"Vaughn" wrote in message ...
"JohnD" wrote in message
om...
What about this situation: You are on your fifth solo flight and OOOH
NOOO! your yaw string disintigrates while under tow. No, this never
happens does it? (Happened to me once: Club 1-26 with brand new canopy
& no yaw string. Damn it wasn't on my pre-flight checklist! How could
I have missed it?) But if it does what better way to fly the pattern
but to execute moderate slipping turns in the pattern while maintaing
proper airspeed? Wouldn't that be safer than having a 30 flight
student attempt to fly perfectly coordinated without a yaw string? Err
on the safe side?
...
P.S. Always remember: Proper pitch attitude control is imperative when
executing this maneuver as the IAS will almost certainly not be
correct.

I should tell my early-solo students that a missing or stuck yaw
string
is sufficient reason for them to make a non-standard pattern, make
deliberately uncoordinated and little-practiced turns near the ground,
and
give up the advantage of a correctly functioning IAS? I don't think so!

In that situation, I might want my student to hold an extra 5 knots
in
the pattern, and even if their asscheeks are not yet sufficiently
calibrated
to produce a perfect turn, they should be able to mechanically
coordinate
the controls enough to make a spin unlikely while simultaneously
remaining
far enough above stall speed to make a spin impossible.

That said, a slip/skid indicator costs a whole $45.00 at Wings&
Wheels
and there is no reason for any trainer to be without one.

Vaughn

I'm sorry, but I believe you missed my point.

Perhaps you missed mine. I don't think that a missing or stuck yaw
string is sufficient reason for an early solo student (or anyone else that I
can imagine right now) to fly a slipping approach. If I am wrong please
educate me.

What I am saying is that
I have been taught that early-solo students should know how to
properly execute and know when to utilize a slip and slipping turns
BEFORE they solo.

Actually, 61.87(i) tells us what flight training a student pilot must
receive prior to solo and the only guidance we have there regarding slips is
the variously-interpreted phrase "slips to a landing", there is no specific
requirement for slipping turns. I realize that 61.87 represents an
absolute minimum and we should add things to the mix that we find important.

Vaughn

O.K. I'm really not trying to argue here so perhaps we could get away
from the yawstring example and you could help me understand why you
believe 'an early solo student (or anyone else....' should not know
how to execute and be skilled at a 'slipping approach'.

It would appear to me that other CFI's and FAA examiners believe the
"slips to landing" phrase in 61.87(i) means they should teach and
expect to see competancy in this maneuver. So why is your approach so
different from theirs? Shouldn't we be standardized in this? If not in
our training then certainly in what an FAA examiner expects from a
pilot? What about the poor guy who trains and obtains his license in
your area, moves out here, then flunks his BFR because the standard
and expectations are so different? (I realize I may be exaggerating
this a bit but you see what I mean don't you?)

More importantly how does the downside of knowing how to execute a
'slipping approach' outweigh the benefits of being able to utilize
this skill when the situation warrants?

JohnD