The Forward Slip, when executed correctly, can help a pilot return to a normal glidepath, or clear an obstacle on the final approach course. www.erau.edu
This video saved my butt. I forgot to study and practice this for my Private Pilot checkride. I remembered at the last minute and watched this video the night before. The final maneuver during the checkride was a forward slip to landing, and I nailed it, thanks to this video.
Excellent Video and explanation!! I reviewed several times and your explanation and video demonstration made the procedure very easy to understand! Thanks so much!
I really appreciate your efforts for making videos so informative yet simple to understand with great animation .. your videos are awesome and wish to see more and more on all topics of aviation. Thanks alot guys
Just learned this today. Amazing technique for slowing the plane in the event the flaps are stuck, or an emergency landing with limited landing distance available.
Or if you’re too high and have room before needing to do a go around. I do this every few flights when our airport gets busy and they change up the normal pattern. I like it.
This post is absolutely correct in not using this to save a landing! I didn't adhere to that 30yrs(+) ago and did it quite frequently in 150/152 aircraft. AKA "dirtying the airplane" I used it successfully with and without crosswinds. No mishaps just means I was lucky. Don't do that...lol...Fly often and learn how to setup and do a go around if you don't set up properly. I had to force myself to get out of the habit of doing it.
I've recently found myself doing this by instinct while performing approaches in heavy crosswinds just to keep the plane straight on the localizer. Nice to see that it's considered an actual accepted maneuver, and to hear some excellent tips on how to dial it in effectively.
@Jack Mosher what you may be thinking of is actually considered a wing low sideslip. The major difference being that you align the nose directly with the runway centerline. The purpose of a forward slip is to get the nose as far out of the relative wind so you can create as much drag as possible. Some advice would be to avoid doing either of these when trying to maintain lateral guidance on an instrument approach - there should be no need if you account for wind correction since the plane acts as a weathervane and flys into the wind (so the crab method).
Two things that caught my attention. The C172A POH prohibits slips when full 40deg flaps extended, but other 172's may have 30deg full flapses. In any case check your POH. Secondly, when transitioning from side slips to forward slips in a xwind, you want an opposite rudder and ailerons into the wind. The video says (at 2:50) don't take all rudder..
Definitely worth checking the POH. The 172M I trained in said flaps 40 was safe and controllable but would lead to oscillation in the elevators. One of my instructors says it's surprisingly violent. The recommended procedure in the Mike model was 20 degrees. I found that slipping with flaps 20 was far more effective than flaps up, especially when you release the slip and the airplane gets that bit of Nitro Boost. But I suppose on a 747 final if you've got the space to slip clean and then add in the flaps and get all stabilized, that'd work fine. Frankly, with 40 degrees of flap available, the 172 Mike would sink faster straight and on-speed than it would in any approved slip. We just did it to practice for other airplanes.
This is what my dad told me he’s seen all the pilots that he met who crashed and died did not do. He said if you lose both engines and need to land in a field most pilots get to land it like they would on a runway and end up crashing into the ground. But he said in this situation you need to be higher than normal and forward slip into a landing because it allows the fastest descent while controlling air speed
I don't use forward slips much in a plane, first the plane doesn't really like it and second the runway is usually long enough to accomodate with a too high approach With a glider, however, it's more common and the gliders are able to support it. I love doing a slip, it's like drifting but in the air...but my supervisor told me to not do too much slips because it scares the passenger. He's not wrong, when you don't know what's happenning a slip can be very scary
Idk if I felt that way but I like doing them too; student pilot with around 45 hours currently. Anytime I’m high I’ll throw in a slip of my flaps are maxed.
I recall an emergency landing of a disabled airliner and the pilot reported that he slipped it to get it on the runway. Can't recall if that was Sully in the Hudson or the plane that cartwheeled in Iowa. Someone remember?
Not a myth by any means, I use no more than 20 degrees. Think about it, if you're slipping in the first place you're already too high above glidepath. If you full flaps you're adding induced drag so your likely hood of stall/spin occurrence is higher with more flaps. Flaps are used for decrease in altitude with out an increase in airspeed, same with a slip. So if you put two and two together here you can stall on approach. Definitely not a myth, I've used too much flaps on a slip and did indeed stall slightly but recovered fast
This is what the POH says, however, it's a recommendation , not an obligation to do so: "Steep slips should be avoided with flap settings greater than 20° due to a slight tendency for the elevator to oscillate under certain combinations of airspeed, sideslip angle, and center of gravity loadings."
keep in mind one wing will likely be in the shadow of the plane and will be prone to stalling, that's why it's important to make that the higher wing so worst case the plane returns back to level. If the lower wing is in the shadow and stalls you are screwed.
