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Sounds a little scarey to me! I'd have to be 'a lot' too high in
order to do it that way. I'd rather do some 'S-turns' on my way down
the chute.
I was supposed to meet a 'land-loocked' friend at a small airport near
his home one time a few years ago. He told me he thought the approximate
length of the runway was 1,000 feet. (It wasn't on the sectional) I knew
the approximate elevation there so I said fine and away I went. Oh, he
forgot to tell me that on the North end there was a pretty high hill (a
baby mountain actuallly).
When I located it from about 2,000 ft I looked it over, checked the
wind direction and 'Oh Sh--', Sure enough, I had to land from the North
right over the top of that cute little baby mountain and the end of the
runway was tucked in real cozy to the foot of the steep incline. Right,
all this and a short, narrow, runway! And wouldn't you know it, the
runway was hard surfaced like the old time hiways used to have just a
slick, oilly, tar covering on the surface, so I couldn't even count on the
grass to help slow me down.
Oh well, I saw a C-150 tied down at one side of the field so I figured
it he could do it so could I. So, I just came in over the trees on top
of the hill and slowed down to about 60mph indicated and guess what.....By
the time I got low enough to flair and touch down (I'd already decided to
make this approach a 'go-around) I'd used up about 3/4 of the runway.
(Like I said, I'd already decided not to attempt it this time, just sort
of feeling things out.)
So, I firewalled it and made another left downwind pattern for a
'serious' assault on this cute little.... airport(?).
On my next final I barely skimmed the trees (I think I probably
disturbed a few birds if they were nesting near he tops of the trees). As
soon as I was clear of all the trees I did some pretty violent and wide
'S' turns. Hey, guess what, I put it right down on the end of the
runway and didn't even need the second half or so of the hard surface.
It's almost as good as when I was 'renting' and used to love to come in
high on a really short final and just 'slip' it right down to the numbers.
That was fun but this worked equally as well. I guess it must have looked
'strange' from the ground because when I got out of the plane to meet my
friend he said he thought I was totally out of control and was going to
crash. I smiled and said 'No, it was all under control as on the first
'fly-by' I was just checking it out for the typical 'Ercoupe Slip'.
(Boy did I have him fooled, he actually believed me!) ;~)
Bob Saville
PS, When I departed a couple of hours later I was sure glad that the wind
hadn't changed as there were no obstacles on the south end so I could use
the entire 1,000ft had I needed it.
BTW, I found out later that the C150 always came in from the south
(regardless of the wind direction) and took off headed south. He was
under the impression that an airplane couldn't land from the north.
NOW HE TELLS ME!!!!!!
WARNING......Don't try this at home kids as the ground just might jump up
and bite you!
MAGIC VAC wrote:
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any
addvice in this forum.]----
<?xml:namespace prefix="v" /><?xml:namespace prefix="o" />Just for the
record, when I was looking to buy my Coupe, I read every published report
I could find. Without exception, the procedure that was given to lose
altitude fast, was to cut all power, and pull full back on the yoke. And
then, when enough altitude was lost, push forward on the yoke to give you
enough speed to land safely. Larry
----- Original Message -----
From: Ed <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Burkhead
To: MAGIC <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> VAC ; Coupe-List
<mailto:[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 11:39 AM
Subject: Low-speed approach for high sink rate to correct for being too
high
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any
addvice in this forum.]----
Responses below, interspersed in text.
Ed Burkhead
http://edburkhead.com/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Larry at MAGIC VAC [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 9:49 AM
To: Sydney Cohen
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Ralph.Maria Finch; Ercoupe Hangar Flying
Subject: Re: [COUPERS-FLYIN] Slowest Cruise Speeds
Larry said:
> I think we're all missing the real point here.
There are several points running around here. The thread started with a
question about low-speed cruise but split into a discussion of low-speed
approaches. This message is about flying a low speed approach with
resulting high sink rate so I'll discuss that subject.
Larry said:
> If you try and extend your glide and come up short, you're
> going to hit the ground real hard, and it won't be a minor
> damage situation. My CFI used to tell me that a good
> landing is one that you can walk away from. I
> doubt that 900 ft sink would end up a good landing.
Larry, if you're low OR low and slow, the ONLY options are add power or
land in a field short of the runway.You NEVER try to extend your glide
with anything but power since the normal approach speed is ALREADY your
best glide ratio.(Rare exception: approaching against a strong headwind
you might extend your glide by INCREASING your airspeed by 10-20 mph to
improve your penetration against the headwind.)
On the other hand, the low speed approach is possible in a Coupe when you
are TOO HIGH.Yes, you can deliberately get a very good sink rate in a
Coupe if you slow the plane to near minimum flying speed.Be aware:in a
Coupe, flown within weight and center of gravity limits, this is NOT a
stalled condition.You do get some buffeting from some stall burble coming
off the wing root and hitting the empennage but the outer 2/3rds of the
wings should be flying nicely with full control.(See
http://www.ercoupe.org <http://www.ercoupe.org/> FAQ section titled: "This
plane is characteristically incapable of spinning? It can't spin or
stall?")
If you do an approach in this low-speed/high-sink-rate regime, you MUST
have the intelligence to DROP the nose and regain a normal approach speed
BEFORE contact with the ground.I found in my flight tests that I'd need to
drop the nose about 150-300 feet above the ground.This gave another good
drop in altitude but gave a nice airspeed with which to flair and a nice
margin to land with zero sink rate (squeek-squeek).
If you aren't smart enough and BRAVE enough to drop the nose when you're
getting close to the ground (so you can get your airspeed up and your sink
rate down), you'd BETTER NOT be trying the low-speed/high-sink-rate Coupe
final approach!!!!!!
Larry said:
> And, lest we all miss the point, cut power, pull back on the
> yoke, and she'll settle into a normal flying attitude, but
> make no mistake, you are in a stall.
Make no mistake! You are NOT in a stall in a Coupe that is within weight,
balance and rigging specs.
Flying the approach at 50 mph (4400 fpm) and descending at 1000 fpm gives
you a 4.4:1 glide ratio and that's a pretty steep descent.
On the other hand, flying the approach at 65 mph with a little power so
you have 350 fpm rate of descent gives a 16:1 glide ratio (or a 6% glide
angle) and gives you plenty of energy to flare and float a little down the
runway.
This isn't all that difficult.Just BE SURE you drop the nose with AT LEAST
150-300 feet of altitude left and GET YOUR AIRSPEED BACK TO THE NORAML
RANGE if you ever do try the low-speed/high-sink-rate approach or you WILL
regret it!( IMHO :-) )
Personally, I occasionally used the high sink rate approach under perfect
conditions but usually, if I was so high I needed to lose that much
altitude, I'd just go around.I practiced it occasionally so it would be in
my repertoire in case of a loss-of-power emergency.
Ed Burkhead
http://edburkhead.com/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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