Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.") It's part of what makes aviation so exciting for all of us... just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a scenario you've never imagined.

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators, and as representatives of the flying community. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

It is our unabashed goal that "Aero-Tips" will help our readers become better, safer pilots -- as well as introducing our ground-bound readers to the concepts and principles that keep those strange aluminum-and-composite contraptions in the air... and allow them to soar magnificently through it.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network. Suggestions for future Aero-Tips are always welcome, as are additions or discussion of each day's tips. Remember... when it comes to being better pilots, we're all in this together.

Aero-Tips 03.29.06

A prospective flight student asked:

How difficult will the transition to an E55 [Baron] be, [and] can I safely get in a 3000ft strip at my lake house?

The inquirer was really asking three questions:

1. How hard is it to transition to the Baron?
2. What is the runway requirement for a Baron? and
3. Can I land the Baron safely on my specific runway?

The first question is outside the scope of this article (short answer: not terribly, for the dedicated and disciplined pilot).

To answer the second I looked at the inquirer’s location and the airplane’s Pilot’s Operating Handbook, roughing out a worst-case scenario for maximum weight on a hit summer day. I came up with a projected 2500 feet requirement to come to a stop after clearing a 50-foot obstacle. This leaves another 500 feet of runway at the pilot’s home, or a 20 percent margin. Close, but it sounds acceptable.

Except...

Except that, to benefit from that margin the pilot must land on the very runway threshold. If there are any obstacles he’ll have to deftly cross them at minimum height and right on “book” airspeed, with a hefty sink rate (the Beech books assume an 800-foot-per-minute descent rate on final approach, a real “elevator descent”). A shallower angle will put the touchdown point further from the threshold…ever foot taken off the 3000 foot figure that provides the comfort margin.

Visual Indicators

The runway may be served by any number of different visual glidepath indicating systems. Keep to the visual glideslope and you should be okay, right? Sure, you’ll clear the obstacles, but it will virtually assure (in this case) that the Baron can’t be landed safely. Visual glideslope indicators like VASIs, PAPIs and the like are usually aligned to aim the airplane to a landing spot about 1000 feet from the runway threshold—providing a buffer for “coming up short” but using up a lot of the runway in the process. In fact, in the case of this Baron, perfectly following a visual glidepath indicator to touchdown will result in needing 1000 feet more runway than available to stop.

Aero-tip of the day: Runway length alone is not the determinant of whether an airplane can be landed safely. Practice using the Pilots Operating Handbook technique assumptions before committing to the real thing, and remember the design and limitations of visual approach aids.

FMI: Aero-Tips