Thermal right, land left

John,

this is the value of the trim handle. By resetting it, if you become
momentarily distracted, you are less likely to let the nose float up.

As you may have no choice in the direction you thermal, you may not
have a choice in the direction of your pattern.

You should be able to transition from climb to cruise and maintain a
speed, regardless what that speed is and your altitude. This is basic
airmanship. If you find this difficult, get help.

Stall spin in the pattern is typically due to poor pattern planning,
often leading to skidded turns at low altitude. And while you must
stall to spin, you will not spin if the you maintain coordinated
controls. This is why your instructor repeatedly told you to check
airspeed and yaw string while flying in the pattern. Down low this is
of paramount importance. There is simply no room for error. Again,
basic airmanship.

You are rationalizing a crutch. Learn not to be distracted. Deal with
problems, but don't let problems create bigger ones by letting your
focus wander from the task at hand -- flying your aircraft.

Chris OCallaghan wrote:
John,

this is the value of the trim handle. By resetting it, if you become
momentarily distracted, you are less likely to let the nose float up.

I had an interesting trim quandry a few days ago. Should one
trim the AC-4c retract nose down or nose up for landing?

If nose down, then the pilot is less likely to accidentally stall
on landing. But as the two pilots before me put it on the
nose, perhaps there is a downside.

Trim nose up, and then after landing, one is less likely to pop it on
the nose. Just make sure to apply pressure forward for landing.

I'm a fan of more nose down trim than required for a certain airspeed,
so I constantly have a tiny back pressure while flying. Maybe
pulling is less tiring than pushing too...

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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

Mark James Boyd wrote:
Chris OCallaghan wrote:

John,

this is the value of the trim handle. By resetting it, if you become
momentarily distracted, you are less likely to let the nose float up.


I had an interesting trim quandry a few days ago. Should one
trim the AC-4c retract nose down or nose up for landing?

If nose down, then the pilot is less likely to accidentally stall
on landing. But as the two pilots before me put it on the
nose, perhaps there is a downside.

I suggest more likely reasons are a forward CG, braking too hard, and
not doing a "fully held off" landing, which ends up with the stick in
your lap.
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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA