Now I get it!Â* My glide slope indication is what I'm interested in.
Since I maintain a 1,000' AGL arrival height in my settings, I look at
the glide slope indication as, "At what altitude will arrive over the
field?".Â* The only difference is, then, with my arrival height I know
that, as the glide slope approaches zero, I should arrive over the field
at 1,000', which is what I want.Â* If I set zero as my arrival height, I
must remember to think that this is the altitude that I'll arrive and
then think, "Will I have enough altitude to fly a proper pattern?"Â*
Neither method is very difficult, just a matter of preference.Â* On my
last flight, from 5 miles out, I said I'd be making a right base entry
to the runway whereas the normal pattern is to the left.Â* It was more
like a 45 degree base leg.

On 9/24/2019 5:32 AM, RR wrote:
Steve has mentioned the key here. If you are about to head home, and find yourself saying somthing like the following, "I am 1000 over, my 1000ft reserve" then your reserve is doing you a disservice. It is somewhat of catch 22. You need to be aware of your reserve in case things go south and you fall below it, but the purpose is to keep you from needing to think about it (always have 1000 ft in reserve).

The biggest problem is when things go south. If you are close in, you fall below 0, now you need to subtract from your reserve to figure out your true arrival height. If you use somthing other than 1000 ft it gets harder. So right when you most need clear information you are doing mental math. Bad timing to insert a math problem before you need to make a critical decision. Some (in the admiralty), if not most, know how I know this.

It has been described as setting your watch ahead so you are not late.

I too had flown with a reserve for years, and was worried about switching, but just a few flights and you adjust. And a few more and you realy start to appreciate the fact that you are, for the first time, realy getting the number you want out of your flight computer.

How high will I be when I get there...

RR
Commodore

--
Dan, 5J