JEP FII-11: Short- and soft-field takeoffs and landings

Goals:

• Ground reference maneuvers with altitude tolerance of +/- 150'.
• Short-field takeoffs and landings.
• Soft-field takeoffs and landings.

Flight:
I preflighted and was reviewing the flight maneuvers handbook for today's new takeoff and landing procedures when Chuck arrived. We talked about a handful of things, including mechanical turbulence caused by wind across the treetops, whether/how that could have contributed to Sunday's flight, and strategies for dealing with it. We talked about weight and balance and performance charts in the POH. We talked about why and how we'd do short-field takeoffs and landings.

To start the flight, we did a short-field takeoff. We then headed out to the practice area. With a mild wind out of 170, we did two turns around a point to each side (total of 4). Next were two S-turns along Route 5 near the Chickahominy bridge, and then back to the airport.

At the airport, we did five landings total, four of which were short-field landings. Of the takeoffs, I did two soft-field takeoffs, Chuck did a soft-field takeoff in between my attempts, and then I did one more short-field takeoff.

Discussion:

1. Weight & balance: One subtle thing that Chuck pointed out with regards to weight & balance is that those calculations are done for the takeoff configuration. During flight, however, that obviously changes as fuel is consumed. With 172s, that's not really a problem, but for other planes it could be, especially planes that have fuel tanks in places other than the wings.
   
   Related to weight and balance is the idea of performance estimates. In my W&B post a day or two ago, I looked through the take-off and climb charts in the POH and talked about how loading the plane affects ground run in different conditions and whatnot. Those numbers, however, certainly don't apply to me yet! And they may not ever apply to me! Those numbers are derived by sampling the maneuvers of the professional test pilot who flew a nice new 172I 40 years ago, not a student pilot flying a 40-year-old version of it. They're guidelines, and the lesson is that you've gotta expect the flight characteristics to change by big relative percentages when flying in different conditions.


2. Mechanical turbulence: This is turbulence caused by wind shears or the influence of uneven surface features. The areas surrounding the Williamsburg airport are pretty varied, but all within probably 100-150'. It's trees, neighborhoods, roads, shopping centers, and the swamp and river. In any case, as the wind blows over the tops of those trees and then hits the wide opening for the airport environment, it can flow downward and back on itself, causing little vertical eddies in the air. Given the high wind speeds with much higher gust levels, that effect could have been very bad on Sunday when the plane hit the trees out there. Reports from witnesses at the airport included that the plane started to climb, then sank, then climbed some more, then sank again and then crashed. That sounds like a possibility.
   
   One strategy for reducing the effect of turbulence is to go through it faster. (We'll ignore the better strategy for this particular situation of just staying on the ground.) When your airspeed is higher, the impact of the wind is smaller.


3. Short-field takeoff: This entails entering the runway, lining up, holding the brakes as you throttle up to full power, then releasing the brakes and beginning to roll (right rudder required!). The goal is to stay on the ground until you hit Vx (best angle of climb) and then climb out at Vx until the obstacle (if there is one) has been cleared and then transition to Vy to continue the climb.
   
   This should be natural for me, since that's what I learned on 13, which requests a short-field takeoff as part of the noise-abatement procedure to avoid the school. I do lift off at Vx, but I guess the part before that -- the throttle up with brakes applied -- made it seem like something entirely new and I really didn't do it all that well. I was late getting off the ground once and was at Vy before I knew it, and the other time I got off early and kinda settled back down before really lifting off. It was stupid, because I've been doing it fine. I guess my brain just needs to think of it not as a new takeoff procedure but rather an expansion of the 13 takeoff procedure.
   
   Our POH says that flaps are not encouraged for the short-field takeoff. 10 degrees reduces the ground run by 10%, but that advantage is lost during the climb at Vx, it says. So we use no flaps for this.


4. Short-field landing: Full flaps and as slow as possible! On a real short field, you'd also stand on the brakes (without locking the wheels) to further arrest the forward momentum, but we didn't do that since I already have an overly emphatic braking habit on landing (and doing so differentially is why I keep mowing the grass). The goal is to have a steep final (clearing that 50' billboard) and a slow, float-less touchdown followed by a very short roll-out.
   
   I actually did this ok. My finals were good and steep. The first landing was fast so we floated a little but had a super soft touchdown and just barely missed the early turnoff (just past the windsock); we were "pretending" that this turnoff was actually the end of our short field. The second landing was not as good. I was paying more attention to my airspeed, and it was in a good place, but I flared late and we bounced twice. That bounce, though, helped to kill off the airspeed and we did make the early turnoff. For the third landing, I was watching my airspeed and paranoid about flaring too late so I flared too early. We floated, the stall horn was blaring, and then we plopped down the last foot or two. No bounce, but a thud, and we again made the early turnoff. The final landing of the night was also a good short-field landing, a little too fast but decent as I recall.


5. Soft-field takeoff: The goal here is to get off the ground ASAP. You also roll as much as possible, meaning that if you can do your run-up at your tie-down spot, do it! On a soft field, you don't want to risk stopping and getting bogged down in the soft ground. So on the way to the runway threshold I made the call and we just rolled right into it.
   
