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Chapter-9 Approaching to Land-V20_Sport Pilot Handbook 8/30/2021 4:40 PM Page 24

9-24 Rod Machado’s How to Fly an Airplane Handbook

Runway E Using Flaps if You’re Too High on Final Approach
shape with
a normal
glidepath
when
using full
flaps A
Too high *Glidepath angles
on final visually exaggerated

Shape of B
runway
if you’re
too high
on final
D
Steeper glidepath C
resulting from an Reduce power, add
application of flaps flaps to increase
descent rate

Fig. 26

You turn onto final approach, look at the relatively long, thin trape-
zoidal shape of the runway and sense that you are too high (po-
sitions A and B). If you continue on final, you’ll most likely find
yourself having to push forward on the elevator to keep the end
of the runway, much less the desired landing spot, in sight.
Therefore, you decide to add flaps to increase the descent rate, giving
you a steeper glidepath (positions C and D). Now the runway threshold is
clearly visible in your windscreen (position E). Your glidepath is now correct
if the desired landing spot (red dot) remains stationary in your windscreen
(position E) and the runway’s long, thin trapezoidal shape remains the same
during the descent.

You’re Too High on Final
If you turn onto final approach and notice that the thresholds are too far apart, then you are
higher than normal on final approach (Figure 26, positions A and B). Your very natural tendency
here is to keep lowering the nose (without adding flaps) to maintain sight of the desired landing spot
and/or the landing threshold that’s moving beneath the airplane’s nose in your windscreen. Lowering
the nose is a very bad idea because it results in the airspeed increasing and that means the possibility
of not being able to come to a stop on the runway (if you even manage to land on the runway). The
fact that your airspeed is increasing because you are pushing the elevator control forward just to
keep the runway in sight is a powerful clue that you are high on the approach.
As we discussed earlier, the best way to handle being high is to reduce power (if any is still applied),
and add flaps (as necessary) to increase the descent rate while simultaneously lowering the nose
slightly to maintain the correct approach speed (Figure 26, position C). This allows you to fly a steeper
glidepath to the desired landing spot (Figure 26, positions D and E). Since you’re already making a
power-off approach with 10-15 degrees of flaps, you should add another 10 to 15 degrees of flaps to
increase your descent rate (after you gain a little more experience, you’ll know whether to add another
10-15 degrees of flaps to arrive at the desired landing spot or add full flaps if you’re excessively high).