Missed Approaches with a Johnson Bar

[pinerunner]

Hi All,

 

I've been working on my instrument rating with my 1964 M20E and, while my instructor has complemented me on knowing my plane, we ran into a situation doing a missed approach that has me thinking over the details a bit more. Once he told me  "missed approach" I gave it full power and lifted the nose, trying to get about 80 mph so I could get the gear up easily. Thus started a scirmish with my instructor, who wanted me to get the nose down to pick up speed and worried about a power on stall. As he worked on me to get the nose down I noticed airspeed approaching 100 mph, the maximum flap extended speed, so I asserted myself to protect them and get them up at least. Eventually we got things sorted out. I mostly like the Johnson bar but it can add an extra element in making things interesting. First flight with the same instructor he set his jazzy hand-held NAV/COM on the floor in front of the gear-up latching point just before take-off. After take-off I tried three times to latch, jamming the bar vigorously into the strange new obstruction, then gave up, left the gear dangling half-way, found the "funny old phone" and delivered it unto his hands, and finished cleaning up my plane. Good clean fun.

 

For those out there who fly IFR with an older Johnson bar, could you share your SOP for managing the plane during approaches? My instructor and I will go over them decide the best sequence for me to minimize the "pucker factor".

[1964-M20E]

As I approach the FAF about 1 mile before the FAF I stabilize my speed to just below gear speed 120MPH IAS extend the gear and establish 100MPH IAS.  I generally do not add flaps until I have the runway in sight.  On the miss I go to full power establish positive climb reach down to the Johnson bar and retract the gear and if I had any flaps then I clean them up.

[mike_elliott]

Hi pinerunner,

Congrats on your decision to get your instrument rating. Let me ask you, does your instructor feel it dangerous that you put the gear up at 80 MPH on takeoff? Why would he feel differently on a missed? You wont fall out of the sky at 80 mph in a level climb, clouds or no clouds. Al Mooney designed the gear to come up at 80, as your Mark I Arm actuator tells you is easiest on the gear. I instruct a positive rate, speed is decaying from approach speed, raise the gear at 85-80, lower nose and climb at Vy following missed procedure.

[Bob_Belville]

I'd add one good habit to acquire. Before I touch the Johnson Bar latch I use my right arm to insure the area between the seats is clear. Lots of stuff can wander into that space, nature abhors a vacuum. I then scold any regular passengers who ought to know better than to stick something in the DMZ.  

[Glenn]

I have been flying an M20F for a number of years, and have found the following procedure useful:

 

• Approaching the FAF reduce MP to 15", which will produce 115mph
• At FAF drop gear - the plane will slow to around 95
• 2 pumps of flaps and hold 90mph on the approach using throttle to control rate of decent.
• At the missed approach point - full throttle - you are now in the same configuration as a normal take-off.
• Retract gear then flaps as normal.  You will need a little forward trim as the flaps retract.

[tomn]

As I approach the FAF about 1 mile before the FAF I stabilize my speed to just below gear speed 120MPH IAS extend the gear and establish 100MPH IAS.  I generally do not add flaps until I have the runway in sight.  On the miss I go to full power establish positive climb reach down to the Johnson bar and retract the gear and if I had any flaps then I clean them up.

+1 I was taught to get the nose up slightly enough to establish a positive rate of climb. Gear next, then flaps carefully after gear. Works well.

[Bob_Belville]

+1 I was taught to get the nose up slightly enough to establish a positive rate of climb. Gear next, then flaps carefully after gear. Works well.

Tom, between you, Larry and me your E has quite a few thousand hours over that last 37 years. Has that old manual gear ever needed expensive maintenance? Not in my nearly 2500 hours...

[Ned Gravel]

My procedure is almost the same as Glenn's

• Approaching the FAF reduce MP to 15", which will produce 115mph
• Crossing FAF on final, drop gear - the plane will slow to around 95 (now in white arc)
• 2 pumps of flaps and hold 90mph on the approach using throttle to control rate of decent.  Trim up as needed. Stabalise approach
• At the missed approach point - full throttle - you are now in the same configuration as a normal take-off.
• Retract gear then flaps as normal.  You will need a little forward trim as the flaps retract.

[Seth]

In my former M20F I used similar procedures as stated:

 

2 miles (1 minutes) before FAF in level flight I would pull power in order to get to gear extension speed.  I would then further decay to flap speed and add two pumps of flaps.  At that point I'd be fright at the FAF.

 

Once I broke out of the clouds and had the runway in sight, depending on the situation I would either add two more pumps of flaps or keep the half flaps setting. Crosswind, altitude, length of runway, terrain, etc . . . that all plays factors into adding full flaps or not.

 

On a missed:

 

Full power, trim to combat the heavy pitch up forces, positive rate of climb, gear up, keep climbing, clean up flaps.

