The big slip

[cgoldy]

Thanks Lab, great video

I'm in the group that slips almost every landing, I like the visibility and its just how I've gotten comfortable controlling my decent. I also almost always do a left wing low slip, only time I do it other way is for crosswind and I'll admit I'm rusty at it.

this video was in another thread on here somewhere but I'll repost seeing it seems some people think a slip is as bad as a skid when its not and this guy does the best job explaining I've seen yet.

[Techteach]

After reading all the comments, I look back at my training. Back seat of a J-3 on skis, my instructor in the front. He looks back, yells at me (no intercom back then, heck no electrical) "Push the stick full left and push full right rudder". Slips were used, like someone has already said, as another tool in the tool box, that was it. Some planes slip nicer (Cubs, Champs, Chiefs, Vagabonds) than others, but you learned that as you progressed with training or practiced on your own.
I'd rather have that tool when that thing that spins on the nose of the airplane stops in the air (or goes bye-bye, true story) and you MUST make that field. Keep it high and when you KNOW you can make it, drop the extra altitude with a slip and land.

Now, if you want to talk about what happens when you tick off your instructor doing full power stalls in an 85 HP Champ with a climb prop and you're letting the nose turn..... Yep, he had me stomp on the right rudder pedal. You go from seeing sky to seeing the ground REALLY quick!

[Waldo M]

I believe the slip to a landing is a great tool. I use it often in light airplanes to steepen the approach angle if the available "drag" devices won't provide the approach path necessary. Or sometimes just for fun. In our no-flap PA-11, they are a pure joy to execute. Again in light airplanes equipped with flaps, it is rarely required for most runways I land on. In jet equipment, you are restricted to using runways that don't require a slip in addition to flaps and leading edge devices to fly the proper approach path. Stable approach paths in the landing configuration are required from at least 500 feet above touchdown or a go-around is mandated. So with jets, a slip is essentially an emergency maneuver albeit a very good one to have up your sleeve in an actual emergency.

The slip method to a crosswind landing is standard for me in everything I fly. The only exception was in the "stretch" DC-8 days, especially those modified with high bypass fan engines. Those airplanes will drag an outboard engine pod on the runway in the touchdown attitude if past 2.5 degrees of roll. They required the "crab and kick" crosswind landing technique although most of us snuck a very little slip in there as well. I don't know if fly by wire airplanes allow you to cross control in order to use the slip technique in a cross wind. From riding in the back of Airbuses, it doesn't seem so. I would love to hear from FBW pilots on this issue.

[JimParker256]

Every once in a while, I like to intentionally fly a REALLY tight pattern just to see how steep an approach I can make using a max-effort slip. I'm always amazed at just how well you can scrub off excess altitude in my plane (a somewhat slab-sided RANS S-6ES Coyote II) when you pin the stick to one side and the rudder to the stops the other way. It almost reminds me of the steep angles I used to see when performing power-off autorotations (to the ground) back in my Army instructor pilot days... The joke was to look for your landing spot through the chin bubble - between your feet. (Not too far off, either...)

The other day, we had a crosswind from the right (somewhat unusual around here). I realized I almost never do a slip to the copilot's side, but this was the better way with that right crosswind. It felt a bit weird at first, but after a couple of iterations, it felt more natural. I did, however, find that I tended to let the nose drop a bit when coming out of the slip, which increased my airspeed a bit and caused the plane to float a little – touchdown was about 150-200 ft beyond my target... Took me two more trips around the pattern to get the slip exit to roundout flare right, so that I could nail my pre-selected landing spot. Fun to be at pattern altitude on short final, and still nail the first stripe on the runway! I didn't look much at the VSI, but it had to be well over 1000 fpm down!

PS - There's no stall warning (horn or anything else) in this plane – you just have to "feel" the stall coming. But the airplane talks to you pretty good when it's about to give up! I have to say, I do NOT miss that squawking on approach...

[Skywalker]

Finding out what the max slip looks like will help when approaching a tiny spot in the woods after a power loss. If you do a circle you may lose sight of the spot, but you have to bring some margin of energy with you. I like to approach my little strip at the same altitude and wait a little longer each time before pulling power and doing a maximum slip. I wouldn't have believed how steep that angle is until I tried it.

[HalfTonChamp]

Finding out what the max slip looks like will help when approaching a tiny spot in the woods after a power loss. If you do a circle you may lose sight of the spot, but you have to bring some margin of energy with you. I like to approach my little strip at the same altitude and wait a little longer each time before pulling power and doing a maximum slip. I wouldn't have believed how steep that angle is until I tried it.

The Force is strong with this one.

[cubdriver2]

I've done a few slips over the years. Even better on floats

Glenn

[TurboBeaver]