FACTORS LIMITING THE LANDING APPROACH SPEED OF AIRPLANES FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF A PILOT

An examination was made from the pilot's point of view of some of the factors limiting the landing approach speed of airplanes. The results of two specific aircraft were considered; one a sweptwing jet fighter employing blowing-type boundarylayer control (BLC) on highly deflected leadingand trailing-edge flaps, and the other a straight-wing, twin-engine cargo aircraft using propeller slipstream in conjunction with an area suction BLC system on the flaps and drooped ailerons to develop high lift. An attempt is made to provide a better understanding of the effect of various stability and control characteristics on the pilot's selection of approach speeds. It is shown that in the presence of poor handling qualities, the pilot demands an excess margin of speed which he uses to compensate for the attention required by the undesirable characteristics. (Author)