 

As menioned, earlier as well, I added the "hand sweep" both before gear retraction and extension to ensure nothing was blocking the johnson bar area. 

 

I loved operating a johnson bar airplane.  Even after my shoulder surgery (from another injury, not the johnson bar) - if anything, that was good PT.

 

Great move in getting your IFR rating - huge difference dispatch capability.  You'll make flights to destinations now you never would have simply due to a cloud layer. 

 

At lunch with other Mooney Pilots, many of us had a story or two about going missed in real life, but that it was a rarity.  That's great news, meaning the main go/no go decision was made properly in many cases.  If you make the right go/no go decision, usually you don't end up with a missed approach.  That being said, there's a reason there is a missed approach option - and why you should always have an alternate or an out in that type of weather.

 

Good luck with your triaing.

 

-Seth

[rbridges]

I dropped gear 2 miles before FAF.  When declaring missed, I added power to gain altitude then dumped flaps. After I got us to a "safe" altitude (maybe another 200 ft or so higher), I would nose over quickly and pull the gear.  It makes it a lot easier when nosing over.  I have inner gear fairings, so I get more resistance.

[tomn]

Tom, between you, Larry and me your E has quite a few thousand hours over that last 37 years. Has that old manual gear ever needed expensive maintenance? Not in my nearly 2500 hours...

Bob, I have never had to do anything to the gear except replace the donuts. I'm not aware of anything in the past other than adjusting the spring tension a while back. She's now got almost 7900 hrs. The gear works perfectly every time - can't beat the confidence the johnson bar give you!

[Bob_Belville]

Tom, my E is in for annual this week. Lynn told me today the spring tension checked out right in the middle of the spec range. Gotta love that 60(?) year old design!

[DrBill]

 Hear, hear on the Johnson bar gear. 

 

My procedure is almost the same as Glenn's and Neds.

• Approaching the FAF reduce MP to 15", which will produce 115mph
• Crossing FAF on final, drop gear - the plane will slow to around 95 (now in white arc)
• 2 pumps of flaps and hold 90mph on the approach using throttle to control rate of decent.  Trim up as needed. Stabalise approach
• At the missed approach point - full throttle - you are now in the same configuration as a normal take-off.
• Retract gear (nose up to 85-90 mph if needed) then flaps as normal.  You will need a little forward trim as the flaps retract.

Sometimes a little parabolic nose down while the gear is in transit makes the effort almost nil !

 

BILL

 

 

[Jerry 5TJ]

In the "C" gear position not make a lot of difference in the rate of climb at 80 mph.  In IMC at MAP I'd stress getting power in, pitch up and positive rate established before thinking about the gear.  

[Seanhoya]

Pinerunner,

 

Everyone has their own method and numbers that they remember. My only advice to you is to maintain positive control of the aircraft. The go-around can be one of the more disorienting evolutions of flight, and especially so if in the goo. I use a pneumonic to remember what to do:

 

Power - Apply full power, mixture full rich (depending on DA), carb heat off

 

Attitude - Establish a climb attitude. Somewhat ironically, this probably will mean holding and trimming the nose DOWN while applying full power. Whatever attitude which gives you a climb airspeed above Vx is fine. 80 MPH is a good comprimise between Vx and Vy. I don't have my POH in front of me, but somewhere between 80 and 100 also should work out fine - it depends on how quickly you want to climb. Also keep in mind that all pitch changes can be somewhat disorienting, so avoiding 12 degrees nose up to climb at Vx might be a good idea. This is why some may prefer to climb out at 90-100 mph.

 

Performance - Once a positive, stabilized raight of climb has been observed (I check altimeter, airspeed indicator, and VSI), reconfigure the aircraft. This will mean raising the gear and flaps. Gear will markedly increase your rate of climb. Flaps less so - it is up to you which you do first - I am sure there are lots of opinions out there. I once took off into a windy pitch-black night and flew around for five minutes before realizing the gear was still down - there is nothing catastophic about keeping the gear down for a few more seconds while you stabilize the aircraft. The aircraft will climb with the gear down - if not - you would never be able to take off!

 

Again - maintaining positive control of the aircraft is by far the most important thing - once you establish the climb, then clean up the aircraft.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Sean

[pinerunner]

Hi pinerunner,

Congrats on your decision to get your instrument rating. Let me ask you, does your instructor feel it dangerous that you put the gear up at 80 MPH on takeoff? Why would he feel differently on a missed? You wont fall out of the sky at 80 mph in a level climb, clouds or no clouds. Al Mooney designed the gear to come up at 80, as your Mark I Arm actuator tells you is easiest on the gear. I instruct a positive rate, speed is decaying from approach speed, raise the gear at 85-80, lower nose and climb at Vy following missed procedure.

