I know of lots of emergency situations where pilots did not lock in a best objective course of action early in the emergency situation, and the results were disastrous. (They kept changing their minds and squandered their airspeed, altitude, and subsequently their options.)
The importance of that first step of making a decision on the best course of action, like landing on a dry riverbed that will accommodate one's normal glide path, is the magic in achieving the desired outcome. The pilot has put himself into a situation where he or she can transition into the normal groove of aircraft control that will generate the best landing/energy situation in terms of sink rate and minimum airspeed at touchdown.
Anthony J. Farrington Jr.
Fountain Hills, Arizona
The author is a retired Air Force brigadier general.--Ed.
Erratum
Two illustrations accompanying "The Weather Never Sleeps: Pressure Situation" (December 2005 AOPA Flight Trainig) were inaccurate. A corrected rendition of figures 2A and 2B is show above, and is displayed with the article on AOPA Flight Trainig Online.
The effect of torque
Budd Davisson's otherwise helpful article on proper use of the rudder ("Choose to Fly Right," December 2005 AOPA Flight Trainig) has a confusing and contradictory description of the effect of engine torque.
He properly and clearly defines torque as "a radial action that tries to twist the airframe opposite to the direction in which the propeller is turning." That's true, but it means that the response of a typical single-engine airplane to engine torque would be to roll to the left (twisting opposite to prop rotation). Because engine torque is a rolling action in airplanes, it produces a rolling response.
Yet Davisson says that torque makes the airplane "try to drift left" and that it is "constantly trying to yaw the airplane left." Torque tries to roll, but not drift or yaw. Torque is compensated by aileron and wing rigging, not the rudder. Yawing response from prop motion in airplanes actually comes from the asymmetrical thrust or "P-factor," not the torque, and it is P-factor that the rudder overcomes.
Left yaw from torque happens all the time, but in helicopters, not airplanes. In European-built helicopters, where the "prop" is pointed vertically and spinning clockwise as viewed from above; the airframe wants to spin counterclockwise, yawing the nose to the left, and the aptly named "anti-torque pedals" are used to compensate with the tail rotor.
Jon Stark, CFII
San Jose, California
VFR and IFR angels
Please be advised that not all Angel Flight chapters require an instrument rating like Angel Flight East does. Good idea or not, I would be bothered if VFR pilots in other areas of the country were discouraged by that statement in the article "Why We Fly: Charitable Endeavors" (December 2005 AOPA Flight Trainig).
Ivan Rodriguez
Avon, Indiana
It's true that the various Angel Flight organizations do not share the same set of requirements. Of seven Angel Flight Web sites we checked, three specifically required mission pilots to be instrument-rated, but encouraged VFR pilots to assist as copilots. Two said the rating is not required, but members are encouraged to become instrument-rated so that they can fly all types of missions. One did not specify an instrument rating, and one said the rating is required and the pilot must be current "if IFR on mission." We're sure that pilots of all skill levels would be welcomed by the mission pilot organizations around the country.--Ed.
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