   10 degrees of flaps are used, and back-pressure is applied to the yoke from the start. As you roll out onto the runway and get aligned, you keep rolling and power right on up. With the back-pressure, as soon as the plane can fly, it will. This is a little disconcerting because on takeoff the stall warning is on! After the plane lifts off, however, the goal is to fly just a foot or two above the runway while accelerating to Vx. This low height keeps you in ground effect, and at Vx you're ready to bust out of it and start the climb and can then accelerate to Vy.
   
   Two things here were difficult for me. First, that stall warning. Chuck probably said it would come on, but I was still surprised by it and did a double-take to see if there was impending doom. The second thing is how very, very hard I had to fight to keep nose-down! Next time I'll have to check the trim (which was probably trimmed for 80ish). Could it have been that, or the effect of those flaps? Or the ground effect? Or all three? Plus something else?
   
   And one thing was an eye-opener: pulling in the flaps! I've done go-arounds before with some flaps down, so it really shouldn't have been anything new. I attribute it to being in a place of higher understanding now that I can notice and appreciate the secondary things -- just getting up has been the primary effort! Anyway, after climbing to Vy, I put the flaps up. 10 degrees of flaps doesn't look like very much, and 388's control is fully manual (no nice "notch" control), so with my right hand I reached over, found the flaps lever, and just put them up. Whoa! Now I gotta pull back more to compensate for that missing lift! Neat! (I also find it interesting that now I think "Neat!" whereas before I'd have thought "Holycrap!What'sgoingon?WhatdidIdowrong?AmIgoingtocrash?")


6. Soft-field landing: Hmmm, I'm actually going to have to come back to this. The goal is to have a shallow short-final, to land slow and light, preserving the integrity of the nosewheel, and to keep moving all the way off the field, for the same reasons as described in the soft-field takeoff. What I'm having trouble recollecting is whether we used full flaps. I don't think that we did, but the Jeppesen "Flight Maneuvers Illustrator" card deck that Chuck loaned me says to use full flaps. I want to cross-check my maneuvers book.
   
   The other thing that I'm unsure about is whether it's important to keep the nosewheel off the surface for as long as possible or just keep the weight off the nose; I suppose it's both. Obviously if you're too nose-high, you run the risk of dragging the tail. I've seen enough landings where the mains touch down and it's only when the plane slows itself enough that the weight of the nose overcomes the force and lift of the wind that the nose rotates forward and comes down. With a soft field, you want to protect that direction-controlling gear, and keeping it off the ground altogether would be the best insurance, but it seems like a fine line.


7. Mindset: Being up with Husband a couple of days ago and being up with Chuck were both instances where I was very comfortable and confident while we were actually up. I get the butterflies before going, but when I'm not PIC (even if I'm doing the work) they go away as soon as we get going. When I am PIC, it take a little more effort to dispel them.
   
   The last time I was up with Chuck was nearly a month ago, and there's a pretty dramatic difference between the pilot I was then and the pilot I am now. Then, even with him on-board to take over should I do something very bad, I was still somewhat anxious while we were doing stuff. I would lean forward in my seat the whole time and be tensed up. Now I'm much more relaxed, much more confident, much more capable.
   
   When I'm up alone, however, I'm still extremely wary and, as you have seen if you've been reading along, very nervous about my low level experience should something go wrong. Before the last time I went up alone, I told Husband that it's not fun at this point because the bad what-ifs and anxiety override the feeling of accomplishment and the enjoyment that should come from it.
   
   I reckon it will be a lot like riding the motorcycle. We took a safety course to learn how to ride and it took a while before I was ready to leave the neighborhood, before I was confident in my ability to control the bike, feel safe and watch out for the other drivers who just don't see motorcycles. The fundamental safety concerns are still there and hopefully with never wear off -- protective gear is a must, follow certain riding strategies, etc. (The only problem with that, of course, is that I dropped our bike in the driveway (because I ran over a freaking sweetgum ball and it kicked the front wheel off to the side) about two years ago and have hardly ridden since; I couldn't pick it back up by myself and had to wait half an hour before someone happened to drive by and stopped to help me, all the while with fuel leaking out the air vent of the tank. That feeling of helplessness and being out of control was too much. Aside from the minor off-road adventures on landing, if something more serious happens in the plane, I doubt I'd be able to fly again.)

Self-Assessment: Progress!

• Preflight: Good.
• Taxiing: Good.
• Normal takeoff: Good.
• Short-field takeoff: Needs practice.
• Soft-field takeoff: Needs practice.
• Maintaining airspeed: Good.
• Stalls: Haven't done it in a while, needs practice.
• Slow flight (VR and IR): Good.
• Maintain attitude, altitude, heading by instruments: Good.
• Change attitude, altitude, heading by instruments: Acceptable.
• Recover attitude, altitude, heading by instruments: Acceptable.
• Forced landing: Good, need more practice.
• Forward slip:: Dunno, needs more practice.
• Pattern: Good.
• Normal landing: Improved.
• Short-field landing: Okay, needs more practice.
• Soft-field landing: Not sure... need to establish the goals and then I can assess it!
• Directional control after landing: Ehn.
• Radio calls: Good.

Next: I've got the plane for 8am Friday then it's booked through our scheduled lesson at 2 pm on Monday. We'll start navaids.

• More landings of different types.
• Practicing everything.

Hours logged this lesson: 1.4
Hours logged total: 20.4
Instrument hours logged this lesson: 0.0
Instrument Hours logged total: 0.8
Take-offs and landings this flight: 5
Take-offs and landings total: 58
PIC hours total:: 3.2