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"Dudley Henriques" news:h5cP8.68$uH2.33@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net... > > "Dennis Hegland" > news:%3RO8.213371$cQ3.7874@sccrnsc01... > > I had some dual time with a cfi that I have known for quite some time and > > have a lot of confidence in. During a short field takeoff from a 1000 > > elevation strip, I pitched for Vx (63) and was having a hard time nailing > > it. It came down to 60 so I lowered the nose, and he told me to get my > > speed up (which is what I was doing) so I continued to hold the nose down > > then picked it up when the speed responded. One of the things they impressed on us for short field take offs was neutral pitch down the runway for minimum drag. At rotation speed we would bring the nose up and aim for Vx. They told us one of the biggest problems with short field was the pilots applying backpressure before reaching rotation speed. Of course it varies a lot from plane to plane and with available HP. When I bring the nose up at rotation speed, Im acellerating fast enough to shoot right on past Vx, If Im not real careful. Soft field, OTOH requires holding back pressure but reducing it to the point to let the plane acellerate in ground effect. The Deb is kinds finikey that way. Too much back pressure and it will lift off, settle back down and will never lift off again till the nose is lowered. > > > > After the takeoff completed, he explained that I had to have a high enough > > angle of attack or I would lose speed and settle into the trees. > > > > Do I understand him correctly? Have I missed something fundamental in my > > training? Later, he explained further that pitching down too much will > > cause you to descend (well, I knew that...) > > > > Again, am I missing something here in the communication? Summary, Short > > field takeoff, speed has dropped too much, I lowered the nose some (not a > > lot) but he said that I had to increase angle of attack. > > The last time I checked out in a 172 it was the same procedure as in the Deb. Neutral controls, until reaching rotation speed, then easing in back pressure (the 172 is not nearly as lively as the Deb) -- Roger (K8RI EN73) WWW.RogerHalstead.com N833R, Worlds Oldest Debonair? S#CD-2 > > Hes a good guy and an experienced instructor so Im thinking that Im > > missing something in the communication here. > > > Petes advice is excellent. In the situation you describe, a rotation into a > slow airspeed that you want to correct, you MUST reduce angle of attack to > do this. Im guessing the altitude was low enough that the instructor was > caught between a rock and a hard place. He wanted you to reduce the aoa, but > didnt want you to put it into the trees in the process :-) > In a situation like the one you have described, there is only so much room > to get the job done. The instructor would have (or should have) known > exactly when enough reduction of aoa was enough without unloading the > airplane any more than was necessary. I believe he might have been a bit > "anxious" that you might exceed what you actually needed in aoa reduction > and was trying to tell you "not too much!!!. > This is a common thing in teaching flying. You are dealing with error > correction in real time. Sometimes, especially at low altitude, when a > student flies into an error, the reaction time band can get a bit "narrow". > I think Petes advice is exactly what I would tell you. Go discuss it with > your CFI in a manner that doesnt question his judgment; simply questions > the circumstance. I think you will find that it was just a matter of getting > caught on that razor edge of the reaction time vs action taken equation that > can occur with instructors dealing with an error correction at low altitude. > Best of luck to you, > Dudley Henriques > International Fighter Pilots Fellowship > Commercial Pilot/Certificated Flight Instructor > Retired > > > |
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