(The DREADED) Power-off 180! - RV12is 

I am a flight instructor 👍🙌🏻

Thanks Rick! Good to hear from ya!

Well… a lot has changed over the years lol. You probably wouldn’t recognize it today. Come on out for a visit. 👍

Yeah generally you don’t want to carry any extra airspeed if it’s unnecessary. Your normal approach speeds have plenty of cushion built into them above stall speed. Extra airspeed can be just as dangerous as not enough airspeed. So stick to the published approach speeds from your POH, only adjusting for gust factor when present and you’ll be good! 👍

Thanks for the comment! So I always very deliberately say “0” in front of any runway that is either 1, 2 or 3. This is to avoid any possible confusion with other runways that also may start with these numbers. Specifically when working with runway 2, the opposite direction is 20, so the possibility of accidentally mistaking someone’s “2” call for “20” is particularly high. If you start with “0” it eliminates that confusion should you accidentally release the PTT early or if someone else’s radio cuts out at the wrong moment. 👍

We’re not talking about the impossible turn here. The power-off 180 is the commercial maneuver you are required to demonstrate on your commercial check ride. It requires you to make a precision landing within a 200 foot spot. The title of the video is simply related to the fact that most candidates taking the check ride tend to be most nervous about this maneuver because you only get one shot at it.

I don’t quite understand what you’re saying here. But we don’t flare. We fly it all the way to the runway :-)

@@NorthwestAeronaut You dont flare?

@@outwiththem nope. We just fly level over the runway as the speed bleeds off 👍🙌🏻

@@NorthwestAeronaut Im a CFi since 1998. That is called .. Flaring. You do flare. Not too high, but you do flare..

So understand this is not an engine out situation I’m portraying. This is what would ultimately be the last part of an engine out situation when you simply need to get it on the ground onto a pre-determined spot. That’s what the PO180 is meant to demonstrate. So the spot you’re aiming for is already made at this point. Now it’s about energy management to be able to set it down where you want it. Pitching for 10 over best glide does exactly what you stated you couldn’t do in your last sentence there: it allows you an option for increasing altitude (or more specifically slowing your altitude loss) by allowing you to have extra airspeed in the bank which can then be traded for a better glide speed thereby extending your current glide path :-). Hope that helps clear things up 👍

Thank you! Glad to hear it and thanks for watching! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

It’s dreaded because you only get one chance to do it and things aren’t done the same as they were 60 years ago haha :-)

⁠​⁠​⁠@@NorthwestAeronautThe fundamentals of Aerodynamics has not changed in the last 60 years and will not in the next 60 when YOU are an “old timer.” The point being made by the previous commenter was in the past it wasn’t “dreaded” because every landing was made that way. Every pilot became proficient doing power off. 180s. Now it is dreaded because the new CFIs mainly if not only teach “Power-On” approaches. And new young pilots taught by young CFIs only teach power-off 180s to pass their commercial and never regularly execute them until they are forced to when their engine fails. Not good…

Hey! I absolutely recommend x plane to prep and practice instrument flying. That’s really what it’s best for. I don’t think there are too many bad habits you could pick up strictly from the simulator. Watch some RU-vid videos on how to fly basic approaches and then go try it in the sim :-) let me know if I can help!

@@NorthwestAeronaut thanks a lot will do

Let me know how it goes…. Or take me with you ;-)

Best glide is 63kts in the RV12 👍

I mis-spoke. Sorry. But when I looked into it, the issue became more complicated. Van's is not pointing out that the RV-12 actually glides farther at idle than with a dead engine (unlike most other airplanes). There is "residual thrust" if the engine is at normal idle setting (power off but not a dead engine). On Page 10-1 of the FTS we find this: "CRUISE FOR MAX RANGE If the objective of the flight is to get to your destination while using as little fuel as is necessary then the pilot should fly at as high an altitude as is practical and legal and select a throttle setting so as to yield 87 kt indicated airspeed." But in the POH for landings we find this: POH 3-13 "FORCED LANDING (Complete Power Failure): Airspeed for maximum gliding distance - 63 KIAS" The bottom of lift/ drag curve for the 12 is at 87 KIAS/KTAS ±1. This agrees almost exactly with the speed given for maximum endurance which is BestRange/1.32 approx. But as with any airplane, the drag is much different when landing because of the prop disk's effect(s). As a generality, the bottom of the drag curve is the best glide speed if you ignore extra drag from a prop that is set to idle. But with the 12 the effective glide is flatter/longer than with a "7" for example - even though the 7 is a much slicker aircraft with a very good L/D. I have no argument with your landing speeds, only the nomenclature and the issue of residual thrust. A CFI I know well tested the glide in a 12 with the engine dead on purpose and found that the glide is shortened, not extended. In Lyco-Con engines it's usually the opposite where a stopped prop offers least drag vs. an idled or windmilling prop. I found your video very well explained and helpful. I'm new to my 12 and every little bit of advice helps!