Brent:  

You prove yourself a stud once again, by the precision with which you describe a minimum landing distance — 2200 feet, lots of practice, 1,000 landings, positive contact on the first brick at exactly 90 kts.

I remember my first landing in a IVP.  I think it took 14,000 feet.  I’m down to about 3k feet now.

I like your rule:  “Never land on anything shorter than you have already demonstrated CONSISTENTLY on a longer field” (and I will add) “In case you screw up!”

Many thanks.

John Hafen
LIV4-P N413AJ  113 hours and still sweating the landings on a 3,000 foot runway!


On 4/23/09 5:40 PM, "Brent Regan" <brent@regandesigns.com> wrote:

John asks:
<< What do you guys use as far as personal minimums in runway length when landing your IV’s?>>>

Home base for me (6ID1) is 2,200' x 40, 2,720 MSL. Due to terrain, landing is to the east and slightly uphill. Usually there is a 3-5 Kt tail wind. Landings can be accomplished in 1,400 to 1,800 feet under these conditions BUT it requires a LOT of practice. For me it took 500 hours in type and over 1,000 landings before I could consistently nail my intended landing spot at the needed speed (90 Kts).  Also, forget about greasers, these are firm "positive contact" landings that I warn my passengers about.

My first landing in a IV-P was on a 6,000' x 100' field and I needed 5,500' of it.

There are several Lancairs including at least 2 IVs at KPAO which is 2400 feet and at sea level.

As a rule, never land on anything shorter than you have already demonstrated CONSISTENTLY on a longer field.

You can land on short fields the same way you get to Carnegie Hall......... Practice, Practice, Practice.

Regards
Brent Regan