Flight Forum

Budd Davisson's "Controlling Your Approach Path" (February 2008 AOPA Flight Training) is packed with interesting information about approaches and forward slips. It's suggested that the slip is the most useful tool for "fine tuning" the glidepath.

This appears to be in contrast to FAA standards where recommended technique is to make adjustments in pitch and power. Even for normal corrections for a high final approach, the FAA handbook recommends lowering the flaps, reducing the power, and lowering the nose with no mention of using slips. In the Practical Test Standards for private and commercial pilots, the only adjustments mentioned for approaches are to pitch and power.

The FAA handbook indicates slips are especially useful in forced landings, clearing obstacles, and when wing flaps are inoperative or not installed.

Using slips for normal fine tuning of the approach as the article suggests would seem to lead toward a pilot having poor fundamental skills, and maybe failing a checkride, because stabilized approaches are expected to be maintained with adjustments to pitch and power as indicated in the Practical Test Standards.
Warren Webb Jr.
Cromwell, Connecticut

Budd Davisson responds: Warren, I'm not advocating replacing all glideslope control with the slip, but I am saying that not knowing how to slip effectively and keeping it in your toolbox is eliminating a wildly useful too. There are times when adding flaps or bringing the power back won't correct the approach enough to put you exactly where you want to touch down.

Pattern a better example

Regarding "The Weather Never Sleeps: Dangerous Lies" in the February issue of AOPA Flight Training, the article correctly states, "Flying into an area of higher atmospheric pressure means that if you don't change your altimeter to the correct setting, your true altitude will be higher than the indicated altitude." The article continues, "You could be closer to the top of a television antenna than you think you are."

The antenna statement spoils what would otherwise have been an excellent article by presenting an unrealistic situation that will give the wrong message to anyone who reads it. The immediate, but incorrect reaction to the statement "closer to the top of the antenna" is that you are lower than you think.

As the author stated, "in going from a low pressure area to a high pressure area without resetting the altimeter, the altimeter will indicate that you are lower than you actually are." For this to apply to the top of a television antenna, you would have to be below the top. This is a place you shouldn't be to begin with.

A much better example to illustrate the consequences of not resetting the altimeter after going from a low pressure area to a high pressure area is that, when your altimeter tells you that you are at pattern altitude, you are actually above the traffic pattern. Being even a hundred feet high in the traffic pattern is a very dangerous situation because you will not be able to see the traffic in the pattern that might literally be "right under your nose."

This is a very real situation, unlike the contrived TV antenna, and an increase of only 0.10 inch on the altimeter setting is all it takes to put you 100 feet high in the pattern.
Terrance J. (Terry) Godar
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania

Communication resources

I wanted to point you to a great online resource I used back when I was learning air traffic control (ATC) lingo while training for my private pilot certificate. At LiveATC.net you can listen to streamed real-time audio from many ATC facilities (see link on top left labeled "Live ATC Audio Feeds" for a list of audio streams).

For me it is especially helpful now for maintaining proficiency, especially in regards to copying down clearances, since it streams from many clearance delivery frequencies--such as San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
Santiago Perez
Stanford, California

We agree that LiveATC.net is a great resource for student pilots who want to sharpen their communication skills, and for pilots who, like you, want to stay proficient. LiveATC is one of the resources mentioned in "Taxiing at Towered Airports" (see p. 32).

Another source of real-time ATC transmissions is ATCMonitor.com, which allows you to listen to some very busy airspace: Atlanta Tracon and the control tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It also offers links to local ATC radar images.--Ed.

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