Are there legitimate reasons for doing so?
I know lots of people do it, particularly with long hard runways, but it suppresses some safety features regarding retractable gear.
On my plane stall speed is the same with half and full flaps, the rest is used for glide path control only. Anything more than half flaps is therefore a control like any other, used as needed. No safety features are suppressed. My plane sinks like a rock with full flaps so landing at high density altitude is one situation in which I use often less than full flaps, terrain allowing. The shallower descent angle produces the same rate of descent at the higher TAS that occurs at high DA, and by limiting descent rate with limited power available high altitude go arounds are safer.
Peter wrote:
Are there legitimate reasons for doing so?
If you’re flying an aircraft with noticeable trim changes when you extend full flaps. you might not want to extend flaps beyond the approach setting before landing off an IFR approach.
The demonstrated crosswind speed on the PC-12 varies with flaps (less flaps more crosswind demonstrated). Flaps tend to reduce lateral stability, which may be the reason for this relationship – Pilatus may just be the only manufacturer to bother to publish this in the POH/AFM.
High front wind gust makes makes me reduce flaps, less lift effect in the gust, better at touchdown.
In most light aircraft, flaps do very little for stall speed, but do contribute substantial drag. In any situation in which a go-around is a strong potential or where the go-around will be a handful and where LDA is not critical, I am tempted to lose the flaps and approach without.
RobertL18C wrote:
Pilatus may just be the only manufacturer to bother to publish this in the POH/AFM.
Actually Cessna does with the latest revision of the C172S POH. The demonstrated crosswind is 20 kt with no flap or 10° flap and 15 kt with more than 10° flap.
Airborne_Again wrote:
Actually Cessna does with the latest revision of the C172S POH. The demonstrated crosswind is 20 kt with no flap or 10° flap and 15 kt with more than 10° flap.
Is that in regard to the ‘wing down’ technique?
Aveling wrote:
Is that in regard to the ‘wing down’ technique?
There is no mention of a particular technique in connection with the demonstrated crosswind.
The POH does recommend wing down but says you can also use crab or a combination.
If I’m landing at Ronaldsway (or other large airport) where I’ve been given a straight in, I’ll land with zero flaps – fly a fast approach as to not occupy the final approach path longer than necessary, and wheel land instead of 3 point (if the turnoff is halfway down the runway, I’ll try to touch down such that I’ll be at taxi speed when I get to the turn off).