Hi Mike,

 

I think the thing he was worried about was nose-high angle needed to keep it down around 80-85 mph. He was probably worried about power-on stall. When we dropped the nose enough for him see over it I started worrying about exceeding the maximum flap extension speed of 100 mph on my old E model. That's very easy to do.  Looking over the way those flaps are made, they don't look as robust as a Cessna so I take that number seriously. 

 

Things get interesting with a high performance plane and while I don't have the same top speed as the 201's I've got the same engine and a lighter airframe (I think) so it really bores a hole in the sky.

 

It's certain I have to establish a positive rate of climb first so I don't think I can be as quick on the gear as on take-off.  I'm going to be doing some special practice specificly to sort this out. I also don't want to even raise the eyebrows of the examiner I take my IFR check ride with.

 

Dave

 

Dave

[rc454]

I have only about 400 hours in the M20C*, but enough that I feel about as comfortable with the JBar as I'm probably ever going to be.  I would just ignore the gear retraction until above 1000'agl on a missed approach IFR. Don't need any such distractions when flying on instruments that close to the ground. The primary thing at that point is to keep the airplane right side up and climbing.

 

Having said that I consider the M20C to be basically a Day/VFR airplane and operate it accordingly. A hard IFR approach in a light single engine airplane for me is an abnormal procedure - not something I plan for.

 

 

*... but over 25000 hours total time in a variety of light and heavy airplanes

 

[WardHolbrook]

I have only about 400 hours in the M20C*, but enough that I feel about as comfortable with the JBar as I'm probably ever going to be.  I would just ignore the gear retraction until above 1000'agl on a missed approach IFR. Don't need any such distractions when flying on instruments that close to the ground. The primary thing at that point is to keep the airplane right side up and climbing.

 

Having said that I consider the M20C to be basically a Day/VFR airplane and operate it accordingly. A hard IFR approach in a light single engine airplane for me is an abnormal procedure - not something I plan for.

 

 

*... but over 25000 hours total time in a variety of light and heavy airplanes

I agree 100%.

[triple8s]

If you have an instructor that continually monkeys with the trim wheel on final or climb out, just catch his fingers on the trim wheel when you raise or lower the gear, I can promise after that, he will leave the trime alone. lol

[Bob_Belville]

I have only about 400 hours in the M20C*, but enough that I feel about as comfortable with the JBar as I'm probably ever going to be.  I would just ignore the gear retraction until above 1000'agl on a missed approach IFR. Don't need any such distractions when flying on instruments that close to the ground. The primary thing at that point is to keep the airplane right side up and climbing.

 

Having said that I consider the M20C to be basically a Day/VFR airplane and operate it accordingly. A hard IFR approach in a light single engine airplane for me is an abnormal procedure - not something I plan for.

 

 

*... but over 25000 hours total time in a variety of light and heavy airplanes

To each his own. Many of those on this list, including myself, would differ with your low view of the capabilities of light single engine aircraft in general and Mooneys in particular. I always felt I would as soon be in my M20E as I would be as a single pilot in a light twin in IMC. Now if you want to argue that single pilot IFR demands a lot of the PIC, I would agree.

[rc454]

I will readily admit that I have become more conservative over the years ...  It's not just the (limited) capabilities of the machine to consider - but also the pilot. I've made enough mistakes by now to realize that I'm not as good as I once imagined   

[Chimpanzee]

Hi Seanhoya,

greetings from UNMIL Liberia

Norbert

[Olivier-Rouchard]

The aircraft is not the limit, the pilot is. Legal minimums are often way beyond early IFR pilots' minimum skills. It doesn't matter if one flies a FIKI multi-engines or a simple SEP; the question is: where are you safe? I often practice missed approaches with my '66E under the hood with a safety pilot (never had the chance to reach the real minimums in a precision approach with my SEP). On missed approaches, the procedure is the same with all aircraft: Nose up (it usually already is), Full power, gear up (Johnson bar or not), flaps up, apply Vy and correct your heading with no more than 3° bank. The key is to be at Vy when you approach the minimums (altitude, CDI deflection, etc) so your aircraft already has the proper inercia.

 

My advice is to stick to the SOPs or you are gonna get killed. They are here for a reason. If your instructor does not agree, change instructor.

 

My 2 cents. By the way, I'm an Airbus 320 airline pilot as well.

[kmyfm20s]

Pitch up, power up, clean up.......aviate, navigate, communicate.

[pinerunner]

Hi all,

 

I went out yesterday and experimented a bit. Gear up at 100 MIAS was quite doable if I dipped the nose a little while bringing the gear up. The nose then was about on the horizon so you could look over it and be nowhere near a stall. That should make my instructor happier.