Page 14 - Volume 20 Number 9

drain within, say, five minutes, that he or she should go ahead and switch away from that tank at that time...not waiting for the engine to quit and need to be restarted. I quip that if that extra five minutes’ fuel makes the difference between completing a flight and not then the pilot has larger risk management issues to work through.
Second, Oshkosh pilots talked a lot about runway excursions caused by landing short or landing long – undershooting the runway or landing and rolling off its far end.
Each of these scenarios is a symptom of airspeed and glidepath control gone bad. In many airplanes, every additional five knots on final increases the distance to flare and land by 10% or more. Even a little below final approach speed, on the other hand, causes the rate of descent to increase, angling you short of the runway.
Your final approach check should include:
 In configuration (flaps, landing gear)
 On speed
 On glidepath, electronic or visual, if available, or, if not, to a touchdown point in the first third of the runway.
 On centerline (aligned with the runway and compensating for any crosswind)
If you’re within 200 feet of the ground and any one of these items is not as it should be, smoothly execute
a go-around and set up the aircraft to try again. Make a conscious decision to include a check of these items on final approach or when breaking out from an instrument approach to near minimums. Don’t try to “salvage” the landing at the last few seconds or that’s exactly what may happen to your airplane.
Third, a related topic, is the great number of stall- related crashes in general aviation airplanes. The FAA, NTSB and industry has made much of the Loss of Control – In Flight (LOC-I) record, which is implicated in about 80% of all fatal aircraft crashes. Most LOC-I events are aerodynamic stalls, so a lot of discussion – at Oshkosh and throughout the industry – centers on angle of attack indicators and other stall-avoidance technology. In fact, EAA presented its first-ever Founder’s Innovation Prize this year at AirVenture, in a contest that specifically called for technological solutions to reducing the stall/ spin accident rate.
Aviation safety advocate Fred Scott makes an interesting observation about LOC-I: stall/spin crashes happen not because pilots fly their airplanes too slowly, they occur because pilots don’t fly their airplanes slowly often enough. Specifically, Fred suggests the modern practice of flying long, wide traffic patterns, coupled with flying at fairly high pattern speeds and power settings, conspires against pilots when, for some reason, conditions require them to fly more slowly. For example, a close-in pattern for spacing or a high density altitude takeoff with a loaded cabin can be easily and safely flown (assuming you’re within airplane limits), but to do so you must be comfortable with the visual and tactile cues and the small turning radius at these slower speeds.
If you haven’t practiced flying (appropriately) slowly while close to the ground, these scenarios will be unfamiliar to you. You might not fly airspeeds and power settings as precisely as you should; you may not correctly respond to visual cues to practice the proper “flight path management” that is a new buzzword in aviation safety circles. With or without angle of attack indicators or other new cockpit technologies, stall avoidance requires you to be practiced in precision flying and compensation for unusual sensations that you’ll only detect as being abnormal if you’re very familiar with what “normal” looks and feels like.
Oshkosh presents a unique opportunity to speak informally with a wide variety of pilots to find common areas of concern and discern techniques to make your flying more precis•e. Take advantage of every chance you get to learn from others’ experience, and to help others learn from yours. T&T
Thomas P. Turner is an ATP CFII/MEI, holds a Masters Degree in Aviation Safety, and was the 2010 National FAA Safety Team Representative of the Year. Subscribe to Tom’s free FLYING LESSONS Weekly e-newsletter at www.mastery-flight-training.com.
12 • TWIN & TURBINE
SEPTEMBER 2016