Loss of Control.
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Anthony Mmeri
Jun 6, 2014, 7:20:05 PM6/6/14
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Anthony Mmeri
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Article Title: Loss of Control.
Author: Anthony Mmeri
Word Count: 904
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1895509&ca=Recreation
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1895509
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1895509
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
The first accident discussed this month involved a Cessna 152 flown by a young woman pilot, who said that she had flared the aircraft too early, ballooned, and it impacted the runway.
She started that when she impacted the runway, the aircraft was not aligned with the center line and it departed the runway to the left.
The airplane slid off the runway, resulting in substantial damage. The student reported no anomalies with the airplane or any of its systems.
The probable cause of this accident was determined to be the student pilot’s premature flare resulting in the loss of aircraft control.
This is a fairly common type of accident, but there are a few more issues we can discuss with this particular accident. Instructors should pay more attention to explaining that landing consists of four very distinct segments; the approach, the round out, the flare and the touchdown. Let us discuss, very briefly, each of these segments.
The approach is self-explanatory and involves setting the aircraft up on final approach, in line with the runway ,with the aircraft correctly configured for the landing, at the correct airspeed and on the glide slope as indicated by the PAPI if the airfield has one installed.
At this stage the airspeed is controlled with elevator and rate of descent with power. If there is any crosswind then the aircraft needs to be crabbed sufficiently to remain lined up with the runway.
The round-out is where this student pilot went wrong. The round-out requires good judgment and timing and this only comes from experience. Heavier aircraft need to be rounded out earlier as they have more downward momentum to arrest, but a C152 needs to be rounded out just a few feet above the runway, and the throttle closed.
Raise the nose for the round-out too early and there will be too much height to lose during the flare. The idea is to round-out so that the aircraft wheels are just one or two feet above the runway.
The flare is when you bleed off any excess speed just above the runway by continuously raising the nose as the speed decreases. This is where mistakes are easily made and, if the nose is raised too quickly, the aircraft begins to climb again. This often results in the aircraft then stalling too high above the runway and a hard landing ensues.
Raise the nose too slowly and the nose-wheel strikes the runway before the main wheels and this, too, can result in a bounce or, even worse, a damaged nose-wheel.
The touchdown should then be on the main wheels first, with the nose of the aircraft kept straight with rudder and the aircraft kept on center line using aileron. In other words, if there is any crosswind at all, you will most likely land on one main wheel first due to the upwind wing being lowered to keep the aircraft on runway center line.
As can be seen by this explanation, on the final approach the aircraft is crabbed to remain on runway center line, but during the flare the aircraft is kept on center line by crossing the controls, namely: keeping the nose straight with rudder and staying on runway center line by lowering a wing into the wind. This switch from crabbing to crossed controls is made during the round-out .All of this requires a great deal of practice and even once mastered ,constant practice is needed to maintain proficiency in landing correctly and safely, every time.
The second accident for discussions involves a Bonanza A36, but none of the three occupants was injured. During landing on a 1010-metre-long and 22-metre-wide asphalt runway, the pilot of the A36 encountered a wind gust which he estimated to be about 40 knots. The aircraft then bounced on the runway and the landing gear collapsed, substantially damaging the right wing. The wind reported at the airport, eight minutes after the accident, was from 300 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 24 knots. The probable cause of this accident was determined to be the pilot’s inadequate compensation for wind conditions. A factor in the accident was the wind gust.
The exact same principles apply to both accidents. The point to be driven home here is that a pilot needs to be completely comfortable with the aircraft during all four segments of the landing.
If the wind is gusty, it is fine to carry a bit of extra speed on the final approach, but this extra speed needs to be bled off during the round-out and flare. If the conditions are very gusty during the round-out and flare you may well find that you need to use a lot of control deflection due to the fact that the aircraft going places you don’t want it to go.
This accident again reinforces my view that we can just never get enough landing practice. If ever you’re in the mood for a local flight but not too sure where to go, merely do an hour of circuits. If the conditions are gusty, take an experienced instructor with you and hone your landing skills.
So, get out there and fly some circuits and landings, you can never have too much practice.
