Rookie Mistakes

[bnicolette]

Brett, do you fly with one eye when you lose one fan?

 

 

I only have one good eye, so no.

 

Doug sorry to mess up your thread.  I shouldn't have said anything to fuel his flame.  However, 70+ or so is NOT meaningless.  You've got the right idea.

[scottfromiowa]

Meaningless...or

 

Less important when flying with an AOA equipped plane?

[PTK]

Thats cause 70 over the fence is wrong. 70 is meaningless, 

 

Wow! So airspeed is meaningless! These are some strong words there Mike!  

 

Frankly it's hard to recall what exactly I look at...

 

May I humbly suggest you take a good look at the ASI?

[Marauder]

Brett, do you fly with one eye when you lose one fan?

Frankly it's hard to recall what exactly I look at when but I would probably best describe it as flying by pitch and feel that is based on AOA experience and AOA cross check. I glance at ASI occasionally as well. Why not use all available information. However, it makes a heck of a lot more sense to reference pitch to AOA than to ASI.

As for gusty conditions, doesn't it make more sense to reference AOA than jumpy ASI? Proper AOA will protect you from stall whereas guestimate airspeed might not.

 

Maybe because I have flown the same Mooney for 23 years I got this imprinted in my memory. But the ritual is always the same (just speaking about low wind days); speed monitored until I get to the runway; begin flare; look out window; remember if I was carrying too much speed; hold pitch; resist urge to put the nose wheel down if I am going too fast; verify correct flare attitude through peripheral vision; start doing a Fred Flintstone expecting mains to touch down. 

 

[midlifeflyer]

As for gusty conditions, doesn't it make more sense to reference AOA than jumpy ASI? Proper AOA will protect you from stall whereas guestimate airspeed might not.

 

I'd say no. A jumpy AoA gauge won't be much more help than a jumpy ASI. Those  gusts are going to produce a change in AoA just as quickly as a change in airspeed. ASI or AoA gauge or looking out the window, you still need to react to it.

 

I try not to watch the ASI too much in gusty conditions and it's probably not a good idea to pay to much attention to an AoA gauge either. I recall once encountering enough windshear on final  that I could feel the bottom drop out and  I needed full power all the way to the flare. I doubt that watching either an AoA gauge or the ASI would have helped much.

 

I'd add to "rookie mistakes:

• watching something in the cockpit when you should be looking outside the cockpit.
• thinking the next great thing is a panacea.

[201er]

I never said to stare at AOA or any instrument for that matter. However, referencing pitch to AOA makes a lot more sense (especially in gusty conditions) than to airspeed. If pitch to maintain 1.3VSO AOA is maintained, stall safety is pretty well assured. Whereas if you do it by a speed number, you could be more off and either be coming in faster than necessary or possibly too slow where a gust is sufficient to cause stall.

[midlifeflyer]

I never said to stare at AOA or any instrument for that matter.

 

No, you didn't. But I think you're making a mistake if, as your posts are suggesting, you think this is some "sliced bread" item that is going to make all the difference in the world when landing in strong , gusty, and potentially windshear conditions.

 

Sure, as you come down from altitude, the gauge's fluctuations will give you a general idea of the strength and changes gusts and shear are causing. So will an ASI.

 

And the fact that the gauge is color coded and some probably have audible warnings will make it easier to detect gross changes trying to detect the same changes in the ASI as you come closer to the ground. So it's definitely a positive thing and can help in deciding on a proper gust factor to apply. And no question that it's a better solution than the stall warning horn. And as a training aid to help pilots learn the correct pitch attitudes and avoid the very common tendency to pull up when we shouldnt, it will likely be superb.

 

But, just as the magenta line and cockpit automation have not stopped pilots from making bad decisions and flying poorly, I doubt they will stop short landings, cros-controlled stalls and runway overruns from taking place due to poor pilot technique or delayed reactions in shear. The materials I've seen on it still talks about a safe "range" which is what those of us who fly without them also try, most of us successfully, to do. Those with good pilot technique and the ability to notice and quickly react to changes will continue to do okay with pitch power and confirmation on the ASI,  even in windshear conditions. 

[Mooneymite]

Rookie mistake:

 

Asking wife what she thinks about some aircraft "enhancement"!

[PTK]

Rookie mistake:

Asking wife what she thinks about some aircraft "enhancement"!

Amen!

The no. 1 rookie mistake is forgetting the cardinal rule: it's better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission!

[Hank]

My worst rookie mistake was coming back from Thanksgiving after dark, a whole three months after my Mooney signoff and dual, maybe 120 hours' total. There was a TFR for the local college game [we were gone for the week, rented a house Sat to Sat], and ATC vectored me directly over midfield. I circled around and landed, and was so happy to be home after 3+ hours enroute, about half after sundown. The strong porpoising caught me and the wife completely by surprise, and after bounce number two, worrying about the trees up ahead I crammed everything forward and hoped to clear them. The joys of a short field!

 

All I could think was "fly the plane, make a normal landing, figure it out later" over and over. I paid close attention, flew a normal pattern, landed well, taxied in and shut down. After putting her away, unloading everything and driving home to unload again, I figured out what had happened.  I had relaxed and stopped flying in the flare, just before the wheels touched. Somehow I have managed to not do this again in the intervening 6½ years. Believe me, porpoising a loaded Mooney on a 3000' strip at night, not being sure how far away the trees are, will hammer procedures into your brain and your body!

