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Comment by subhro | Hacker News Reader

That's strange. Not saying slipping a 767 is a walk in the park, but I routinely slip Cessna landings (182s and 206s) because I just need to get down. It is a little weird, but no where near unnerving and for sure not wrong.

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It’s perfectly normal in a small plane and the center of gravity doesn’t move much because the plane is small. (Technically center of force vs gravity yaddayadda)

Anything a small plane can do a big plane can (very few exceptions), so they can slip just fine, like they can do a 60° bank just fine - but it becomes VERY uncomfortable for the passengers - who now will feel they’re “outside the plane”.

> they can do a 60° bank just fine - but it becomes VERY uncomfortable for the passengers

Only if you try to maintain altitude. If you let it descend it can be a 1G maneuver and no one will be able to tell unless they look out the window (at which point they will probably freak).

They can also do a barrel roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaA7kPfC5Hk

I was expecting this[0] video. That "whoops" gets me every time.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2CsO-Vu7oc

Its not inherently wrong, but flying cross-controlled feels wrong to me. Probably because I don't do it very often, and I'm aware of the fact that it increases my stall-to-spin risk if I don't properly manage airspeed.

Assuming you are a "regular" PPL pilot:

If you have the chance (and didn't already do so), make a few flights in a glider with an FI.

I thinks it's a different kind of flying and allows you to be more confident in certain situations such as slips, slow flights and engine out landings.

While approaching to land, you are on the backside of the power curve, so pitch for airspeed, power for altitude. You have correctly indicated about managing airspeed. But it is not as difficult as it sounds. If you were flying at the beginning of the slip, you will continue flying through the slip unless you mess with nose positioning, or pitch. TL'DR, DON'T PULL UP while you are in cross control.

Here are some suggestions. As one of the child comment stated, go fly a glider for a few hours. It will immensely help with flying "not straight". I started it for gaining better understanding of flight but ended up finishing a commercial ticket on glider as well, because I enjoyed it so much and also just for the bragging rights.

Secondly, cross control is perfectly safe till the time you pull back on the stick. That is how you get into cross control stalls, the starting configuration for a spin. When you are slipping, you should actively trim nose down, (that you should have done already, remember you are approaching to land), and maintain just a little forward pressure as you fly sideways. I would recommend, grab a competent CFI and get cross control stalls nailed. I know it is not a part of PPL, something I am very pissed about. Hell, PPL in US does not even need spin training. Bollocks, if you ask me....

> I know it is not a part of PPL, something I am very pissed about.

Private Pilot ACS Section IV Task M requires both demonstration and knowledge of "Forward Slip to a Landing"

https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/training_testing/tes...

Cross controlled stalls are not part of the PPL ACS, which is I believe what the person above you was saying.

I've done gliding and we didn't really do forward slips that much. Perhaps US glider brands are different but all the European (German and Czech) ones I've flown had huge spoilers/airbrakes that were more than sufficient to waste altitude quickly without increasing airspeed.

It's actually a really nice way to land, I wish powered aircraft had this.

Some powered FA aircrafts and pretty much any powered commercial aircraft has air brakes/spoilers.

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