{"id":2989,"date":"2014-08-28T17:52:53","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T00:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=2989"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:56","slug":"111-wean-stabilized-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/111-wean-stabilized-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"#111 How to wean yourself from the stabilized approach"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve read \u201cBrian\u2019s Flying Book\u201d, you\u2019ve read this statement:\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s an old wheeze that the key to a good landing is a good approach.\u00a0 I don\u2019t buy that theory.\u00a0 I want every pilot to make a good landing out of ANY approach and the shorter the better\u201d.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s extremely important to understand that the competent pilot is normally able to conduct virtually any operation in virtually any manner.\u00a0 That means that a good pilot can easily fly a stabilized approach and can, with equal ease, fly a no-powered short approach to a pretty accurate landing.<\/p>\n

With a few exceptions, I don\u2019t teach the stabilized approach at Tailwheel Town.\u00a0 Virtually every student, even primaries, learns to do a relatively close, short approach and our default approach involves closing the throttle abeam the \u201cnumbers\u201d on downwind and not extending flaps until short final. \u00a0That way, we are constantly practicing the same type of approach we would make in an emergency with an engine failure.<\/p>\n

\"140<\/a>
Our Cessna 140 in a rare moment of stability.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most flying schools fly a much larger pattern.\u00a0 They also teach a gradual power reduction that doesn\u2019t result in a completely closed throttle until the flare to a landing.\u00a0 These schools teach a \u201cStabilized Approach\u201d as a default technique.\u00a0 The resulting final is nice and long, takes forever and is so easy that I believe we could teach it to a chimp (who, by the way, doesn\u2019t have to have his boom microphone so close \u2018cause he\u2019s got\u2026 wait for it\u2026 \u201cChimp-lips[1]\u201d!).<\/p>\n

Even a fellow CFI and graduate of Tailwheel Town\u2019s Tailwheel Endorsement course, failed to suppress a \u201cHoly Crap!\u201d as one of my students swooped in to a close and low downwind with him in the right seat, then cranked the airplane around to swoop into a short approach to final.\u00a0 We\u2019re still trying to figure out how to get his fingernail gouges out of the upholstery.<\/p>\n

\"Cub<\/a>
The swoop to a short approach not only economizes flight time, but increases both pilot proficiency and fun!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Landings, takeoffs and any maneuvers close to the ground are considered to be incredibly difficult for the conventionally-trained pilot.\u00a0 That may be the reason that the stabilized approach was developed, although some of the reason may very well be general aviation\u2019s obsession with riding on the coattails of the airlines.\u00a0 A lot of people have gotten the impression that I eschew the stabilized approach with a large dose of contempt.\u00a0 That is not true.\u00a0 Virtually every airline mandates the stabilized approach and if the parameters of that approach are not met by a certain point, a go-around is indicated.\u00a0 The stabilized approach has its advantages.\u00a0 All my airline pilot pals fly the stabilized approach.\u00a0 With all those \u201cgeese\u201d in the back, and that big ol\u2019 heavy airliner with its slow-to-respond jet engines, it makes perfect sense to fly that stabilized approach.\u00a0 It\u2019s safe, it provides instrument landing accuracy without large last minute corrections which could result in a go-around.<\/p>\n

It also gives the flyer a much higher chance of success at the landing and that landing is assured much further out. That\u2019s why I teach the stabilized approach to spouses and others taking what is usually referred to as a \u201cPinch Hitter\u201d course.\u00a0 \u00a0If one of our Tailwheel Town flyers louses up an approach, the subsequent go-around may have to be attempted with much less preparation.\u00a0 Even Ray Charles can see that there is a place for each of these approaches.\u00a0 But if you have only flown the stabilized approach, you\u2019re really gonna need to put another one in your bag o\u2019 tricks!\u00a0 If you suddenly decide to try a short approach the way we do it, you may come to grief.\u00a0 There needs to be a nice, safe way to gradually learn to do the \u201cFlying Squirrel Flying Academy\u201d swooping approach.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big believer in gradually increasing degree of difficulty so that the learning process is nice and smooth.\u00a0 Wanna start learning to do that approach the Tailwheel Town way?\u00a0 Start by closing the throttle sooner. Go ahead and do the gradual flap extension that you were taught at Acme.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just start with power.\u00a0 Eventually, you\u2019ll be closing the throttle abeam the numbers and accurately landing on the Touchdown Zone or whatever you\u2019ve chosen as your target.\u00a0 Next, try keeping your paws off that flap handle until you\u2019re on final.\u00a0 That way, the airplane will glide the furthest and you won\u2019t be putting the flaps down until you actually need them to decrease the touchdown speed.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to assume that there is no obstacle to clear.<\/p>\n

There!\u00a0 Now you\u2019re doing the Tailwheel Town (or \u201cFlying Squirrel Flying Academy\u201d landing) and you\u2019ll be much better equipped to handle a real engine failure. You\u2019ll be tying down when some guy in the pattern asks if you\u2019ve cleared the active yet. \u00a0Oh, and you might even feel like shelving that stabilized approach except for the occasional practice!<\/p>\n

Happy Swooping!<\/p>\n

Brian<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] \u201cChimp-lips\u201d refers to the act of extending one\u2019s lips so as to be able to touch the microphone.\u00a0 It is a common habit among some civil and military pilots in order to assure good microphone placements.\u00a0 It also tends to cause the practitioner to resemble a chimp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere\u2019s an old wheeze that the key to a good landing is a good approach. I don\u2019t buy that theory. I want every pilot to make a good landing out of ANY approach and the shorter the better\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[160],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2989"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}