Airplane: How Much You Know About Precautionary Landing? Quiz

1. As a rule of thumb, how should you set up the plane for a field inspection during a precautionary landing?

A. While you might be most used to normal cruise speed, it is usually not the best to use for field inspection, because you'll whip by your field in a few seconds and won't have a chance to take a good look at it! B. Slow cruise is usually the best option -- the plane is still stable and far from stalling (use some flap to further remove it from stall and to improve forward visibility), yet it is slow enough to allow for a good inspection. Also, you can estimate your field length when flying into headwind in slow cruise, since it makes your ground speed pretty close to 60 knots, which means you are flying at 100 feet per second. Hence, if you take 20 seconds to fly past the field, you know it's about 2000 feet long. Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule. For example, if you are doing a precautionary landing due to ice build-up on the airframe, you might want to keep up the speed, since your stall speed is now faster due to poor aerodynamics. You would also probably avoid extending flaps, since they may change airflow in an unpredictable manner, causing control difficulties or might be jammed up with ice and thus get damaged on extension or extend unevenly. C. Putting the plane in slow flight close to the ground is a very bad idea! You are very close to a stall, and if you do inadvertently stall the plane, you may not have enough altitude to recover!

Explanation

A. While you might be most used to normal cruise speed, it is usually not the best to use for field inspection, because you'll whip by your field in a few seconds and won't have a chance to take a good look at it! B. Slow cruise is usually the best option -- the plane is still stable and far from stalling (use some flap to further remove it from stall and to improve forward visibility), yet it is slow enough to allow for a good inspection. Also, you can estimate your field length when flying into headwind in slow cruise, since it makes your ground speed pretty close to 60 knots, which means you are flying at 100 feet per second. Hence, if you take 20 seconds to fly past the field, you know it's about 2000 feet long. Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule. For example, if you are doing a precautionary landing due to ice build-up on the airframe, you might want to keep up the speed, since your stall speed is now faster due to poor aerodynamics. You would also probably avoid extending flaps, since they may change airflow in an unpredictable manner, causing control difficulties or might be jammed up with ice and thus get damaged on extension or extend unevenly. C. Putting the plane in slow flight close to the ground is a very bad idea! You are very close to a stall, and if you do inadvertently stall the plane, you may not have enough altitude to recover!

2. Which check do you use during a field inspection when conducting a precautionary landing?

HASEL

COWLS

GUMPS

TICS

A. HASEL - Height Area Security Engine Lookout -- should be familiar to you from upper airwork exercises such as stalls.

B. Correct answer. Do you remember what the letters stand for?

C. GUMPS -- Gas Undercarriage Mixture Prop Security & Switches-- typical pre-landing check for complex aircraft

D. TICS -- Tune Identify Course-Select -- is used with radio navigation equipment.

Explanation

A. HASEL - Height Area Security Engine Lookout -- should be familiar to you from upper airwork exercises such as stalls.

B. Correct answer. Do you remember what the letters stand for?

C. GUMPS -- Gas Undercarriage Mixture Prop Security & Switches-- typical pre-landing check for complex aircraft

D. TICS -- Tune Identify Course-Select -- is used with radio navigation equipment.

3. Which landing technique would you use if landing on a 3000'-long farmer's field?

Normal landing

Short field landing

Soft field landing

Balked landing

3000' is plenty for a typical training plane, so the use of a short field technique is not warranted. In fact, using the brakes may lead to the plane's nose wheel getting stuck in the mud! So use a soft field technique, since farmers' fields are soft! For your information, balked landing is a synonym for "overshoot".

Explanation

3000' is plenty for a typical training plane, so the use of a short field technique is not warranted. In fact, using the brakes may lead to the plane's nose wheel getting stuck in the mud! So use a soft field technique, since farmers' fields are soft! For your information, balked landing is a synonym for "overshoot".

4. What is the lowest altitude you are allowed decend to when practicing solo precautionary landings over farmland?

1000 feet above ground level

500 feet above ground level

1000 feet above sea level

500 feet above sea level

Generally, when flying over non-built-up areas, you are not supposed to come closer than 500 feet to "any person, vessel, vehicle or structure". This means you should stay 500 feet above ground when practicing precautionary landings over farmland, since it's otherwise impossible to ensure that you remain 500 from every silo, tractor, or person. However, you may descend lower with an instructor on board. (Reference: CARs 602.14 and 602.15)

Explanation

Generally, when flying over non-built-up areas, you are not supposed to come closer than 500 feet to "any person, vessel, vehicle or structure". This means you should stay 500 feet above ground when practicing precautionary landings over farmland, since it's otherwise impossible to ensure that you remain 500 from every silo, tractor, or person. However, you may descend lower with an instructor on board. (Reference: CARs 602.14 and 602.15)

5. When flying at 70 knots (slow cruise) into an approximately 10 knot headwind what formula can you use to estimate the length of the field you're overflying?

