A C210 PVT PLT COMPLAINS OF HAVING TO MAKE A NONSTANDARD TURN VOR APCH INTO GON; CT; UNDER PVD APCH CTL.
Synopsis
A C210 PVT PLT COMPLAINS OF HAVING TO MAKE A NONSTANDARD TURN VOR APCH INTO GON; CT; UNDER PVD APCH CTL.
Narrative
APPARENT CONFUSION AMONGST APCH CTLRS MEANT THAT MY CLRNC TO BEGIN A VOR APCH (TO AN ARPT AT SEA LEVEL) WAS GIVEN WHILE STILL AT 8000 FT AND INCLUDED A SUBSEQUENT (ALMOST STEEP) TURN TO INTERCEPT THE FINAL APCH COURSE; CLOSE TO THE FAF; WHILE STILL DSNDING AT RATES UP TO 2000 FPM. PRIMARILY BECAUSE OF THE SPD ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DSCNT; FLAPS WERE DEPLOYED ONLY TO (LESS THAN) 10 DEGS PRIOR TO XING THE FAF AND WERE NOT SUBSEQUENTLY DEPLOYED FURTHER. DURING THE DSCNT ON APCH; A LOW ALT ALERT WAS ISSUED BY THE TWR INCLUDING THE CURRENT ALTIMETER SETTING. I CHKED THE SETTING AND MY ALT; WHICH WAS ABOVE THE APPROPRIATE MDA; AND PROCEEDED WITH THE APCH. CLOUD BASES WERE VARIABLE AND I WAS IN AND OUT OF CLOUD WHICH IMPACTED FORWARD VISIBILITY; THOUGH I HAD CLR GND CONTACT FROM BEFORE THE FINAL DME BASED STEPDOWN. AFTER FINALLY BREAKING OUT AND MAKING VISUAL CONTACT WITH THE RWY; IT WAS CLR THAT MY SPD WAS STILL HIGHER THAN USUAL AND I ELECTED TO PERFORM AN S-TURN TO SLOW DOWN. IT WAS ONLY AFTER LNDG AND BEING ASKED BY THE TWR CTLR ABOUT CLOUD BASES AND WHY I HAD PERFORMED AN S-TURN ON FINAL APCH THAT I REALIZED THAT I HAD NOT LOWERED THE FLAPS TO THE NORMAL LNDG POS. THE NONSTANDARD DSNDING TURN CLOSE TO THE FAF MEANT THAT THE ACFT WAS FLYING FASTER THAN USUAL. THE HIGH WORKLOAD ASSOCIATED WITH INTERCEPTING THE VOR TRACK AND BEGINNING FINAL DSCNT IN THIS CIRCUMSTANCE; AT SPDS HIGHER THAN I COULD DEPLOY THE FLAPS; RESULTED IN BEGINNING THE FINAL APCH DSCNT IN WHAT FOR ME IS A NONSTANDARD CONFIGN. THIS NONSTANDARD CONFIGN RESULTED IN A FINAL VISUAL APCH THAT DID NOT 'FEEL RIGHT;' BECAUSE THE PLANE WAS NOT SLOWLY NORMALLY OR DSNDING WITH THE NORMAL NOSE ATTITUDE. I ELECTED TO PERFORM AN S-TURN TO SLOW THE PLANE AS I DID NOT THINK TO CHK THE FLAP POS ON SHORT FINAL. THE LOW ALT ALERT WAS AN ADDITIONAL STRESS FACTOR DURING THE APCH; PARTICULARLY FOLLOWING THE HIGH RATES OF DSCNT DURING THE INITIAL PART OF THE APCH. HOWEVER; MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT RATE OF DSCNT IS PART OF THE ALGORITHM WHICH TRIGGERS THE ALERT AND I CONFIRMED ON CHKING MY ALT THAT I WAS ABOVE PRESCRIBED MINIMUMS. WHILE FLYING THIS APCH PREVIOUSLY; I HAD BEEN ISSUED WITH SUCH AN ALERT WHILE WITHIN ALT LIMITS AND HAD OFTEN HEARD OTHER ACFT TRIGGER THE WARNING AND SO IT WAS NOT AS STRESSING AS IT MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE BEEN. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME IN AS MANY MONTHS THAT RELATIVELY ACUTE AND STEEP TURNS CLOSE TO FAF OR OM HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO DIFFICULT APCHS FOR ME. THEY MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO 'STAY AHEAD' OF THE ACFT AND REDUCE ONE'S ABILITY TO COPE WITH SUBSEQUENT ISSUES IN THE APCH. I WILL BE CAREFUL TO REQUEST ALTERNATIVE DSCNTS/TURNS WHEN MAKING THESE APCHS IN THE FUTURE.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.