is to read lots of accident reports and 'that worst day' articles. And to be ready to go around. To be aware that there's no shame in going around. And to practice a go-around once every flying day just to reinforce that.
