"COLIN LAMB" wrote in message hlink.net...
It seems "old" power pilots used to keep nose high when having too much
altitude, close to stalling, in order to maximise drag. This obviously is
not the right way to react with a glider (or any ship with decent
airbrakes), and has caused some other accidents already ...



While not a commonly used technique it is a trick that many
experienced power pilots have up there sleeve. It works very well in
large Flapped cessna's where slips are not recommended. While
increasing drag is a secondary affect of slowing down on final. The
primary effect is a twist on the Speed to Fly that glider pilots
should be well aware of. It is not very effective in no wind and can
even be counter productive in a tailwind situation but by slowing down
on final with a headwind the approach angle can be significantly
steepened by slowing down to a minimum airspeed on final. At about
200-300 feet AGL the nose is lowered to bring the airspeed back up to
a normal approach speed to allow enough energy to flare with.

Anyone intentionally performing this maneuver should be well all aware
of the dangers of stalling at low altitude and should be well prepared
to recover from it. I doubt many accidents can be attributed to pilot
intentionally performing this maneuver.

With Dive Brakes it is questionable if this technique is any better
than just speeding up and using the additional drag caused by the
excess speed on the dive brakes. Remember Drag goes exponentially with
speed.

IMO: Most Stall Spin Accidents are caused more by the Illusion of
speed and/or a nose low attitude. These can be caused by flying
downwind, close to the ground and unfamiliar or obscured horizons. In
these situations the pilot is not thinking a stall is even a
possibility. The airplane stalls and the pilot responds with the
incorrect control inputs because the possibility of the aircraft
stalling when it appears to be nose down and moving fast does not even
seem possible to the pilot. I think most of these pilots hit the
ground wondering what is wrong with the airplane or that something
broke. Perhaps there are a few survivors that can confirm or debunk
my theory.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL