Pegging Performance

Remember when you were a primary student, learning to land? When you were abeam the runway numbers on downwind, your instructor probably taught you to pull the power off to begin slowing down. Then you deployed flaps and began the descent, nailing the desired airspeeds and following the pattern to the runway. If you did it right, made your turns at the correct points and reduced power to the optimal setting, you wouldnt need to touch the throttle again until flaring over the runway.

Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside

Friday, January 06, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The article advocates for pilots to determine and consistently use predetermined pitch attitudes and power settings to achieve predictable and precise performance in various flight maneuvers.
This "pitch plus power equals performance" approach simplifies flying, reduces workload, and improves accuracy, particularly in high-workload situations like instrument approaches or complex patterns.
Pilots are encouraged to "flight test" their own aircraft to discover these optimal configurations for different maneuvers and document them for easy reference, while also being mindful of adjustments needed for factors like aircraft loading, temperature, and density altitude.

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Remember when you were a primary student, learning to land? When you were abeam the runway numbers on downwind, your instructor probably taught you to pull the power off to begin slowing down. Then you deployed flaps and began the descent, nailing the desired airspeeds and following the pattern to the runway. If you did it right, made your turns at the correct points and reduced power to the optimal setting, you wouldn’t need to touch the throttle again until flaring over the runway.

Imagine if you could do that every time you wanted something other than straight, level and fast. You could just adjust the power to a predetermined setting and configure the airplane for the desired maneuver, then establish the desired pitch attitude. Every time you want to climb, shoot an ILS, fly a traffic pattern, circle to land after an approach—whatever—all you have to do to is establish your predetermined set of performance variables and the maneuver you’re about to perform would come out just right. The good news is you can. The great news is you now have a perfect excuse to go do some flying: figuring out what works best for airplanes you fly.