 

Ya'll be careful out there!

[carusoam]

Oh yeah...

Know what happens in the go around....

Full throttle with full flaps wants to generate a very high attitude. You don't have much time to decide what needs to be done next.

This should be part of the transition training.

Best regards,

-a-

[TWinter]

Pay attention..NEVER HURRY. I get a call from my shop very early one morning advising me they have a opening to get my strobes installed, hurry up and get the plane to them ASAP to get started. I was not scheduled for another two weeks. I hurry up, get ready to run by work and get them started before I head out to the airport. I pre-flight, but also catch my self thinking about what I was postponing by rushing to the airport first and into work a few hours late.

 

Jump in the plane and take off for the 15 minute flight to the shop. As I get close to the shop I radio call that I'm on a long final just thinking, "Okay, drop the plane off and use their courtesy car and drive back to work, return the car later that afternoon. Sounds like a solid plan. I do a mental landing check list in a hurry to get it down and parked. Gas, mix, prop, flaps...um, with my head thinking about the excitement of "I'm getting these installed early", but I also really need to get back to work quickly.

 

I'm now on final approaching touchdown and pulling the throttle back and the stall horn starts going off, it's actually going off because the MP was low and gear was not down. I was thinking it was just going off because I was in landing flare configuration. I was that low to the ground. I continue to cut power and get lower...I'm waiting and waiting to touch down. It's a short field and finally I decide I've gone past safe touchdown and I'm too fast. I throttle up for go around. Reach to gear up and you guessed it, gear was never down. I missed it by not paying attention..I was in a HURRY. I do a go around cursing myself thinking you dumb shi#  how could I have missed GUMPS. After a tight pucker factor landing on the go around all is good.   

 

They asked about the low fly-by..umm, With quick thinking I said "I was just waking you guys up". I hated to admit my stupidity and inattention. Now over a year later I ALWAYS triple check. Downwind, base and final. Overkill, yeap. My luck card has been played out. I NEVER HURRY. I still think the gear warning and stall horn should be separate components and different audible warnings. I know about "Bitchin Betty" and have given serious thought. Take your time. Lesson learned as a "Rookie" and never forgotten. Still a Rookie and always learning 

[phecksel]

Mooney's land when they are damned good and ready to land, and not one foot sooner.

 

Guy who totalled my plane after he bought it, looking at the accident report, I'd bet that's what happened, but it's all speculation on my part.

 

My worst mistake was a downwind takeoff on a short grass field with large trees at the end.  My ground transport even asked which direction I was taking off, as I always took off in the same direction.  Talk about a serious case of brain fart.  My airplane loved me.

[Hank]

Oh yeah...

Know what happens in the go around....

Full throttle with full flaps wants to generate a very high attitude. You don't have much time to decide what needs to be done next.

This should be part of the transition training.

Best regards,

-a-

 

Actually, the go around was completely a non-event, no strained shoulders or nothing. But then again, I don't land will full flaps every time, because the wind, temperature, weight, etc., are different every time. Just like it says in the picture [sorry it's a little blurry, my kitchen counter is hardly a photo studio, and I had to hold the durn book open with one hand].

 

For those who don't want to read the fuzzy writing, it says:

 

9.  Flaps--As required

 

Inside the red box in the following paragraph, it says:

 

Degree of flap deflection needed will vary according to landing conditions, but for most landings you should lower flaps about half way just prior to turning base leg. Extend flaps as required on final approach to adjust for variations in wind, glide angle, and other variables.

 

Coincidentally, this is how I was taught to fly a Skyhawk, but the Mooney provides easier flap adjustment with the hold-it-down switch to make them move.

 

I will add, however, that when I flew a friend's F and landed with Takeoff flaps, I was not happy; additional landings with full flaps were much better. Was it the weather, the wind, or the effect of the longer body? I dunno. But I start with Takeoff and add more as needed, and it works very well for me and my C. [that sounds like it should be a song . . . . . ]

[Wakeup]

Today I tried to use my mixture control knob to reduce my MP....luckily I noticed it before the engine let me know!!! It seems like they should make each control knob a little different....my anesthesia machine has different knobs for each gas for safety. I would also like the MP knob out a little more then the others so you can hold on to it better on landing and takeoff.

[Hank]

They started doing this some time before 1970.

 

Throttle = round

Prop = crown shape

Mixture = round with ridges

 

In addition, mixture is usually red; my other two are black, but at some point after 1970 one of them turned blue, I just don't remember which one.

[carusoam]

Prop rpm = baby blue

Standardized 6-pack instruments probably came with throttle,rpm,mixture standardization as well...

Best regards,

-a-

[Wakeup]

I'm happy they have made those changes. I'm just lucky I have metal wings )) Troy

[201er]

I've had the engine begin to stop on me on the runway after landing from pulling the mixture back too far to lean for taxi. Luckily I caught it without a full stop.

[PMcClure]

I've had the engine begin to stop on me on the runway after landing from pulling the mixture back too far to lean for taxi. Luckily I caught it without a full stop.

Oops - I've done that one too at a controlled field. The towers sigh and unemotional "do you require assistance" was enough to tell me it wasn't the only stupid pilot trick for the day!