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At 03:45 AM 10/22/2006, Dan Brown wrote:
Several of my best instructors have drilled into me: "Don't fly the
ASI -- pick an attitute (pick a spot on the windshield, or look out
at the wings) and fly that".
That trick's pretty safe, but flying by deck angle needs to be
enjoyed in moderation...
I learned in Colorado and have logged most of my time in the Mountain
West, where density altitude accidents happen with unpleasant
regularity. The standard exhortation is to pay attention to your
airspeed indicator. Good advice, but it didn't really register until
one day in the late 1980s when I had a density altitude experience in
reverse: I was in the Maule we owned at the time, on a coolish day,
at a small airport in the Ozarks situated at about 700 MSL; on
departure, I pulled the nose up to the deck angle that I was
accustomed to in Colorado. When I finally got around to looking at
the airspeed indicator, I saw that I was climbing at about 95 KIAS.
Oh, yeah. Thick air. I pitched up to best rate and pretended that my
M5 really was a "Lunar Rocket". Cool!
That's when it dawned on me: the more comfortable you are in your
airplane, the more likely you are to get the airspeed wrong when
you're flying in unfamiliar circumstances. That day in the Ozarks I
was just giving away a little unneeded climb rate. No problem. But
take a proctologist who's been flying for thirty years around
Houston, put him and his Bonanza on the runway at Steamboat Springs
on an August afternoon, add a distraction or two, and you've got a
recipe for a departure stall. If he pulls the nose up to the deck
angle he's used to seeing at sea level, the plane simply won't fly.
When in doubt, consult the airspeed indicator. If it doesn't work
right, get it fixed.
:)
=====
Karl Sutterfield
N9532V, Mooney M10 Cadet s.n. 700022
kasutt @ blindhog . com (remove spaces to reply)
Box 294150
Kerrville, TX 78029
830-257-5458 home office
830-257-5468 facsimile
830-285-7323 cell
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