This was posted by someone else in the Cessna 182 discussion group a few
weeks ago:



I always get a lot of grief for posting this. . . . but we should all
understand that this is a guide that needs to be adjusted for current
conditions. That said. . . here it is. . . .


I have used this method on 150's, 152's, 172's and now my 182. I do it the
same for all of them and it works. (The only difference is the prop on the
182, and once that is set to fine pitch all else is the same.)

1) With the prop set to fine pitch, throttle set to 2000 rpm (forget about
looking at the manifold gauge, it doesn't tell you anything at this point).
Trim for LEVEL flight on downwind
2) Abeam the numbers, reduce power to 1700 RPM (1600 RPM for fixed pitch
prop equipped aircraft) and add 10 degrees of flaps at the same time. (Hold
the nose down until it stabilizes.) The flaps and reduction in power will
counteract each other and it should stabilize at 80 MPH in a decent.
3) While turning base, add flaps to 20 degrees. The plane will stabilize at
75 MPH. Adding the flaps during the turn will add lift to counteract the
decent caused by the turn, thus maintaining the same decent rate.
4) While turning final, add flaps to 40 degrees (unless a real strong wind
20-30 knots). Plane will stabilize at 70 MPH. Use pitch to control airspeed,
throttle to control target touch down spot.
5) When you know you will make the numbers, pull throttle back to idle and
flair the aircraft. Roughly 60-65 MPH over the fence.

6) If you aren't getting these numbers, you didn't trim the plane for level
flight on downwind. You should never have to re-trim during any phase of the
pattern after trimming for level flight on downwind. This technique will
work on all high-wing non retract Cessnas. Go up and try re-trimming for
level flight and 2000 RPM again. Give it enough time to settle in to
stabilized flight. My flight instructor taught me this and routinely landed
the 172 I was training in without touching the yoke until the flair. He only
used the yoke for aileron input. (sometimes he only used rudders just to
show me it can be done.)

The design of the Cessna high wing causes it to seek stabilized flight. If
you set it up properly, it will seek/return to that stabilized speed. Set it
up to the wrong RPM or not level flight, and it will seek/return to the
wrong speed or the wrong decent angle. I would never use full nose up trim
on final. A lot of reasons have been stated about go-rounds, but what about
an engine out on final. While you are panicking trying to restart and you
are distracted else where, with nose up trim, the likeliness of raising the
nose into a stalled condition is very good. Also it is much easier to
over-control the flair, or a recovery from a bounce, which will then become
a porpoise if you have too much nose up trim. Once the cycle starts, the
un-stabilized trim will cause it to oscillate with a more pronounced bounce
on each cycle until something breaks.

Sorry this is so long winded, but learning to trim an airplane is an art
that takes time to learn. We can do many things to correct problems that
wouldn't exist if the plane were trimmed properly in the first place. ( I
fly by myself with full long range fuel and nothing in the baggage
compartment, and never have a problem flairing the plane.)


"SilkB" wrote in message
oups.com...
I am just starting to fly a C-182T and I was wondering if anyone has
any tips for the settings in the pattern/approach.
I have done most of my hours on C172, but when transitioning to C182 I
noticed that it's hard to get this plane down in the pattern. I enter
the pattern at 17"MP (to slow down) and abeam the numbers I lower it
to 15"MP while putting in 1 notch of flaps and trimming for 90-95KTS.
On base I put in another notch of flaps and trim for 85KTS and the
final notch of flaps on final while keeping 70-75KTS.
My problem is that with these settings the plane is not really
descending until the base to final turn where I need to cut down the
power completely. I would have liked to keep about 15"MP in all the
way to the round-out to make the landing nice and soft.
Any tips?

Thanks.