Best technique for 70 kt glide speed

donemorydonemory
in General Discussion

I have a 1973 Cherokee 180 Challenger, is there a good technique to set up a 70 knot best glide speed fairly rapidly in an engine out scenario? I push the nose over to obtain 70 knots after idle & then try to trim at this speed but it takes some time to stabilize.

Comments

  • Scott ShererScott Sherer

    Hmm. Very good question. Hopefully a member with a Challenger will answer.

    Scott Sherer
    Wright Brothers Master Pilot, FAA Commercial Pilot
    Aviation Director, Piper Owner Society Forum Moderator and Pipers Author.

    Need help? Let me know!

  • Seneca38173Seneca38173

    You've got the right approach. Years ago I took some dual with Michael Goulian, and he always had us do a fair amount of attitude flying, before actually getting into aerobatic maneuvers. He demonstrated his best glide setup to me several times - engine to idle, nose to best glide attitude, spin the trim for zero force of the yoke, release the yoke. The whole process took him maybe two seconds tops, and when he released the yoke there was absolutely zero pitch oscillation, and the ASI was pinned on 70 KIAS. It was humbling to watch. You can bet he practiced this many times, and knew exactly which attitude would yield the airspeed he was looking for.

    Bob

  • donemorydonemory

    Thank you for the info...very helpful. I guess I need to experiment more on the trimming piece. I think I’ll start out turning the trim wheel from stop to stop downward/forward 4 moves & see what I get and adjust from there. Thanks.

  • WylburWylbur

    Suggestion, reduce power and adjust trim to 70 KIAS level flight. Now, pull the power and see if that hits 70 after an oscillation or two. Note that trim point with a blue piece of tape. Should you have to get to this because of engine out, you now have a mark for where to put the trim and the plane will stabilize there. The difference will be CG and weight and you will have to adjust a bit for that.

    Got this trick from a youtube presentation about how and why airline pilots do certain things. So I adapted something he said to what I need.

    BTW -- Anyone know what best glide is, clean, for a Saratoga non-turbo? I can't seem to find it in the book. And I'm thinking it has to be somewhere around 90KIAS.

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