From: stellabo@helix.cshl.org (Fred Stellabotte)
Subject: Re: landing: flaps or not
Keywords: to flap or not to flap
Organization: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Distribution: usa
Date: 15 Apr 92 16:14:54 GMT

moodyblu@camelot.bradley.edu (Matthew Weisberg) writes:


>I guess I should clarify a bit on the wording of my question..

>I have been taught to use them like on soft field landings, short field
>take offs, coming in steeper, etc.  Just in general though, I have been
>taught not to use them and I had a feeling most people were taught to use
>them...

Matt:
One of the best things about general aviation and small airplanes
is .. that there can be several 'correct' techniques for accomplishing
the same task .. As I understand it .. when the Aircraft get bigger ..
and you start flying for the Airlines .. instead of different techniques 
 you have written procedures that must be followed ..

I am a CFI who instructs in the New York area (on Long Ls) .. we 
usually have 3x the amount of runway we need for take-off and 
landings .. and we are operating at pressure alts of less than
1000 ft most of the time .. so we could land with out flaps almost
all the time .. 

I generally land with Full Flaps and as slow as the existing
conditions permit .. This helps with wear & tare on the brakes, tires,
If we should have a problem on the runway .. it is nice to be slow ..
I also do alot of night flying .. flaps help me keep the aircraft high
until I have the runway made .. 

That being said .. I must admit .. that I don't put the last notch
of flaps in until I am very close to the airport boundry .. and 
I can make the runway if the engine quit .. I teach this way as well ..
I do alot of flying out of ISP (LI MacAuthur Airport) .. we have alot
of high performance traffic .. so I make sure my students do not
put down Full Flaps on a 3 mile final .. with a C-152 .. 

I will make a no flap landing every once a month or so to keep 
proficient ..

Ron Fowler in is book "Making Better Landings" .. has a great
dicussion about flaps .. He makes a very good case for using
partial flaps .. that is one of the reasons I don't put down
full flaps until I am almost into the flare  .. Get this book
(Sporty's) ..

To sum up .. make sure you know all you can about flaps and their
effect on your make&model .. Make sure you are proficient
with full, partial, and no flap landings .. then use this
information with the flaps on your aircraft to best meet 
the need for the current landing .. stay away from hard &
fast rules like "I will always use full flaps" .. or
"I should never use Flaps" ...


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
  >| ====  Fred J. Stellabotte                     stellabo@cshl.org  
  >| ====  Computer Systems Manager
  >| ====  CFIA SEL/MEL                                                         
  >| ==== ___________________________________________________________
  >| ====  Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory         Voice: (516)367-8420
  >| ====  1 Bungtown Road                         Fax: (516)367-8845
  >| ====  Cold Spring Harbor, New York 11724                     
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