Stepping Out

Okay, okay, I know theres no such thing as "the step" ("Cruise Dynamics," August). Or is there? Our Glasair One + One Half (half Glasair I, half Glasair II) has a strange cruise characteristic. Other Glasair FT pilots have observed this on their planes too, so were not alone. At cruise, at altitude, you can fly in level flight at one of two airspeeds, separated by only five knots and obtained by an almost imperceptible pitch change. My partner always flies at the slower of the two speeds because the airplane stops accelerating there as she levels from climb. Whereas I will set the nose to the known level flight attitude and fly at the higher speed. The only way she can get herself to fly five knots faster is to overshoot her final altitude by 100 ft and "dive" to get past the first level flight cruise speed, just like the proverbial step technique.

Key Takeaways:

• Some aircraft, like the Glasair One + One Half, may exhibit a "drag bucket" phenomenon resulting in two stable cruise airspeeds separated by a few knots for an almost imperceptible pitch change, which is not attributed to the backside of the power curve.
• Corrections to alternate airport rules clarify that the "602 or 802" minimums apply to the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), and WAAS-equipped aircraft may use airports with only GPS approaches as alternates.
• Pilots performing go-arounds in powerful aircraft should apply power moderately and manage trim carefully to avoid dangerous conditions like elevator trim stalls, rather than immediately "firewalling" the throttle.
• While ATC communication can sometimes be slow, pilots are reminded that they generally have more room for improvement in responding to calls and avoiding distractions during critical flight phases.

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