Having flaps fully extending puts stress on the flap when in a slip condition. Slipping with flaps retracted adds more surface area hence more drag, making the decent rate more effective as well as treating the aircraft more delicately
With full flap a Cessna 150 and other aircraft, a slip can blank out the elevator all together. Full flap and full control deflection in a slip should be avoided in a landing. Recovery, as in most cases od pilot mishandling, is to take your hands and feet off the controls.
Yes, that's because (if I'm not mistaken) the 150 has 40 degrees of flaps. Same with the C172M (the "mike" model), which also has 40 degrees at full extension, versus 30 degrees for the other models, as well as the newer sibling of the 150, the 152. Most of my post Private flying was done in the mike model and the POH advised to avoid forward slips with full flaps. I felt it kinda defeats the purpose of the forward slip, which is to add maximum drag! The other models with 30-degree max flaps did not have that limitation!
Only if you mismanage your speed. But definitely not a manoeuvre for a beginner who is not competent and comfortable and who has not been thoroughly trained and checked out by an instructor and theh had a lot of practice at sufficient safe recovery altitude (a good place to conduct most practice).
In the slips the higher wing stalls first, so the aircraft will (try) to spin onto the other side and unstall itself when the wings are level. The key thing is to keep the nose down during slips and aircraft won't spin.
in this video, it shows that you have to have flaps fully extended, but I’ve also seen some aircrafts being prohibited from having flaps extended for a forward slip. Can I ask why that is?
I believe it is how the air, in a forward slip, affects the flight control and areodynamic characteristics of that particular aircraft. Some aircraft have negative affects from flaps deployed in a forward slip. Others do not due to differences in design.
In every 172 I have flown, there is a placard to avoid slips with flaps extended, so in those planes, do you just not put in flaps but do everything else to do the forward slip?
I am coming down now my Ford slip landing is short runway which is there's no obstructions I'm making a forest land in America when it's equipped with flaps and I'm attempt to forward slip with a flaps extended hand hook but aircraft
When I took my check ride the examiner did a simulated engine failure on down wind and told me I could not use flaps. I stayed high because I didn't want to come up short and fail the ride, it was a 3k foot long runway so not a lot of room for error. I slipped the plane on final to get it down. Obviously you get a higher rate of descent with full flaps in the slip but I had no choice.
Yes...It happens when you load aft of CG and don't recover from a nose high attitude. Usually not a good landing!...Often ending in a funeral or memorial.
That depends on a number of factors, including the position of the pitot tube and static port, as well as the direction and angle of the slip. Therefore, you can generally assume that your indicated airspeed will be inaccurate during a slip. You should rely on your pitch attitude and power settings to manage airspeed.
Forward slip Loose altitude rapidly. Allowing the wings to slip into the air whilst losing altitude. Once you have lost appropriate altitude, you can correct the wings for a stabilised landing.
"Slips" are generally referred to in three different situations in aviation. The first, is a "slipping turn," which is usually an undesired and uncoordinated maneuver that arises due to improper rudder inputs. The second is the "Side Slip," which is most often used to align the longitudinal axis of the airplane with the runway centerline during a crosswind landing. The third most common use of the term "slip" is the "Forward Slip," which is most commonly used to increase the angle of descent during final approach without increasing airspeed. Backward Slip? We'll defer to our aerobatic friends for that maneuver.
I would like to offer this perspective that a "slipping turn" comes in handy while in the pattern when flying an airplane like a Decathlon which doesn't have flaps. The goal is the same as a forward slip. Lose altitude without increasing airspeed but during a base to final turn.
There is no safety in any flight slip. You don't have to d0 any slips in Flying., ie., VFR or IFR.If you are using slipping, head back to your teacher and get him to teacher you the basics ie., CLHALFEROWVSQUAREDS.S.
DVT tower this morning kept me well above pattern alt and cleared me to land fairly close in, so much so that with full flaps and idle power I was still high. 10 seconds of forward slip got me back on the PAPI. I also did power-off 180 slips to landing during my tailwheel endorsement. Done properly they're no more dangerous than any other maneuver.
