Quote:
Originally Posted by 2StgTurbine
What is wrong with coming over the runway with just enough KE to flare for a second or two?
2stgTurbine, nothing wrong at all with flying a plane onto a
runway after a second or two. Kinda required when going onto shorter runways anyway but also the norm at large airports too.
It was wrong of me to make a blanket generalization earlier though.
A while back, I found out the hard way, what really happens when you only have about a second of kinetic energy overall to work with when trying to land in an F18C. Good thing it was just in the simulator. Power all the way to the ground or else. Different for us transport category and little GA guys.
A long time ago, when the dinosaurs still ruled the earth, we all had to demonstrate short field techniques in little airplanes. That was probably the first time most of us had the opportunity to experience, first hand, the limitations that a reduction in kinetic energy bring with it.
A couple of seconds were all you had.......
Not so for transport category jet operators. We still have the same approximate amount of "available" kinetic energy adjusted for weight regardless of where we are landing when we fly by ref. Sometimes though, we just don't have the luxury of time to mess around.
The counting technique I used then, and still use to this day, served an an invaluable tool that assisted my students in
correlating the relationship between angle of attack, airspeed, available time and the role kinetic energy plays on every single landing.