Approach speeds for ILS

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 18:20:43 -0800, "C J Campbell"
wrote:

I have no problem with flying the ILS at 90 or 100 knots if the ceiling is
well above minimums, but it seems to me that if the ceiling is 200 feet
overcast you ought to be flying the approach slowly enough that you can land
at that speed. You don't need to configure for a short field landing, but
you are not going to slow from 90 knots to 60 in a Skyhawk in only 200 feet
of altitude, especially if you can't risk ballooning back up into the soup.

I would respectfully disagree, although I haven't flown a Skyhawk in years.
However, my Mooney is also an a/c known for being "slippery" with a Vso of
49 kts, a bit faster than the Skyhawk. However, for an approach to
minimums, especially at an airport with "heavy iron", I would view my
limiting speed to be the gear down speed of 105 Kts. (And if I had a newer
Mooney, it would be even faster).

I think an instrument rated pilot should have had the necessary training so
that he can fly the approach at the higher speeds desireable to blend in
with faster traffic -- and not have to worry about "balloning back up into
the soup". Also, most ILS's are into runways of at least 4,000' lengths,
so you don't need to be at 1.2 Vso coming over the threshold (although it
is nice to touch down in the touchdown zone).

Don't forget, at a DA of 200' you will still be about 1/2 mile from the
runway. Given that it's a 4,000' or longer runway, you should be able to
touchdown in the first 1/2 and not run off the far end.

In my Mooney, I have no particular problem with, after reaching a DA of
200' and making the decision to land, lowering the additional two notches
of flaps and slowing speed by the runway threshold (60-65 KIAS -- the
slower speed if there is an operational advantage).

I will say, however, that with a DA of 100', I do not drop the last two
notches of flaps, and I will use about 4,000' of runway if I am using a 105
kt approach speed. But at airports where that may occur, that distance is
usually less than 60% of the total runway length -- again, plenty of room.

So I think that instrument rated pilots who, after all, are legal to fly
into any airport, should have the training and experience to deal with the
faster approach speeds. It really is not that difficult once one starts to
practice.

My most difficult approach, in terms of speed control, came with a request
from PWM approach to "maintain present speed until the (outer) marker". At
the time, my speed was 125 Kts; I was under the hood; and there was an FAA
examiner in the right seat. My gear down speed is 105 kts, flaps 109 kts,
and this approach was being done to a 100' DA with a landing planned. So
it was a matter of coming down, slowing down, and reconfiguring on the way
down. (And yes, I discussed with the examiner the fact that I had not done
something like this before; that I wanted to see how it would work out; and
that if it were the first time doing this procedure in real IMC, my
response would have been "unable").

So I think these instrument pilots should be trained and practiced in
faster approaches.


Ron (EPM) (N5843Q, Mooney M20E) (CP, ASEL, ASES, IA)