User Guide

Learning To Fly with Rod Machado
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Figure 4
Any time power adjustments are
made, you’ll have to adjust the pitch
to maintain the desired airspeed. In
a previous tutorial you learned that,
with power fixed at a specific setting,
you’ll need to lower the nose to go
faster and raise it to slow down.).
Make sure you trim for this attitude,
too.
4. After completing the simulation,
press P and read on.
Glidepath Adjustment if You’re Too Low
You’ll immediately notice that your descent rate decreased a little after adding power as shown in
Figure 5. Small adjustments of power make small adjustments in glidepath. Ideally, your glidepath
should take you straight to the runway without numerous vertical bends or curves in the airplane’s
trajectory. Ah, if this were only a perfect world, eh? It’s not.
Therefore, pilots frequently adjust power and vary the glidepath
as necessary to make it to the runway.
In fact, if you’re too low, it’s perfectly reasonable to add power
and hold your altitude until you’re in a position for a normal
glide to the runway. Experience will tell you when you’re in a
position to reduce power for a normal glide to the runway. Of
course, if you’ve misjudged and are really low, you should start
a climb. Then, when you’re high enough for a normal glide to
the runway, you simply reduce power and commence the
descent.
What do you do if you’re too high? We’ll talk about that in a bit. First, I want you to practice landing
the airplane directly on the runway centerline. Why? Aiming for the runway’s center reduces your
chances of running wheels into soft sod or catching wing tips on snow banks. Either one may invoke
that word, deductible.
A Landing on Your Own
1. Press Ctrl+; to reset the previous simulation.
Remember, in this simulation you begin at a lower altitude. Therefore, you’ll need at least 12
inches of MP to make the runway. Here’s what I want you to do.
2. Press P to activate the simulation.
Figure 5
GLIDEPATH
WITHOUT POWER
GLIDEPATH
WITH POWER
IDLE
12in of MP