Staying Sharp

Maybe your funds for the $100 hamburger went for a new clutch, or a home appliance, or college tuition, or closing costs. And then Christmas came, followed by lousy winter flying weather…has it been awhile since you flew?

If so, Dan Mooney of CP Aviation in Santa Paula, California, has a few tips for you. Recently he provided a training flight in a Cessna 172 for this AOPA Pilot editor.

Pretend you are getting a lesson from an instructor, one who is watching as you perform your preflight inspection. In other words, be extra thorough. Did you find a safety wire beneath the engine? If you are flying with Mooney, he put it there to see if you would notice. If not, then question where it came from in the engine compartment. It could be important.

The takeoff allows you a chance for perfection and for self-critique. Did you trim correctly prior to takeoff?

If so, you should be able to hold the proper climb angle and airspeed with only one finger on the yoke. The speed should settle somewhere between best-angle- and best-rate-of-climb airspeed. Is your ground track following the extended centerline? And what about collision avoidance? You are looking around, aren’t you? And making gentle turns left and right to improve forward visibility during the climb?

Instead of making a few touch-and-goes, head on out to the practice area and try some medium-bank turns. Make a 90-degree change in heading, from north to east, for example, and try to roll out on a heading. When using a 30-degree angle of bank, start the rollout about 15 degrees early. Maintain the altitude plus or minus 100 feet. Too easy? OK, maintain it to within 50 feet. Don’t let the airspeed wander due to pitch excursions, and use those rudders to eliminate adverse yaw.

Roll out on east for only one second, and roll right back into a turn to north. Remember collision avoidance? It needs to be practiced in turns, also. You should be looking outside as well as inside.

Back on the original heading? Now roll into left and right medium-bank turns constantly changing heading 30 degrees each way. "It makes your feet work," Mooney said.

Once you are finished with medium-bank turns, try some 360-degree turns with 45 degrees of bank. "Steep turns should be flown with eyes outside the airplane," Mooney said. You’ll need about 1.4 Gs to maintain level flight. Train your seat-of-the-pants flying skills to know what that feels like. Today’s examiners, at least those in the Santa Paula area, like to see a crisp roll-in to a steep turn. You can vary the bank by two or three degrees to control the altitude. Descending? Reduce the bank by a few degrees—it isn’t cheating. Rolling out on a heading is tough, but it should work out well if you start about 23 degrees before you reach the original heading. Again, the maneuver can be self-critiqued. Ask yourself, "Did I go through my own wake turbulence?" Arguments about sinking turbulence aside, you did a good job of holding altitude if the aircraft is jostled by propeller turbulence as you complete the turn.

Something else that is fun to do— and useful in later flying—is what Mooney calls "benchmarking the airplane." The idea is to learn what configuration and power setting yields exactly the performance you need. In CP Aviation’s Cessna 172, somewhere between 2,100 and 2,200 rpm in level flight yields about 85 knots. That may be the speed you would like to use for pattern work. If you know ahead of time, you save yourself a little work by entering the pattern and setting the correct power.

Find out what power setting yields the proper descent rate and airspeed, something very useful to know for instrument work and for descending to a landing. "Use trim and let the airplane do the work," Mooney said. While keeping the descent rate and airspeed as desired, practice turns. Then climb back up and try the descent with turns again, this time using full flaps. "It’s a way of feeling out the airplane," Mooney said.

Obviously, stalls also should be practiced, but if it has been awhile, Mooney suggests taking an instructor along in case your stall becomes something more exciting. "Too many pilots are afraid of stalls," Mooney said. "This fear translates into their maintaining too many knots over the fence when landing. Only five extra knots can cause the airplane to float and use up 500 more feet of runway than it would if the proper approach speed were used." The floating itself can lead to problems if the pilot attempts to force the airplane to the runway. The result could be airframe structural damage due to landing on the nosewheel.

If you are alone, practice slow flight with no flaps, using trim and power to maintain altitude.

With an instructor, set the trim to the full nose-up position; keep your hands off the yoke, and maintain not just a wings-level attitude but also a heading using rudders only. Use enough power to maintain altitude. It can be a challenge. Try the same thing while holding the yoke fully back to keep the aircraft fully stalled.

Rudder use can be improved through other means, such as taking tailwheel training. But enough about the rudders. Landings are what you are most concerned about, right?

Mooney said the goal is to level off about six inches above the runway and maintain the proper attitude. In some aircraft, the cowling will appear to cover about two-thirds of the runway. Learn the landing attitude for your aircraft. And look well down the runway; otherwise, you will not detect your sink rate.

There are some rules of thumb that work to improve landings in any aircraft. Nail the final approach speed in any airplane you fly, but especially in a tailwheel airplane. Always start the final approach, assuming you have flown a normal-sized pattern, from about the same altitude above the ground. Know your power setting ahead of time, and trim to make the airplane do the work. Wait for the airplane to land; don’t try to force it on. Remain active on the rudders after touchdown.

One pilot recently skidded a tire during landing so severely that he scrubbed off new tread as far as the inner tube and then blew the tire. The problem was that his seat was too high, and when he pushed the rudder pedals, he was pushing the brakes as well. It makes for only slight skids on takeoff, but can result in loss of directional control on landing.

There was another benefit from practicing at Santa Paula; the airport is as famous for its short runway as it is for the pristine antique aircraft that are based there. It is 2,650 feet by 40 feet. Pilots from airports with runways far longer, the Santa Paula locals say, have been known to circle helplessly in the pattern, make a few landing attempts, and then just fly away—never to return again.

Equally famous at Santa Paula is aerobatic instructor and author Rich Stowell, an independent instructor also based at CP Aviation. Stowell specializes in emergency recovery from spins and unusual attitudes, and spends his workdays upside down in a Bellanca Decathlon. Even at his advanced level of training, there is something the average pilot can borrow for solo practice. It concerns using the rudders properly.

As Stowell demonstrated on a flight shortly after Mooney and I landed, rudder use can be practiced en route to the local practice area. Look at a point on the wing, select a point straight down from there (look for a point above the wing for a low-wing airplane) that is located on the horizon, and rock the wings gently left and right. While doing so, use the rudders to keep the wing motion vertical. If the wing slices forward or backward during its vertical travel, you are not using the rudders properly.

Obviously, doing such a maneuver with a friend along means that you won’t have a friend for long. They will turn green. These are maneuvers just for you, maneuvers to keep you sharp until the next time.

There you have it—several tips from two top instructors to improve your seat-of-the-pants flying. Try just a few, or give this article to an instructor and ask him to guide you through them all.

More articles about technique can be found on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/pilot/links/links0006.shtml). E-mail the author at [email protected].