Testing your glide. Are people doing this?

If you really like stick-and-rudder flying, look into gliders. I'll bet you
really like it.


"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
...
My experience is that most people don't actually know how to fly their
airplanes. They know how to get them off the ground, from Point A to
Point
B, but they never do touch and gos, they never go out and do stalls, and
they really don't know how their airplane performs in anything other than
the cruise. Personally, I enjoy simply controlling the machine. Kind of
like racing drivers - they enjoy being in control of the machine, not
using
it go to anywhere. Therefore, I get a hell of a kick out of touch and
goes,
I stall the airplane all the time simply because it's fun, I do all kinds
of
turns and maneuvers just for the hell of it. What this all means is that
I
know how my airplane performs at all edges of it's envelope and with the
engine off more than I do in the cruise. Possibly all for fun, but
really,
in the back of my mind, it's so I know how to get out of trouble faster
than
I got into it.

Shawn
"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("MLenoch" wrote)
Folks should go out and practice this a bunch. Early in the morning
high
above
the airport, they should simulate a glide onto the runway, to get a
feel
for
the descent rate, speed, angle, etc. etc.


Talking to folks at airports, do you get the sense that people are, in
fact,
doing what you suggested? Or is it just a good idea ...."I should do
that,
one-of-these-days"...kind of thing?

Just curious.

--
Montblack

"Styled by the laws of nature.............Concorde"

You may be right but there's something about having some power to work with.
I think that's why I enjoy the Pitts so much.

To get back to my original post, which I hadn't realized was causing so much
followon conversation, my point was that most of the activity I see at our
local airport involves people taking off, going away to land somewhere else,
and then coming back. Two flights, two landings, lots of cruise in the
middle. And they usually take the longest and widest runway unless the wind
is dramatically favoring one of the other shorter ones (onto which a local
pilot regularly puts a KingAir!). It's not the same qualified statement
that CJ can make as an instructor, but it's my observation and, based on my
experience, I didn't really learn how to fly properly until I spent hours in
the same plane just practicing various kinds of maneuvers to see how it
performed. I hadn't really been talking about the difference between
renters and owners and my comments could only be speculative about other
pilots, but are based on my observations.

Shawn
"William W. Plummer" wrote in message
newskFmb.24669$9E1.77470@attbi_s52...
If you really like stick-and-rudder flying, look into gliders. I'll bet
you
really like it.


"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
...
My experience is that most people don't actually know how to fly their
airplanes. They know how to get them off the ground, from Point A to
Point
B, but they never do touch and gos, they never go out and do stalls, and
they really don't know how their airplane performs in anything other
than
the cruise. Personally, I enjoy simply controlling the machine. Kind
of
like racing drivers - they enjoy being in control of the machine, not
using
it go to anywhere. Therefore, I get a hell of a kick out of touch and
goes,
I stall the airplane all the time simply because it's fun, I do all
kinds
of
turns and maneuvers just for the hell of it. What this all means is
that
I
know how my airplane performs at all edges of it's envelope and with the
engine off more than I do in the cruise. Possibly all for fun, but
really,
in the back of my mind, it's so I know how to get out of trouble faster
than
I got into it.

Shawn
"Montblack" wrote in message
...
("MLenoch" wrote)
Folks should go out and practice this a bunch. Early in the morning
high
above
the airport, they should simulate a glide onto the runway, to get a
feel
for
the descent rate, speed, angle, etc. etc.


Talking to folks at airports, do you get the sense that people are, in
fact,
doing what you suggested? Or is it just a good idea ...."I should do
that,
one-of-these-days"...kind of thing?

Just curious.

--
Montblack

"Styled by the laws of nature.............Concorde"

In article ,
ShawnD2112 wrote:

You may be right but there's something about having some power to work with.
I think that's why I enjoy the Pitts so much. It's not the same qualified statement
that CJ can make as an instructor, but it's my observation and, based on my
experience, I didn't really learn how to fly properly until I spent hours in
the same plane just practicing various kinds of maneuvers to see how it
performed. I hadn't really been talking about the difference between
renters and owners and my comments could only be speculative about other
pilots, but are based on my observations.

Now, you are talking a completely different animal.
Flying a Pitts is not the same as flying a spam can.
Flying unusual attitudes (aerobatics) is not the same as flying
standard Private Pilot maneuvers.
What you have learned is finess and coordination because your aircraft
demands it. The control sesitivity of a Pitts is multiple times, if not
an order of magnitude, greater than that of the average spam can.

"The airshow begins when the Pitts flairs to land." - Norm Crabtree,
Director, Division of Aviation, Ohio Department of Transportation
(retired)

"ShawnD2112" wrote in
:

snip

To get back to my original post, which I hadn't realized was causing so
much followon conversation, my point was that most of the activity I
see at our local airport involves people taking off, going away to land
somewhere else, and then coming back. Two flights, two landings, lots
of cruise in the middle. And they usually take the longest and widest
runway unless the wind is dramatically favoring one of the other
shorter ones (onto which a local pilot regularly puts a KingAir!).

snip

I think there are several types of pilots. Some pilots learn to fly with
the intent of obtaining a career in aviation. Others learn to fly with
intentions like what I believe you described in your earlier post - to
learn to control the machine like a racecar. Yet others learn to fly as a
means of transporting themselves further, faster.

I happen to be one of the latter. And so since I got my PPL, it is true
that MUCH of my flying involves takeoff, cruise, and landing. But I would
tend to agree with the poster who said that piloting skill is directly
proportional to frequency. Many pilots fly infrequently and their skills
suffer. Others fly more frequently, and will find "excuses" to fly even if
the flight is not within the scope of their original intentions. (ie: If I
find that I haven't flown in a couple of weeks, I will hop over to the
airport and spend an hour practicing maneuvers or T&Gs.)

But I think some pilots get into a comfort zone, think their skills are OK,
and don't do much practice again until their next BFR, if at all...

Of course, I have no actual evidence of this.. Just personal opinion based
on stories I have been told by instructors, FBO owners, and others that I
have talked to... You know, the stuff urban legend is made of!