Presents 'Yoke And Pedal: Secrets To Better Pilot Proficiency'

Rod Machado's presentations are almost always well attended -- AOPA Expo 2006 was no exception. His presentation titled Yoke and Pedal: Secrets to Better Pilot Proficiency was both educational and entertaining; a Machado hallmark, and the reason he is such a popular speaker.

After a few jokes to warm up the crowd, Machado got down to business, but was never a few seconds away from a joke or humorous story. The focus of the hour long session was "There's more than one way to fly an airplane."

According to Machado, we tend to fly the way we are initially taught, but either forget or never realize there are other ways to get the job done. In other words, pilots should not necessarily restrict their techniques to what they have learned in their primary training.

"If you develop a procedure that is comfortable to you, and is safe, then you should not be afraid to use it. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as it works and is safe and you are good at it," said Machado.

Machado gave examples of somewhat unconventional techniques that have met with success for his students. The first he calls "Sampling the Response" is a technique used to smooth out those rough landings. By using small, constant fore and aft movements of the yoke to control pitch while flaring to land, the pilot can feel for the "sweet spot," and avoid over controlling to the point where elevator control is lost.

Hand-in-hand with the above technique (no pun intended), he suggests trying two hands on the yoke in the flare. Some instructors deem this practice unacceptable because they believe pilots must always guard the throttle with one hand. Machado argues the danger incurred by the fraction of a second needed to get your hand back to the throttle is offset by an increase in the ability too feel what the airplane is doing in the flare -- arguably one of the most critical times of flight in terms of direct aircraft control.

Machado cautions this technique should not be used by student pilots who may not have developed the necessary muscle memory needed to locate the throttle quickly in the event of a go-around. He also emphasized all of his suggestions were just that, suggestions, and not everyone would benefit or be comfortable with them.

Another unconventional idea Machado presented: Should you always try to land on the numbers? Not necessary, he says. His reasoning is pilots become so focused on hitting the numbers they neglect other important duties such as scanning for traffic. Instead, says Machado, follow the FAA's recommendation of landing on the first 1/3 of the runway. He believes this also allows a margin of error in the event of a wind shear, diminishing headwind or even simply a minor misjudgment.

Other controversial techniques Machado discussed included using trim to assist in landing nose-heavy airplanes, and when to retract the landing gear on takeoff.

In closing Machado said, "Most importantly, go out and get training to make yourself comfortable flying. We have an obligation not to scare ourselves. Aviation is supposed to be fun, don't let yourself or anyone else take the fun out of it."

FMI: www.rodmachado.com