Originally Posted by
ChinookDriver47
I work at a flight school teaching 141 instrument students in 172's. I recently raised concerns about configuration settings from the FAF inbound. I have been teaching approach flaps FAF inbound and holding about 80KIAS. I am getting told, "shoot all approaches clean. Add flaps at breakout or land clean. That's whats in the SOP" . I either forgot that, or don't recall reading that.
This blows my mind that this an accepted method and there is an AC that contradicts this exact practice. I am raising it as a safety concern.
Thoughts? Am i being to knit-picky? Should I just ****?
Is there something regulatory I can fall back on to facilitate a change?
My opinion for flying a trainer is as followers. First of all, the requirement to fly a stabilized approach does not apply to part 91 (I know you're at part 141) unless of course it is company SOP. So, while it is a solid concept, let us remember that. Now if I were flying a 172 in Class B or C or, heck, even D airspace, it is probably safe to assume that there is more than enough runway to land flaps up and keep your speed up on the approach so as not to interfere with heavier traffic too much. If you are flying into a smaller airport where flaps are required to make the landing distance, I would configure prior to the FAF or perhaps a couple miles out from the DH or MAP. Chances are you won't be holding up big traffic in this case or at least not dozens of aircraft. Now I do see some training value in changing flap configuration after breaking out (perhaps teach in VMC if you're nervous). The student should be able to react to the change in attitude and adjust power and pitch settings as necessary. We should be teaching pilots their stick and rudder skills in the little prop jobs so as to set a solid foundation for the rest of their careers. Honestly, in a 172, I don't think that it is too unsafe to change the flap setting at breakout. Your flight school is probably trying to save money on fuel too. It burns a lot more gas to have the drag makers out with 5 or 6 miles to go.