AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011 - 83

“The 40 degrees of flaps really steepens the descent, but once you learn how to land the airplane, you can put any airplane down right on the line.”

resource management—as well as in four flying events: navigation, message drop, and short-field and power-off landings. Up for grabs is the title of national champions. Teams must qualify to compete at regional Safecons held earlier in the academic year. This year’s national event had a budget of more than $160,000 and drew hundreds of spectators and volunteer judges, many of them former competitors. About 75 aircraft were used in the competition. Nature presented challenges early in May’s competition. “The weather problems were very difficult during the beginning part of the week,” said Steve Halcomb, chief judge for the event. Shuffling the flight events, and finishing the last round of short-field landings on Saturday morning—when there’s nor-

mally no flying—allowed a complete air meet, he said. Weather can make the journey to Safecon an adventure. The San Diego Christian College Flight Team took five airplanes on the 2,200-nm flight from Southern California to Columbus. On the way home they encountered 60-knot headwinds, turbulence, and strong mountain wave. Weather forced them to spend a day on the ground in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and the team made the best of it with an invitation to tour the American Airlines Flight Academy, fly a brand-new Boeing 737 full-motion simulator, and visitthe airline’s Systems Operations Control—as a thunderstorm passed over DFW and hail damaged 27 airliners. The team’s aircraft were unscathed. Full results of the 2011 national Safecon are available online

little bit down the runway,” he said. “If I’m going into Key West, Florida, in a 737, and I want to touch down at 300 feet down the runway, I’m going to flare at 100 feet down the runway.” Halcomb competed in the short-field and power-off landing events at two regional and one national Safecon while attending the University of Illinois in 1994 and 1995. “When I flew the [Cessna] 152, it seemed I could put that thing down within five or 10 feet.” Now, when landing at Key West—which, at 4,801 feet, is the shortest runway he lands a 737—he ensures that the approach is stable early. “Unlike Atlanta and other, busier destinations, by the marker you’re configured with flaps and on speed,” Halcomb explained. “That’s just another technique that we use—have your stabilization point much farther back.” Cessna 172s and other heavier trainers can push through crosswinds. “Having that extra weight is great, but for pure finesse, having that extra flap makes the

150 and 152 easier to control.” Above all, Halcomb said, you have to have good technique. “I wanted to know that when I took that power off, it was going to touch down right there,” he said. “It never really changed for me, flying in competition or flying the line.” 40 degrees of flaps? So, professional pilots do use short-field landing skills—relatively speaking, of course—without trekking to back-country airstrips. What about flaps, is there a magic number? If you’ve never been to a Safecon, you need to know this: The venerable Cessna 150, with its 40 degrees of maximum flap deflection, is coveted by competitors. Many aviation colleges have one or two especially for flight-team use. And over the past three years, two-thirds of the top three finishers in the national short-field landing competition flew Cessna 150s. This year, however, first and third place in short-field landings—and first

Clockwise from left, a Cessna 150 from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Daytona Beach, Florida, campus makes a short-field landing at Safecon 2010; this year, ERAU used new Cessna Skycatchers for landing events. Competition starts early. A judge marks the touchdown spot. Aircraft are repositioned for the next event. The Loening Trophy, which recognizes outstanding all-around collegiate aviation programs, went to Denver’s Metro State College in 2011.
AOPA PILOT • 83 • AUGUST 2011

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011