Watched the shuttle land today.

I watched the whole thing (from about 1/2 hour out) on the NASA video feed
(http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sh...in/index.html). It is really
is amazing how all this stuff works.

One amazing thing about the final approach is how steep it is. I've always
known it was steep (the NASA web site says "seven times steeper than the
average commercial airliner landing", which I take to mean 21 degrees. But
the numbers don't prepare you for the "pilot's eye view" they showed. It
seems like you're looking straight down at the runway.

The thing that really surprised me was when they put the gear down. I
guess I never really thought much about it, if I had, I never would have
guessed that it goes down at about 300 AGL, when they're already in the
landing flare.

Of course, the TV news barely even mentioned the event. I've got PBS on
right now and just watched Ray Suarez on the The News Hour mention in the
closing "in other news today" segment that the shuttle landed after an 8
day mission. Not bad coverage, considering it was almost 13 days.

In article ,
Roy Smith wrote:

One amazing thing about the final approach is how steep it is. I've always
known it was steep (the NASA web site says "seven times steeper than the
average commercial airliner landing", which I take to mean 21 degrees. But
the numbers don't prepare you for the "pilot's eye view" they showed. It
seems like you're looking straight down at the runway.

The shuttle is known for having the glide ratio of an accelerated brick...

At 15 miles out, the shuttle is at 20,000ft.

An interesting article from AOPA Pilot on the Shuttle Training Aircraft:
http://www.aopa.org/pilot/features/9703feat.html

The STA is a modified Gulfstream II. To simulate the shuttle, the
gear is dropped for additional drag, the modified flaps are deflected
upward past neutral for additional drag and the thrust reverses
are deployed.

John
--
John Clear - http://www.clear-prop.org/