Why fly fast approaches?

I did my BFR last month in a PA28-181. It is an airplane new to the
flying club I belong to and although I have more than 60 hours in type,
the owner requires anyone who desires to rent it, have an instructor
checkout.

Prior to the flight I calculated a weight and balance and appropriate
speeds for the actual takeoff and landing weights.

I started to pull for takeoff at the calculated speed and the
instructor said, "No, no, wait until 65 kts."
Okay.

For the first landing, I stated the calculated 1.5Vso and 1.3Vso speeds.
The instructor again said, "No, no, that's too slow. Use 75 kts."

When we were on the ground, I asked him why he wanted the faster speeds.
His answer was that this was not a new airplane, so the book values
needed to be increased to allow for age related things that could
affect the noted V-speeds.

Unless the instructor was joking with you, it might be time for a new
instructor. Aircraft age has nothing to do with V speeds.

I fly final in my PA28-180 at 80mph, and slow to 75 crossing the
threshold. This is right at 1.3Vso, (57*1.3=74) and it works well.


Approach speeds really depend on the airplane. If it can dump speed and energy
fast once you're over the fence -- 172s can do that -- you can still enter the
flare slow enough. On the other hand, if you are carrying 80 kts in an
airplane like a Mooney, you'll need a lot of runway to fly over before you want
to get down to where ground effect makes it even more efficient.

Maybe the question should be at what speed do you want to enter ground effect.