Turn to Final - Keeping Ball Centered

On Mar 12, 2:18 am, "Ken S. Tucker" wrote:

-- IGNORE BELOW --
Depends on the A/C, what were you flying?
In an F-4 doing a 3-4g bank is easy, but in
a trainer I'd suggest 2g max.
Ken
-- IGNORE ABOVE ---

Assuming you're not flying an F-4 in a sim, we'll move on to
reality....

This fear is (correctly) pounded into every aspiring/training pilot --
don't cross control stall on turn to final!

And that's that.

So -- pilots being the life loving critters that they are, add "a
little more speed" as a "buffer." Because we all know we can't stall
at X speed, right?

And then we turn onto final 10-15-20 knots faster than required and
then wonder why 3,500' strip is just barely big enough.

So we'll assume you still need three things:

1) A correct understanding of stall

2) A consistent, safe procedure for the pattern in the airplane you're
flying

3) Demonstrations by a CFI of the sensations and perceptions of the
event prior to and just at the stall in the various possible
circumstances (turn to final being one).

For (1) you need to get into your head that stalls -- while often
described in terms of speed -- are a function of angle of attack. The
wing (or a portion) can't fly anymore because the flow of air below
and above isn't working as designed (I'm sure you've seen the pictures
of burbling air over the wing).

This can be demonstrated on the ground by a CFI with a model airplane.
Then he/she should take you out and demonstrate this in an appropriate
airplane.

For (2), you need to fly patterns at altitude and figure out the
optimal Power (1500 RPM?), Attitude (Nose about there, trim to there),
and configuration (gear down, flaps full, etc) for your airplane at
the speeds you will be flying in the pattern. And then (with your
CFI), explore the left side of the envelope (slower). What you will
find is that in normal 30 degree banks (which you were taught to use
in the pattern), with coordinated turns the airplane continues to fly
quite well 30% over stall speed (1.3 Vso).

Does this mean you will drop out of the sky if a gusts catches you and
momentarily disturbs coordination? No. The airplanes we fly
(especially trainers) are very forgiving in this regard. But keep in
mind "momentarily." You should catch it and fix it.

For (3), he/she should take you to altitude and show you how much
cross control you need to apply to get the airplane to stall. This
should ease your mind a bit, but also ingrain a sense of "This isn't
good" should you place yourself in that predicament later on.

Finally (not on the list but its early), you should practice short
field landings often. I'll probably catch flak on this, but one of the
biggest problems you will see at any airport on a nice day is small
airplanes coming in Way Too Fast.

You will know this by watching the approach from a spot on the ground
-- the patterns are enormous (2 miles or more from the runway) and the
airplane touches down 1/3-1/2 way down the runway and rolls a long,
long way.

I think (IMHO) this is due to the same understanding you have -- "I
might stall due to low speed, so a bit more will give me a buffer to
keep me from that unwelcome event."

Get some more training in stalls and flight at the low end of the
speed regime and join the ranks of safe, educated pilots.


Dan