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Unified Flying Theory
To unveil the elusive aeronautical “Theory of Everything,” strive to be an artist and a technician in your flying.
by Thomas P. Turner
Imade my traditional Christmas Eve flight with my father-in-law Jerry, a non-pilot but lifelong motor sports enthusiast. The skies were clear and cool, although hazier than I expected (maybe 20 miles flight visibility, less than normal in winter over central Kansas), and the winds were
calm to the point there was no obvious preferred runway (a real rarity in Kansas). My wife’s father had a blast, and I had fun too, fighting corrosion by warming up the oil (the engine’s) and staving off rust (mine).
On final I called out airspeeds, alignment and glidepath to myself as I always do, pulling the power to idle, easing back on the elevator, and pressing just a little extra rudder at just the right time. The wheels rolled onto the pavement so smoothly it was hard to tell when flying ended and taxiing began. It was like easing into a pool when the water temperature is exactly the same as the air temperature – it’s hard to tell you’ve transitioned at all.
It’s not bragging if you honestly say, “that doesn’t happen often,” and mean it. Everything just came together. My landing reflected a lifetime of practice, of mistakes from which I learned, and the confluence of my currency, my fatigue state, the airplane, the weather and a little luck.
I hope you find yourself making this kind of landing now and then also. Getting close to this near-perfection is more common than it used to be. But it is never guaranteed. As soon as I let my currency slide, or I get tired, if the winds get whirly or I fly a different airplane (even the same make and model), and most importantly if I stop thinking I have to work hard every time to achieve it, this level of performance becomes elusive and unattainable.
So, as we were rolling out and I told Jerry “that doesn’t happen often,” he replied, “Well, you’ve got to read the wind and the machine.” I do not know if I have ever put it quite this way, but his words prompted me to respond: “In the last 100 feet flying stops being science, and becomes an art.”
Science and Artistry
I probably come across as a very mechanical, methodical pilot. I’m very scientific, very technical in the way I fly. But that’s only part of the truth. I truly love flying airplanes well, and helping
February 2018
TWIN & TURBINE • 19
PAUL BOWEN PHOTOGRAPHY