Having a strong base makes all the difference. Whether you’re building a house, starting a relationship, or working on your flying skills, a solid foundation is the core from which everything builds. The same can be true for airspeed as well.
When learning to fly a Piper Cub the joke goes that whether you want to climb, cruise, or descend, 60 is your target. It generally all feels and looks the same, so there’s rarely a need to even note the airspeed indicator, inexact as it is in an old rag and tube airplane. Barry Lane, “The Commander Guy,” a respected Twin Commander instructor, believes that Twin Commanders have a magic speed as well.
“Find 155 or 160 knots,” Lane said. This speed is not only a target, but also the basis of a technique. The experienced instructor said that in most Commanders about 300 horsepower a side, or about 30 percent torque will get you that speed in level flight.
A good universal reference speed is effective because quickly being able to attain it through muscle memory with little effort frees up pilot workload. But that’s only helpful if the speed can be widely used. And according to Lane, it can.
The most obvious place is in the approach environment. It’s common for pilots to hunt for the right speed while setting up for the approach. Lane said that by setting the power and letting the speed settle around 160 knots the pilot has time to prepare for the approach with a very stable airplane. Better yet, maintaining the same power setting while adding flaps and dropping the gear near the final approach fix will increase drag and decrease speed for the final segment of the approach. No need to be a throttle jockey and hunt for the right speed during the approach.
“Now let’s say you’re in a situation where you don’t know what speed to fly,” he said. Go for 160 knots. It seems odd not to know which speed to pick, but other than climb and stable cruise, we’re often left hunting for what feels right, and Lane advocates that 160 knots is a good target.
Reducing pilot workload is especially critical in an emergency. By routinely flying 160 knots and 30 percent torque, the pilot begins to easily recognize the sight picture. Now imagine the need to focus attention elsewhere. You can set the power, verify the attitude, and then get on to the task at hand. By regularly flying the same speed and configuration, it becomes easy to know when you’ve reestablished the same speed and attitude in stressful situations, which obviously brings stability to critical situations.
Finally, the target speed has other practical uses. It’s good in the VFR traffic pattern because it plays well with other turboprops and light jets. It’s also below moderate turbulence penetration speed and only about 20 knots above the strong turbulence speed. And Lane said he uses it for a target speed when approach asks him to speed up or slow down.
“You have to have an objective,” he said. “Know where you’re going to put the airplane at any given moment and you’ll be smoother and reduce your workload.” By using one target speed, that objective becomes a lot easier.
