Some pilots never miss an opportunity to squeeze some practice time out of a flight. It’s what you might call a personal checkride that boosts confidence or addresses some little bit of imprecision that still gnaws at the pilot’s proficiency and pride from the last time aloft.
Pilots of this kind of mindset are easy to spot: Rarely do they stray more than momentarily from practical test standards for altitude or heading during cruise flight. Arriving at their destination or back at the home field, an observer can expect such pilots to put themselves to a useful test, such as getting “down and stopped” before that first taxiway.
There are real proficiency gains to be realized by challenging yourself to such a voluntary test as a short-field, soft-field, or no-flap landing—or any combination—at the end of your next recreational flight, time and traffic permitting. Too often, pilots flying from paved runways of 3,000 feet or more don’t bother with such things until the next flight review comes around—and the results reflect the lack of rigor, as a landing overshoot that occurred at a small airport in New Hampshire on October 14, 2013, illustrates.
Picturesque Parlin Field in Newport, New Hampshire, has a recently repaved asphalt runway 3,448 feet long, and a 2,140-by-80-foot turf strip, with trees prominently listed as obstructions and a sloping runway surface also noted in the airport’s Airport/Facility Directory listing. The airport possesses other characteristics to show that a modest size does not necessarily suggest simplicity when it comes to airports. Various runway lighting installations at the airport are nonstandard. A power line, marked with balls, sits at the airport boundary, about 900 feet from the approach end of the turf runway. Two of the airport’s approaches require right-hand traffic patterns.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board accident summary, the pilot of a Piper PA-28-150 had learned that the long, paved runway was closed, but he proceeded with the flight, with three other persons aboard. On arrival, he was informed that the shorter Runway 12/30 was available—but a combination of erroneous expectations and an admitted failure to consider the effect of obstructions overcame the flight’s safety margin.
“The pilot entered the traffic pattern for the runway and configured the airplane for a short approach. Anticipating an uphill landing, the pilot misjudged the beginning of Runway 30 as it was lower in elevation than he expected,” it said. (According to the A/FD, the runway slope is “0.3 percent up SE.”)
High and fast on final, the pilot found that he “could not perform a go-around due to tall trees at the end of the runway.” An attempt to brake to a stop was impeded by slippery grass. The airplane struck a tree, causing substantial damage. The aircraft’s occupants were unhurt.
The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident as “the pilot’s incorrect glidepath, which resulted in a landing area overshoot and a runway excursion.”
The accident makes a good reminder to be ready, as a matter of preflight preparation, to select any landing technique that a destination airport might require of an arriving flight. For a short-field landing it is important to configure your aircraft, slow to final approach speed, and nail your aim point in a properly spaced final approach. Any reservations about being able to get “down and off” suggest the need for a prompt go-around.
One way to avoid the error of committing to landing without being certain you can complete it safely is by recalling from training that if your touchdown point remains fixed in the windscreen on your final approach, you are on target. Motion of the touchdown point toward the bottom of the windscreen suggests the need to steepen (or abandon) the approach. Upward motion of your target zone warns of a landing short of your aim point.
Refresh your understanding of slope illusions, keeping in mind that a nonstandard runway width tends to compound a confused sight picture. Does your runway of intended landing slope up or down? Read the fine print, then revisit your pilot’s operating handbook and adjust your landing-roll and obstacle-clearance requirements accordingly.
On that go-around, what kind of climb performance can you expect on a warm day with all seats occupied? Knowing what your aircraft can deliver is another critical factor as you monitor the progress of your final approach.
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