1 second in flight = 100 meters

1 second in flight = 100 feet

1 second in flight = 10 metres

1 second in flight = 10 feet

If you are flying at 70 knots into a 10 knot headwind, your ground speed is 70 - 10 = 60 knots.

60 knots = 60 nautical miles per hour, i.e. 60 nautical miles in 60 minutes, so it's 1 nautical mile a minute.

1 nautical mile is about 6000 feet. So you're flying at 6000' per minute or 6000/60 = 100 feet per second.

Explanation

If you are flying at 70 knots into a 10 knot headwind, your ground speed is 70 - 10 = 60 knots.

60 knots = 60 nautical miles per hour, i.e. 60 nautical miles in 60 minutes, so it's 1 nautical mile a minute.

1 nautical mile is about 6000 feet. So you're flying at 6000' per minute or 6000/60 = 100 feet per second.

6. What does the COWLS check stand for? (To answer the question, type in the words below separated by spaces only, no punctuation, one word per letter!)

The correct answer is "civilization obstacles wind length surface". This is the only option that includes all the correct words and is spelled correctly.

Explanation

The correct answer is "civilization obstacles wind length surface". This is the only option that includes all the correct words and is spelled correctly.

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7. You are about to put a plane down in a remote area due to a sputtering engine, as well as rising oil temperature and dropping oil pressure indications. Out of the things listed below which *three* are most critical to mention during your radio call? Obviously, there are other important things to state, depending on the circumstances; however, let's see if you can distinguish between three important and three not-as-important items below. (Yes, we know this was not in the PowerPoint presentation. Use your judgment! Judgment and decision-making is, without doubt, the most critical area for a pilot to develop!)

Your location

Your airspeed

Your heading

Number of people on board

The colour of your plane

Amount of fuel remaining on board

A. Your location -- YES! Probably the MOST important thing to mention in such a situation. You want people to come and find you. Tell them where to look for you!!! Many students tend to do poorly in this regard on the flight test, since they are unsure of their position or of how to best describe it. To practice, frequently ask yourself when flying: "Where am I with respect to major landmarks, and how would I report my position now over the radio?" Making frequent traffic updates lets you hone this skill, while contributing to safety. B and C. Because they are included in the Study Guide for the Restricted Operator Certificate With Aeronautical Qualification, many student pilots spout them out, while omitting far more important info. The truth is, your heading and airspeed will rapidly change several times in this particular scenario, so they are not extremely useful to mention. D. Again, YES!! When Search and Rescue comes to save you, they need to know how many people they are looking for. If you hit your head and lose consciousness, and your passenger wanders off in search of help and gets lost in the woods, how will the SAR personnel know to look for her? E. Also a good thing to mention! From above, a plane is a tiny speck on the ground. Make it easier for the rescuers to spot your tiny speck, by letting them know what colour speck to look for! F. This may be critical information in some scenarios (e.g., diversion with low fuel), but not as important to mention here, since the temperature/pressure indications imply an imminent engine failure, so you have to land the plane ASAP. While amount of fuel on board may provide somewhat of a clue about the likelihood of post-landing fire, it is probably not the most critical information for the Search and Rescue crews.

Explanation

A. Your location -- YES! Probably the MOST important thing to mention in such a situation. You want people to come and find you. Tell them where to look for you!!! Many students tend to do poorly in this regard on the flight test, since they are unsure of their position or of how to best describe it. To practice, frequently ask yourself when flying: "Where am I with respect to major landmarks, and how would I report my position now over the radio?" Making frequent traffic updates lets you hone this skill, while contributing to safety. B and C. Because they are included in the Study Guide for the Restricted Operator Certificate With Aeronautical Qualification, many student pilots spout them out, while omitting far more important info. The truth is, your heading and airspeed will rapidly change several times in this particular scenario, so they are not extremely useful to mention. D. Again, YES!! When Search and Rescue comes to save you, they need to know how many people they are looking for. If you hit your head and lose consciousness, and your passenger wanders off in search of help and gets lost in the woods, how will the SAR personnel know to look for her? E. Also a good thing to mention! From above, a plane is a tiny speck on the ground. Make it easier for the rescuers to spot your tiny speck, by letting them know what colour speck to look for! F. This may be critical information in some scenarios (e.g., diversion with low fuel), but not as important to mention here, since the temperature/pressure indications imply an imminent engine failure, so you have to land the plane ASAP. While amount of fuel on board may provide somewhat of a clue about the likelihood of post-landing fire, it is probably not the most critical information for the Search and Rescue crews.

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8. What do you say on the radio to declare an urgency situation on board?

