Hank

So would our Mooneys . . . .

Never heard of such a thing. But I don't see how idle throttle, full flaps and gear down will make you spiral. When I went VFR into IMC (took off on a clearing forecast, headed to pick up mom for the reunion; waiting to see would have been too late ), all it took to get out was eyes on the panel, standard rate 180° turn, and watch the altimeter. If in IMC and somehow lose all instruments (how in the world?), just reduce throttle some and descend straight ahead. You can hold heading with the magnetic compass, right? If you were trimmed level before, you should stay pretty level; feet off the rudders, trimmed level, throttled back a little, you should descend fairly wings level if the compass isn't changing. Lose the entire panel and the compass in IMC? Put your head in your lap and kiss your ass goodbye, assuming whatever took out everything didn't take you out with it. Even glass panel planes have backup instruments not requiring electricity . . . . .

Let's see what Wolfgang Langewiesche had to say: To finish the discussion:

This works well with string. Disconnect the existing wire, securely tape a piece of strong string to it, pull the wire back out. Securely tape the second wire to the bundle, pull the string to bring both wires back to the end point. A wing's worth of extra wire is not needed.

The round knobs for the lights are combination On/Off and dimmers. Fully CCW is Off; spin it right and they come on Dim and get brighter as you turn. This should be in your Owners Manual. No idea what the little switches are in between . . .

Nice flare!

Who said lose sight of the runway? AoA at 70mph is lower than at 64mph. Raise the nose at 70 to where it should be at 64 leads to ballooning.

I generally come over the numbers around 70mph, at idle throttle and descending. When I'm close to the runway, I round out to stop the descent. Stall speed is 64 mph or less. At this point, I'm still flying, but slowing. To keep flying, I raise the nose a bit, and I slow some more, so I raise the nose a bit more . . . Eventually I reach stall speed for my exact weight and amount of flaps, the horn buzzes and the tires touch. This is called "the flare" by every pilot whom I know. Except by you, but we haven't met, leaving my previous statement true. Maybe you can come over the numbers in an approach attitude and shift to a landing attitude at flying speed without it affecting your altitude. My Mooney, however, won't do that--if I go to landing attitude even 1mph above stall speed, I begin to gain altitude above the runway, which I don't want to do. So I flare . . . You may continue to TFAATLA. I will continue to raise the nose of my Mooney above the runway until it stalls and touches down gently.

Yes, I must apologize for starting on the page detailing the operation and use of the Holy Hand Grenade. I needed to flip a few pages for How to Land Thy Aeroplane.

I can't help but notice that your Saxon is a little rusty. Let me try: When thou art landing thy airplane, three is the number to which thou shall count. Thou shall not count to four; neither shall thou count to two, unless thou next proceedeth unto three. Oops, wrong chapter! Now to try again: When ðou art landing ðine æroplane, once ðou art in ground effect ðou shūldst pulleð the yōk lightly, flāring gently to māntān thy heiÞt abovst the runwā while spēd sloweð toward stall. Once ðy æroplane doð stall, ðy whēls shūldst gently touch the earth. Ðou hast landed! Or in more modern vernacular: When thou art landing thine airplane, once in ground effect thou shouldst pulleth the yoke lightly, flaring gently to maintain thy height abovst the runway while speed sloweth toward stall. Once thy airplane doth stall, thy wheels shouldst gently touch the earth. Thou hast landed!

That's right, it's the Gear Up indicator switch that's under the belly.

There's a test in the Maintenance Manual describing when the pucks should be replaced. It's a clearance measurement above the pucks when first jacked off the ground. Has nothing to do with appearances but material properties of the rubber.

Or because the plane has been sitting for years and the switch is stuck. Isn't it under the belly panel?

Isn't this called the "flare"? Or is it colloquially known as "transitioning from approach attitude to landing attitude"? My CFIs and CFIIs have all called it "flaring". Maybe NJ is a special case? In your final paragraph, you describe rounding out and say it's different from your TFAATLA, which it is. First, the plane rounds out to level flight, then flares to landing attitude. This is how we were all taught as primary students. With experience, these merge together. In my Mooney, it's a deliberate act to hold off just above the runway and continue raising the nose as speed bleeds off (i.e., I gently flare the plane) until the stall horn chirps followed by the tires. In the Mooney, the flare is less pronounced than in Cessnas, because the airframe has so much less drag. Pay attention on your next flight, you also flare . . . .

Or is it a Colt? I'm not familiar enough with either short wing.