Approach speeds for ILS

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
We get foggy here at Tacoma Narrows this time of year (which is the reason I
post more on these groups in the winter than in the summer). One thing we
see a lot of is guys who fly the ILS too fast.

I have no problem with flying the ILS at 90 or 100 knots if the ceiling is
well above minimums, but it seems to me that if the ceiling is 200 feet
overcast you ought to be flying the approach slowly enough that you can land
at that speed. You don't need to configure for a short field landing, but
you are not going to slow from 90 knots to 60 in a Skyhawk in only 200 feet
of altitude, especially if you can't risk ballooning back up into the soup.

CJ,

I don't understand this post at all. It seems to me that 90 kts
to DH is standard way most people are taught to fly an ILS. I
have a plane that's a bit faster and a bit slippery (and less
effective flaps) than a Skyhawk, and I have no trouble throttling
back at DH and landing. True, I'm not landing and turning off
in 1000 ft, but then, most of the ILS I've met are to 5000+ ft
runways.

Ballooning back into the soup shouldn't be an issue. I don't
understand where your "slow from 90 to 60 in 200 ft of altitude"
concern arises. We regularly practice flying the ILS at full
cruise -- 130-140 kts -- right down to DH. If I throttle back
at DH, I have no idea at what point I slow to landing speed. I
simply level off just above the runway and wait until the airplane
decides to land. If I wind up a foot off the runway at 90 kts it's
not a problem.

It seems to me that people should train how they're going to fly
and fly how they're going to train. If they haven't trained enough
to fly an ILS to DH at 90 kts and land comfortably, I don't think
the solution is to have them adopt a different procedure. I think
the solution is for them to train more -- and if they're going to
do the necessary training to practice the 60 kt ILS thing, why not
have them do the necessary training to fly a 90 kt ILS or even a
120 kt ILS?

1) If the field is really at minimums, you have 200 feet to slow down to
landing speed. That is not much time. Better you should be ready to land
before you break out.

I don't understand this at all. Why do I only have 200 ft to slow
down to landing speed? I have 200 ft of descent left -- but usually
1/2 mile from the runway threshold and 2000 ft to land in in the TDZ
(assuming 4000+ ft runway). So it seems to me that I have something
like 4,500 ft to slow down to landing speed.

2) If you decide to go missed, then go missed. Don't change your mind just
because you got a glimpse of the runway as you were flying overhead.

With this, assuming no malfunctions or fuel criticality, I agree.

Cheers,
Sydney

"Snowbird" wrote in message
m...
"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
We get foggy here at Tacoma Narrows this time of year (which is the
reason I
post more on these groups in the winter than in the summer). One thing
we
see a lot of is guys who fly the ILS too fast.

I have no problem with flying the ILS at 90 or 100 knots if the ceiling
is
well above minimums, but it seems to me that if the ceiling is 200 feet
overcast you ought to be flying the approach slowly enough that you can
land
at that speed. You don't need to configure for a short field landing,
but
you are not going to slow from 90 knots to 60 in a Skyhawk in only 200
feet
of altitude, especially if you can't risk ballooning back up into the
soup.

CJ,

I don't understand this post at all. It seems to me that 90 kts
to DH is standard way most people are taught to fly an ILS.

To be fair to CJ, I think his observation is mostly about the poor skills of
pilots he watches at TIW. People here are talking about their own personal
habits, and everyone knows this is an advanced and skilled group of pilots
who won't go all wobbly on breakout.

-- David Brooks

"David Brooks" wrote in message ...

To be fair to CJ, I think his observation is mostly about the poor skills of
pilots he watches at TIW.

I understand that, David. But I still don't understand his
post. I don't understand why he says there are only 200 ft
to slow from 90 to 60 kts, and I think if skills are wobbly
(mine certainly can become so PDQ) the answer isn't to switch
to flying at 60 kts, it's to practice more. Because I think
flying an ILS at 60 kts or slowing to 60 kts before decision
height introduces its own set of issues and would require
specific practice for proficiency.

Cheers,
Sydney