Practice Engine-Out Landings

The other night, when we were working the pattern as an excuse to watch the
sunset from 1000 AGL, it dawned on me that I hadn't practiced any emergency
procedures since my last biennial. I like to do these things once in a
while, in an effort to remain sharp, and now seemed like a good time.

With the kids in the back, and Mary to my right, I asked if anyone wanted to
see a practice "engine-out" emergency landing -- to which my bored kids
shouted "Sure!"

So, I reached over and chopped the throttle, and announced my intentions on
Unicom. The winds were calm and the pattern was empty, so we immediately
started downhill, and I made the required immediate turn toward the
airport...

I was on mid-field downwind for Rwy 07, but it soon became apparent that our
Cherokee 235 was living up to it's reputation for being a "gliding anvil" --
we weren't *ever* going to make it all the way around. With Runway 12
falling beneath me, I announced our intention of switching runways, and
started an immediate turn onto final for Rwy 12...

Now high, I had to put a smidge of a slip, and drop that third notch of
flaps -- but not too soon! Had to make sure I had the runway made, and
then dumped that third notch....

With the runway coming up at remarkable speed, I flared and put her down
just past the numbers -- arriving like the proverbial load of sand. It was
a perfect "3-point landing" -- except you don't *ever* want to land that
nose-heavy 6-cylinder on the nosewheel!

The kids exclaimed "that was worse than Mom's landing!" (which earned them
both "the Mom Look", instantly sun-burning the sides of both of their
faces), and I was glad that Mr. Piper had built some fudge-factor into that
landing gear... Gotta remember to pull harder next time, for sure...

Of course, it turned out that a group of the usual airport bums were
watching, and had to drop by the hangar to congratulate me on my landing
prowess. (They would hear NOTHING of my lame "power off landing" excuses,
naturally... :-)

Great fun, good practice, and it sure reinforced the reason we land our
Pathfinder with a smidge of power at touchdown...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"