EFATO turnback can be divided into 3 phases
1) turnaround
2) glide back to departure end of runway
3) downwind landing
Most people think #1 requires the skill of
Bob Hoover, and that just ain't so. You give
me a pilot of average skills, we do ONE (count
it ONE) flight of wingovers, and he's good to go.
#2 can be tricky because most aircraft descend
at a steeper angle than they climb. What helps
here is
- Vx departure
- long runway
- headwind
#3 can be easy or hard, depending. The headwind
that helped you glide back to the departure end of
the runway can now bite you in the ass. The longer
the runway, the easier it is.
A tailwind on landing is no big deal, although people
make it out to be one. All you need is lots of runway.
Good example: I land L39's with a final approach
speed of 125 knots on 4000 feet of runway. Call it
120 knots groundspeed with 5 knots of headwind.
A 172 approaches at 65 knots, call it 60 knots
groundspeed with 5 knots of headwind. I can
take 60 (COUNT IT, [b]SIXTY[/b]) knots of tailwind
with a 172 and still land on 4000 feet of runway.
I always laugh about IFR crap when people say
a runway with an ILS is "unusable" with 25
knots of tailwind, and that a circling approach
must be conducted (which it can't be at Cat 1
mins). You know, the usual stupid examiner
gotcha.
Just watch me land with 25 knots of tailwind.
Might upset the four bars. Like I care.
My father once landed an F-104 at Cold Lake
after hydraulic failure with no BLC. Unbelievably
fast approach and touchdown. Faster than the
tires and drag chute were rated. A little delicacy
was required, but no problem. Maybe it would
have been, for a four bars (shrug).
PS Here is the bible on the turnback, written by
Dave Rogers:
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/flying/turnback.pdf
TC doesn't think much of the USN Academy,
but I don't they care, either.