Verifying flap retraction

Yes, the little metal bar moves. I'm going to put painting it red on my
list. Still, looking at a big thing out side the plane as opposed to a
little thing down on the panel seems safer to me.

If you can train yourself to hear the noise, that's probably as good as
taking a look. It's easy to miss the absence of noise though as my friend
found out.

--

Roger Long



"Ray" wrote in message
...
What about the little metal bar that moves up and down on the left side of
the flaps switch? When the flaps fail to retract, does the metal bar
still
go all the way back up? Also, normally you can hear the motor running
every
time the flaps are moving up or down. When the flaps get stuck, is there
any audible indication?

Thanks,
- Ray

"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
One of the more experienced pilots in our club scared himself climbing
out
of a touch and go during which he didn't notice that the flaps had
frozen
at
20 degrees on our 172.

I've been investigating the flap system on Cessna's and am impressed how
easily a bit of fluff or corrosion in just one switch can let the flaps
go
down but then fail to retract.

This leaves me convinced that CFI's and all of us should be drilling in
the
glance over the shoulder to verify retraction on all touch and goes and
go
arounds. Practicing climb outs from minimum airspeed with all flap
settings
is a very neglected part of airwork and probably as important to safety
as
doing stalls.

--

Roger Long