Lancair 320
This month we continue by reviewing the transition requirements for Family III and IV airplanes. Family III. Air- craft are characterized as having high inertia and/or low
drag. Experimental examples includes Glasairs and Lan- cairs. Type-certifi cated examples include the Cirrus SR-22, Cessna Columbia, Piper Comanche, and Mooney M20.
Transition Training for Family III Airplanes –
High Inertia and/or Low Drag 1. Defined as airplanes that decelerate slowly when power is removed.
2. A typical accident involves pilots misjudging their approach energy, which in turn causes high, fast approaches with their associated long landings. This results in overruns, or worse yet, attempted go-arounds
Photography by Jim Koepnick
that occur too late in the land- ing sequence.
3. Transition hazards:
a. This family of airplanes is on the leading edge of the low- drag design technology. They are beautiful, sleek, and look fast even while sitting on the ground. These airplanes are fast, efficient, and have signifi-
cant range; however, unless their low-drag characteristics are adequately managed, they will build excessive speed dur- ing the critical flight phase of approach and landing.
b. Unmanaged excess speed can result in overshooting the final approach path and descent angle, an inadvertent stall dur- ing a much-too-late go-around
EAA EXPERIMENTER 33