Originally Posted by
ToiletDuck
". . . cleared direct to 60nm out on the 301 degree radial from DLF. . .then cleared direct to DLF then direct DRT"
So I figured my radial to the station would be 121. I was already on 126 and maintaining for the past 100 miles.
Your terminology is incorrect, and therefore confusing. If you were on the 306 degree radial, and proceeding direct, 126 degrees would have been your
course, not your radial.
The incorrect terminology, and the unfamiliarity with the capabilities of the navigation equipment aboard, and which you took credit for by filing /G, casts doubt on your abilitites. Then, trying to do something that you haven't learned to do casts doubts on your judgment. We're glad you survived, but hope you'll contemplate the events seriously before attempting another "learning experience."
If ATC asks you to do something that you don't know how to do, confess, and ask for something different. Faking it can get you killed.
Originally Posted by
ToiletDuck
I ended up having to go to flight idle on the engines and descend at 5k fpm at 240ish kts just to be 1.5k high on my IAF trying to lose altitude and lose 30kts so I could start poking things out there which for me was a very fine line. All this none the less in actual breaking out at 800agl to only see the runway screaming up on me. I just brought the nose up and leveled out high then once I hit 210kts I started dumping everything out there. I rounded out over the numbers and touched down in just the right spot having never used power for the last 20nm.
Originally Posted by
ToiletDuck
I continued it because the guy I was flying with who's got about 25khrs and knows the plane far better than I do said it was perfectly capable of it and to continue. He was right. We landed right in the perfect spot however the engines were at idle the whole entire time.
The descent you described does not happen every day. It is
not well within the capabilities of airplane or pilot. It does not fit within the parameters of normal maneuvers.
The guy you were flying with said to continue. He was wrong. It is dangerous to descend below 800AGL IN IMC. It is more dangerous to do it at idle power and 240ish knots, and to be screaming down at the runway, not configured to land. You lived -- that doesn't make it safe, smart, or legal. I submit it was unsafe, unsmart, and illegal. I don't care how much experience that guy has in the airplane, or how little you have, never trust him again. NEVER. From your description, we just came pretty close to reading the NTSB Prelim report about the two of you at Laughlin.
HOMEWORK: Study "Stable Approach"
Be safe out there.
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