Deadly Turn - Base Leg to Final Approach

hi I'm Jane Benson I would like to make all general aviation pilots aware of what could possibly be considered to be the most dangerous part of any flight that's the term from basically a final approach every year we find numerous serious often fatal accidents that happen during the execution of that term just to show a very few examples we have a Cirrus sr22 in North Carolina Piper Cherokee 140 in Oklahoma a lance air also in Oklahoma and a Remos light sport airplane in Arizona there have been accidents while turning from bass to final approach in virtually every make and model of airplane and involving pilots of every experience level so let's take a look at what is arguably the most deadly turn in aviation the turn from baseleg the final approach let's look at the runway overshoot scenario as it typically develops beginning with an unintentional stall accidental stalls have a nasty habit of developing into spins because they are frequently entered from uncoordinated flight here's a common formula for a stall spin accident the airplane is overshooting the term from base to final note that the pilot is applying left rudder pressure to bring the nose of the airplane around the yokas term turn the right in an effort to prevent over banking the turn coordinator indicates the skidding left turn the increased drag produced by the skid results in decreased airspeed if the pitch attitude is also increased to attempt to stretch the glide an uncoordinated stall may occur and a spin may develop here we see an airplane in normal flight with neutral ailerons and neutral rudder the rudder may be deflected if the pilot attempts to swing the nose around rather than executing a coordinated turn this is a top view of the same situation the left rudder input causes the left wing to retreat as compared to the right wing that is advancing the left wing will momentarily have less lift due to its comparatively score airspeed this results in less lift on the left wing and a left roll develops the pilot may interpret the role as over banking and may apply right aileron input now we have a cross control situation with the left rudder and right aileron this is the same situation shown from behind the resulting roll will change the angle of attack the descending wing will have an increased angle of attack while the ascending wing will have a decreased angle of attack if the critical angle of attack is exceeded on the retreating descending wing at least a partial stall may develop the great difference in the amount of lift being generated between the two wings may result in a sharp roll this is the classic cross control stall it may or may not develop into a spin but if it happens while turning from base to final it may not be recoverable so let's look at some mitigation strategies to help us be safer on the turn from base to final first become proficient in handling the airplane and remain proficient I strongly recommend enlisting the services of a competent high standards CFI and participate in a recurrent training program never try to salvage a bad approach if the approach is not working out go around and try again but since many accidents happen during the go-around phase maintain proficiency in the go-around maneuver and finally determine a maximum Bank angle to use when in the traffic pattern I like to use 30 degrees as my maximum when I am in a small general Aviation airplane if more Bank angle is needed then it's time to go around so please visit my website Jean Benson comm where you can take free wings courses read safety articles join my mailing list to receive my free monthly safety publication vectors for safety and more also please follow me on Twitter at gene underscore Benson

Channel: Gene Benson

Views: 260,952

Rating: 4.8400002 out of 5

Keywords: aviation safety, Loss of control, Base to Final Turn

Id: 3gKx2eh0urg

Length: 4min 55sec (295 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 20 2015