Rules and general ramblings

[Liquid_Charlie]

I was watching a post about Gabriela Island accident and of course the normal thread drift and guys like BP are all about black and white and no grey allowed so instead of throwing it out there with all the little finger pointing school kids I will field my thoughts here.

I know we have had the discussion of "it's legal" as opposed to the real question "is it safe" but using the logic of the rulees it's OK to fudge numbers like male/female weights to make it legal and the list of such bullshit goes on. So getting to my little operational idiosyncrasies which I pose as questions.

First if you have a radalt where do you set it on a precision approach (ILS,RNAV) I set at 100 feet for the D/H and the reason behind that is it's not part of cat1 or LVP instrument requirement and it only gives proper information(cat2 or cat3 minimums) over flat ground which only guarantee is the runway.

Second on a RNAV with an LPV approach but you are not LPV authorised where do you set your minimums, for me LPV (and yes radalt at 100 ft) with the thought that as long as you have non-LPV approach limits who can tell and really who cares. Approach bans are based on vis so why does a D/H matter as more than a point of reference. I have seen so many times where aircraft with all the toys missing approaches in stratus ceilings with unlimited vis and the aircraft clearly visible from the ground as the gear is coming up. I am not suggesting everyone goes around busting minimums but if we venture into the world of grey and think and plan your moves missions can get a better completion rate and still be very safe.

I always got irritated with pilots who are constantly throwing out "what if" scenarios trying to choreograph all emergencies into a set of rules. I always turned to and simply told them to learn their aircraft and drills because every emergency is a surprise with its own special circumstance. To put it more bluntly "fly the fucking airplane"

Chuck started the zero zero landing thing. I think we all should have the confidence to drive it down to the ground if there is no other option. Chuck is likely aware of this but back in the day a pig boat driver did that off an NDB and landed zero zero in Hudson's Bay (PQ side) and tracked back to shore using the NDB. Very high pucker factor and certainly extensive "local knowledge" but did it non precision.

Nothing less professional than not keeping the needles centred until the flare unless briefed. I would duck the GS a little to touch down earlier for short runways or slippery conditions. On runways with a surplus always at GS TD point. Ducking the GS adds risk, especially in a big aircraft but can be done safely if you use all the information available such as PAPI's and GS.

[Colonel]

duck the GS a little to touch down earlier

I dunno. Not sure you want to teach today's kids tricks like that. You
might need the runway approach lights later.

They painted those big white stripes 1000 feet down the runway for
a reason, I figure. The kids today think they are doing well when they
touch down on the first half of the runway.

The most marginal person I ever issued an L39 type rating to, was a retired
AC pilot. He loved touching down, halfway down the runway. That's ok some
places, I guess, but our runway was only 4000 feet.

Thank God for ABS.

[Liquid_Charlie]

I guess "duck" is a bad word. It gives the impression of the dirty dive and that is not what I meant, always stabilized . Going into "short" strips is a relative term. A 6000 foot strip is short for an all up 72 and the normal touchdown point turns out into about 4800 ft for roll out. Flying half dot low or 3 reds shaves it down enough to be more comfortable I think the shortest strip with the 72 was about 4500 feet and the target needs to be hit bang on. Same with the Herc but 3500 ft loaded. We do what we need to do always with safety and an exit in mind. The Arctic is a challenging party but it tends to hone skills and using one's head. We had risk assessment skills long before it became a "buzz" word.

[Slick Goodlin]

I just fly the airplane as boringly as possible. So boring I once went missed over 10,000 feet above mins.

[Liquid_Charlie]

I heard a story, well not a story but by accounts it actually happened. It wasn't from boredom.

[Slick Goodlin]

I heard a story, well not a story but by accounts it actually happened. It wasn't from boredom.

Was that the dude in the Metro(?) who is-read his altimeter and kept doing approaches lower and lower until he thought he should be underground? Yeah that wasn’t me. I was in descent on a mostly SKC day and saw the hilltops all around the airport poking up through fog. Eff that, back to base.

[Colonel]

hilltops all around the airport poking up through fog

A few years back, flying to Morgantown, WV (I think) for a wood-splitting contest.

Seriously.

Sunny on top. Layer below. Guy ahead of me calls the miss. Wonderful. I roll in,
and the wx radar paints the lines of hills on both sides that I'm descending into the
valley between.

Into the soup. Needles in the donuts. After a while, I see some hardware that should
be before a runway, throttles back, touch down in the 421. Shitty wx.

I'm just a fucking biplane pilot, Jim.

[Slick Goodlin]

hilltops all around the airport poking up through fog

Guy ahead of me calls the miss...Into the soup. Needles in the donuts. After a while, I see some hardware that should
be before a runway, throttles back, touch down in the 421. Shitty wx.

Nice. I always like getting lucky with a little clear-ish patch blowing through or the ragged cloud bases favouring my approach over the other guy’s.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Approved Instrument approaches are really simple to perform and done properly they are about as safe as one can get, and if one is not completely comfortable doing them you should not hold an instrument rating.

[Colonel]

Over the decades, I have observed that there is some artistic expression involved
with the miss. More so with non-precision than precision.

Just talking about the miss with GS ... some pilots don't like how the needles get
sensitive below 500AGL. Esp the GS. They don't take it down to 200 (Cat I). If
they miss, it's worth a peek, because I don't think they really took it down to DH.

Other pilots are gonzo and take it down to 100 (Cat II) even if it's a Cat I. If they
miss, I'm sure as hell not going to get in. They sure are masters at handling that
twitchy GS, though.

Sometimes, the cloud is ragged and changing at the bottom, and sometimes it isn't.

I'm not one of these guys that likes to go around and around. One good approach
and I'm out of there.

I remember, some years ago, on the ramp at Key West, watching a Southwest 737
in the morning, going around and around on the ILS. He kept missing, but we could
all see him drive down the runway while he was doing it. Spooky.

Remember, I'm just a fucking biplane pilot. No wx where I live now, anyways,
unless you count the marine layer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_layer