bart@ucbvax.ARPA (Bart Miller) (09/18/84)
The rule to land straight ahead on take-off in a SE aircraft on take-off is a rule of thumb. IF you know the amount of altitude that you will loose in a power-off (and departure speed) situation for a 180 turn, you can make a "decision" point. Take your favorite plane up to 3000' or 4000' out to the practice area. Set yourself up in a departure situation (much like you were going to practice t/o and dep. stalls), then chop the power (and note the altitude and heading). Get the nose down to get glide speed, while starting your (not to steep) turn. When you've turned the 180 (actually more than that, since it will be somewhat of a teardrop pattern), note your altitude again. Now you know your altitude loss. Try it a couple of times. Now take the altitude loss and add 200' for slop, panic, disbelief, and screaming passengers (they rarely scream if you look like you know what you're doing -- no matter what). This will give you a general rule for a turn/no turn point. Remember if you're flying something heavier like a 210 or Bonanza (or even a 182), it will be quire different at gross, than will just you, or you and another person. You need to try this experiment with each different plane you fly (and maybe at the different loadings). Anyway, it's another excuse to go flying without having to go anywhere. --bart miller