PAN, PAN, PAN

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY

URGENCY, URGENCY, URGENCY

PAN PAN, PAN PAN, PAN PAN

A. A common error. It is the words "PAN PAN" that you say three times, not just the word "PAN". B. MAYDAY is used to declare an emergency -- a situation in which there is a serious threat to someone's life. An urgency situation is less critical, but still requires special measures and priority handling. For example, an engine failure necessitating a forced landing is typically an emergency situation, as is a heart attack on board. However, a flat tire or an engine failure in a multiengine plane is more of an urgency situation. Of course, you may be doing a precautionary landing for either urgency or an emergency situation -- or it could be in perfectly ordinary circumstances (e.g., you are inspecting a grass strip to make sure it does not have a huge puddle in the middle :-). C. As with "PAN PAN PAN", you will probably be understood just fine if you say this, but it's not standard terminology. D. Correct answer.

Explanation

A. A common error. It is the words "PAN PAN" that you say three times, not just the word "PAN". B. MAYDAY is used to declare an emergency -- a situation in which there is a serious threat to someone's life. An urgency situation is less critical, but still requires special measures and priority handling. For example, an engine failure necessitating a forced landing is typically an emergency situation, as is a heart attack on board. However, a flat tire or an engine failure in a multiengine plane is more of an urgency situation. Of course, you may be doing a precautionary landing for either urgency or an emergency situation -- or it could be in perfectly ordinary circumstances (e.g., you are inspecting a grass strip to make sure it does not have a huge puddle in the middle :-). C. As with "PAN PAN PAN", you will probably be understood just fine if you say this, but it's not standard terminology. D. Correct answer.

9. The "standard" procedure taught for precautionary landings involves a high pass inspection, a low pass inspection, a circuit and a soft field landing. How would you modify this procedure under the following circumstances?

low oil pressure, high oil temperature indication

landing at a registered turf aerodrome, with weather closing in

airframe icing

A high oil temperature combined with a low oil pressure indication implies an imminent engine failure! This means that your landing may revert from "precautionary" to "forced" at any time, so stay high enough to glide to your chosen field if necessary! If when landing at a known aerodrome, you don't need to measure the field length or scout out obvious major obstacles (published in the CFS). So a high pass inspection may be omitted to save time. If you are conducting a precautionary landing due airframe icing, avoid extending flaps -- firstly, if the flap mechanism is jammed with ice, flaps may break or extend unevenly (creating a potentially deadly rolling moment), and secondly, extending the flaps may disturb airflow over the tail in an unpredictable manner in an already dicey aerodynamic situation. Because of deteriorated aerodynamics, your stall speed will be higher than normally, so make sure you don't slow down too much for landing. Even though I did not list it in the options, you may also want to omit a high pass (if the ice is still building up) and/or a low pass (if you feel the plane may be unable to climb out). (Please note, of course, that conducting a precautionary landing is not always the best option with airframe icing -- depending on other circumstances, flying out of the area of icing and towards an airport may be a better option.)

Explanation

A high oil temperature combined with a low oil pressure indication implies an imminent engine failure! This means that your landing may revert from "precautionary" to "forced" at any time, so stay high enough to glide to your chosen field if necessary! If when landing at a known aerodrome, you don't need to measure the field length or scout out obvious major obstacles (published in the CFS). So a high pass inspection may be omitted to save time. If you are conducting a precautionary landing due airframe icing, avoid extending flaps -- firstly, if the flap mechanism is jammed with ice, flaps may break or extend unevenly (creating a potentially deadly rolling moment), and secondly, extending the flaps may disturb airflow over the tail in an unpredictable manner in an already dicey aerodynamic situation. Because of deteriorated aerodynamics, your stall speed will be higher than normally, so make sure you don't slow down too much for landing. Even though I did not list it in the options, you may also want to omit a high pass (if the ice is still building up) and/or a low pass (if you feel the plane may be unable to climb out). (Please note, of course, that conducting a precautionary landing is not always the best option with airframe icing -- depending on other circumstances, flying out of the area of icing and towards an airport may be a better option.)

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10. What are some of the reasons to use partial flaps when inspecting the field in a slow cruise?

Steeper descent angle

Better forward visibility

Greater buffer from stall

A. While flaps do allow for a steeper descent angle, a field inspection is done at a constant altitude, with no climbing or descending. B. and C. Yes, extending flaps necessitates lowering the nose somewhat to maintain selected airspeed, which leads to better forward visibility. It also decreases stall speed, providing a greater airspeed safety margin.

Explanation

A. While flaps do allow for a steeper descent angle, a field inspection is done at a constant altitude, with no climbing or descending. B. and C. Yes, extending flaps necessitates lowering the nose somewhat to maintain selected airspeed, which leads to better forward visibility. It also decreases stall speed, providing a greater airspeed safety margin.

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