Full flap ILS

,

What are your opinions?


I fly with 10 degrees of flaps. The reasoning:

- you get the added lift, but much of the added drag. Good for the
approach, good for the go-around
- Handling is much better than with full flaps. It is (in our plane)
quite easy to get behind the power curve with full flaps
- Landing on a non-short runway (i.e. one with an instrument approach)
with only 10 degrees is a non-issue. You just don't need full flaps in
that situation.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

Thomas Borchert wrote:
Landing on a non-short runway (i.e. one with an instrument approach)
with only 10 degrees is a non-issue. You just don't need full flaps in
that situation.

Most of the time, that's true. Most ILS's are to runways that are 7000
feet or more. But, there are some that are as short as 5000, and those
tend to be at airports that don't have approaches to both ends so you might
be flying a downwind approach. At a place like that, speed control on the
approach becomes more of an issue.

Even more interesting is the issue of LNAV/VNAV GPS approaches -- the ones
where the GPS gives you a synthetic 3 degree glide slope to follow, just
like an ILS. Lots of these are to short runways. You really don't want to
fall into the trap of thinking that just because it looks and feels like an
ILS, you can fly it like an ILS.

Roy,

But, there are some that are as short as 5000,


If that is a short runway to you and you're talking about the average
single-engine piston (including Bo's and the like), I'm afraid I'll
have to say you need serious training.

As for circling approaches, I wouldn't want to do those with the added
drag of full flaps, either.


--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)