bluejay@samuri.DEC (02/18/85)
[What ever happened to these bug-fodder lines?]
$ SET DISSERTATION /LINES=57
Rather than starting with the flaps, perhaps it'd be useful to look
at the question starting at the bottom. What do we want out of an
approach & landing? I put it to you that the prime concern can be
summed up as thusly:
Get the airplane on the ground in a minimum number of
pieces and without undue hazard to persons/property.
From that it follows (or seem to in my opinion) that:
1. We'd want to be able to touchdown on the runway if the engine quits
at any point during the approach.
2. We'd want to touchdown at the minimum speed consistent with
maintaining complete control of the airplane (if you do hit
something on rollout, the slower you're going the better; saving
wear on the tires & brakes is a secondary concern).
I could list other objectives (wake turbulence, obstruction clearance,
etc..), but this covers the main points I want to make, and the other
objectives do not conflict with the items above.
Item 1 clearly rules out the low/lotsa_power approach. In fact, the
use of any power at all leaves the possibility that you may be in
trouble if the engine quits. This leaves us with a high/no_power
approach. Item 2 calls for full flaps by the time we touchdown, since
full flaps will give us the lowest stall speed, and therefore the
slowest touchdown speed. Note that this does NOT mean you always
approach at the edge of a stall, but at some speed that keeps you
firmly in control of the aircraft, which may increase significantly in
certain conditions (gusty winds, ice, etc..). Also note that WHEN the
flaps come out is left as an exercise for the pilot in command.
Having said all that, if I had to pick _one_ approach style as "best",
my conclusion would be that the high/power-off/full-flap approach is
the best. I maintain, though, that there will be some situations that
call for other techniques.
Any rule of thumb will have exceptions. Airplanes, weather conditions,
queasy passengers, etc.. will sometimes call for slightly different
procedures. This is where pilot judgment comes in (and [sigh]
sometimes goes out). The important thing is to realize what you're
doing and _why_.
- Bluejay Adametz, CFI
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