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
Message delivered directly to members of the group:
publish-the...@googlegroups.com
*****************************************************************
Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Anthony Mmeri
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1895509
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1895509
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: Loss of Control.
Author: Anthony Mmeri
Word Count: 904
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=1895509&ca=Recreation
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=1895509
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=1895509
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
The first accident discussed this month involved a Cessna 152 flown by a young woman pilot, who said that she had flared the aircraft too early, ballooned, and it impacted the runway.
She started that when she impacted the runway, the aircraft was not aligned with the center line and it departed the runway to the left.
The airplane slid off the runway, resulting in substantial damage. The student reported no anomalies with the airplane or any of its systems.
The probable cause of this accident was determined to be the student pilot’s premature flare resulting in the loss of aircraft control.
This is a fairly common type of accident, but there are a few more issues we can discuss with this particular accident. Instructors should pay more attention to explaining that landing consists of four very distinct segments; the approach, the round out, the flare and the touchdown. Let us discuss, very briefly, each of these segments.
The approach is self-explanatory and involves setting the aircraft up on final approach, in line with the runway ,with the aircraft correctly configured for the landing, at the correct airspeed and on the glide slope as indicated by the PAPI if the airfield has one installed.
At this stage the airspeed is controlled with elevator and rate of descent with power. If there is any crosswind then the aircraft needs to be crabbed sufficiently to remain lined up with the runway.
The round-out is where this student pilot went wrong. The round-out requires good judgment and timing and this only comes from experience. Heavier aircraft need to be rounded out earlier as they have more downward momentum to arrest, but a C152 needs to be rounded out just a few feet above the runway, and the throttle closed.
Raise the nose for the round-out too early and there will be too much height to lose during the flare. The idea is to round-out so that the aircraft wheels are just one or two feet above the runway.
The flare is when you bleed off any excess speed just above the runway by continuously raising the nose as the speed decreases. This is where mistakes are easily made and, if the nose is raised too quickly, the aircraft begins to climb again. This often results in the aircraft then stalling too high above the runway and a hard landing ensues.
Raise the nose too slowly and the nose-wheel strikes the runway before the main wheels and this, too, can result in a bounce or, even worse, a damaged nose-wheel.
The touchdown should then be on the main wheels first, with the nose of the aircraft kept straight with rudder and the aircraft kept on center line using aileron. In other words, if there is any crosswind at all, you will most likely land on one main wheel first due to the upwind wing being lowered to keep the aircraft on runway center line.
As can be seen by this explanation, on the final approach the aircraft is crabbed to remain on runway center line, but during the flare the aircraft is kept on center line by crossing the controls, namely: keeping the nose straight with rudder and staying on runway center line by lowering a wing into the wind. This switch from crabbing to crossed controls is made during the round-out .All of this requires a great deal of practice and even once mastered ,constant practice is needed to maintain proficiency in landing correctly and safely, every time.
The second accident for discussions involves a Bonanza A36, but none of the three occupants was injured. During landing on a 1010-metre-long and 22-metre-wide asphalt runway, the pilot of the A36 encountered a wind gust which he estimated to be about 40 knots. The aircraft then bounced on the runway and the landing gear collapsed, substantially damaging the right wing. The wind reported at the airport, eight minutes after the accident, was from 300 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 24 knots. The probable cause of this accident was determined to be the pilot’s inadequate compensation for wind conditions. A factor in the accident was the wind gust.
The exact same principles apply to both accidents. The point to be driven home here is that a pilot needs to be completely comfortable with the aircraft during all four segments of the landing.
If the wind is gusty, it is fine to carry a bit of extra speed on the final approach, but this extra speed needs to be bled off during the round-out and flare. If the conditions are very gusty during the round-out and flare you may well find that you need to use a lot of control deflection due to the fact that the aircraft going places you don’t want it to go.
This accident again reinforces my view that we can just never get enough landing practice. If ever you’re in the mood for a local flight but not too sure where to go, merely do an hour of circuits. If the conditions are gusty, take an experienced instructor with you and hone your landing skills.
So, get out there and fly some circuits and landings, you can never have too much practice.
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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