On 03/29/07 12:59, kevmor wrote:
I flew yesterday and did some practice approaches, and the winds were
about 20 knots gusting to 26-28. I've flown almost all approaches so
far in a different 172 that had a 180hp conversion. Because of the
winds, I kept almost full cruising power on the descents to try and
maintain my normal 90 kts ground speed for timing and roughly 500fpm
for the ILS.

This plane did have an IFR GPS indicating ground speed, but the one
I've been using for all other approaches didn't, neither DME. The CFI
informed me I should have used known power settings. What are your
thoughts? I'm not sure how I would've known the right power setting,
unless I used what I normally do, and accept the lower ground speed,
then adjust my descent for the ILS to a much lower fpm descent?



I was taught that you should use the proper power settings during the
approach. I would not change these due to my expectation of ground
speed. However, with a higher than standard ground speed, you will
have to adjust your descent rate to maintain the proper glide path.

Here's a question for you to think about. If you have a tail wind which
results in a ground speed of 95 knots, do you need to use the category 'B'
approach minimums?


--
Mark Hansen, PP-ASEL, Instrument Airplane
Cal Aggie Flying Farmers
Sacramento, CA