On Aug 6, 12:04*am, Gemini wrote:
On 2010-08-06, Dave Doe wrote:
In article ,
says...
On 2010-08-01, anthony wrote:
On Jul 30, 11:24*am, Franklin
wrote:
Stephen! wrote:
a wrote in
news:9bc82c51-ad2d-48c4-bbd8-03eb64291845
@g35g2000yqa.googlegroups.com:
The likely lesson is, learn or relearn to control your energy!
* All good points but I think a better lesson from this crash would
* be how to decide when you've blown the landing and go around.
It take time to know how to land a plane. It takes longer to know when not
to land a plane.
Franklin wrote
It take time to know how to land a plane. It takes longer to know when
not
to land a plane.
Good point. Note to CFIs doing BFIs -- at least once when your client
is deep in the flare, command "Go around". It would be a way of
reminding us the throttle may sometimes have to be advanced when we
are planning to land.
Really good point. I'm currently a student pilot (only had 1st solo on
7/4/10), and before the solo, my CFI did exactly that, whilst right in
the flare, he, in a conversational tone, said, "Go around." Proudly,
I was on it, and smoothly increased throttle, and reduced flaps...
I hope you achieved a positive rate of climb before letting *any* flaps
go. *Then smoothly drop 'em away - just as per std. T/O for your
aircraft.
I did. I slowly added throttle - once the climb started, I grabbed the
flap lever and started letting out the flaps. That was proof of the
"muscle memory" concept, and the only the I EVER did to that point
when letting out flaps, was post landing and letting the ALL the way
out - so, it was just automatic - I simply pressed the button, and
slowly lowered to the floor!
Fortunatley, 8 years in the USMC taught me to always keep a level
head, so, even though I made a potentially fatal mistake, I kept
a level head, and 1 click at a time, and two clicks of flap back.
Thank you USMC! ::whew::
PS: in the comment you reply to above, what does BFI mean? - here in New
Zealand we call it a BFR (Bi-annual Flight Review) - and it's just that,
a review. *ie it's not a "test". *But that's irrelevant, just wondering
what the 'I' means for you folk over there.
I'm still kinda new. I only know it to be called a Bi-annual Flight Review
(BFR) - but I believe that since he was referring to the CFI - he meant the
Biannual Flight Instruction that might occur during the review. Someone
please correct me if I'm wrong.
I got to learn another lesson that day:
When going around, and you need to decrease the flap by 1 "click",
make sure you don't let out ALL the flap. Fortunately, the CFI
calmly said, "You let out all the flap; we're going to lose altitude
if you don't..." I already caught my mistake and put 2 clicks back
in of flaps. Now I'm always aware!
But this is why we train, right? I want to make ALL my mistakes
when the CFI is right there.
The silly/bad ones, yes 
*You'll still make mistakes when you are
fully certified w' your PPL - I'd like think they'll be minor ones.
It sounds like you were onto the flaps thing yourself - so that's good.
Yeah. We strive for perfection, but, I'm sure we're never perfect. I
actually made the same mistake a couple of weeks later on my second
solo T/O landing - one where I chose to Go Around. I was really glad it
happened that first time, b/c the second the lever hit the floor I
realized what I did, and brought the flaps back up again. Important,
b/c on this runway, there were trees pretty close to the end of the
runway.
In my second solo - simply flying the pattern for 3 T/O landings -
I exercised my own judgemnt to Go Around. I came in too fast, and
ground effect was making me float way too far - so, rather than
chance it, I simply "went around".
I almost had the urge to not do it. I was thinking, I know what
I'm doing, so, I can stick this. A split second later, I said
to myself that if I'm trying to convince myself that I can make
this, on a simple landing that is getting close, I better just
go around.
That will stick with me now. I know what to expect of myself and
the signs to look for - at least in this case.
Sound good to me - certainly made the right decision again. *Persevering
with a high-speed landing has taken many a front wheel off as the
"forced" landing turns into a nasty bunny-hop.
Thanks. I have much to learn; but I've been enjoying every second!
Cheers!
A couple of very minor points: most experienced pilots will tell you
it takes them a few seconds, maybe 5, to go from closed to open
throttle. It may not be as important in a 152, but as you move along
into bigger engines it really matters, you want to be gentle unless
circumstances dictate otherwise.
Excess speed is best burned off a wingspan above the surface, else the
additional efficiency of ground effect will float you into the next
county or state. This is especially true for low winged airplanes. If
you come in hot those few seconds at 30 feet will tell you if you'll
want to continue the landing or go around because there's not a
comfortable amount of runway left, and any headwind will likely be
greater there than closer to the ground.
As your experience increases, ask your CFI it it's ok to plan your
touch down point with respect to the turn off you want to use rather
than the numbers. This pilot at least considers his landing acceptable
when from closing the throttle entering the flare to making the turn
off I need to use neither throttle or brakes. The guys on short final
will appreciate you vacating the active quickly too.(Question for the
rest of you: if you get before a judge who happens to be a pilot, do
you think you'd get off with a suspended sentence because it was
justifiable homicide if the guy in the 152 ahead of you landed on the
numbers and taxied 2500 feet to the turnoff when the pattern was
crowded?)
Among (many) other things, the times I lend my airplane to friends
depends on if on check out they land that way.