Notes From My First Lesson

January 11, 1997

Student:

The approach to landing as you described it is a controlled stair
step approach.

Did you say to level out at altitudes as we come down or just
stay controlled in the rate of decent.  OK maybe I remember
now-at first a higher rate of decent then lower rate of decent
at lower altitudes.

Instructor:

Correct,  You only want to slow the descent rate not stop it,  It would
look much like a lazy stair case where the runners were sagging or
sloped downward.
 
Student:

I never would have thought that the vent and burner controlled the flight.

Instructor:

Don't forget that someone spent millions of dollars designing it, you
might as well use it.

Student:

Your lesson on fuel management was great.  I will never forget to Look at the
Tanks Again.  At what % remaining in the tank did you switch to the other
tank?  Did you say 10% reserve in each tank.

Instructor:

We will have many such discussions on this point.  My current practice
is to completely exhaust the slave tanks first, then fly the fixed
(burner) master down to approx 5 to 10%, then fly the gimbal (burner)
master until it comes off the peg, (You should be well on your way to
landing by this point in a flight).  This strategy has come about
because of an attempt (long ago) on my part to believe that a tank with
10 to 20% has enough fuel to fly or land on.  Lets see, If I start with
10 gal of propane and only have 10 to 20% remaining I only have 1 to 2
gallons of fuel left in that tank.  It takes approximately that amount of
fuel to inflate the balloon.  Just think about having to abandon a steep
approach landing with your blast valve fully open.  How long would that
gallon or two of fuel last?? How long did it last in the inflation??  
Not very long.  I now subscribe to the theory of empty it and never go 
back to it.  There is never the belief that there is fuel to fly on,
you KNOW that the tank is EMPTY.  

The reason for leaving 5% or so fuel remaining in the master tanks is
two fold:

One is to not confuse that the tank is full,  the gauge at a glance can
look full if you completely empty the tank.

Second,  It also guaranties that there is sufficient fuel for the pilot
light to continue to function from that tank. This is somewhat of a
misnomer but is the standard line. The pilot light is vapor fed
therefore it needs very little propane to operate.

I believe that the first reason to be the most sensible.

Student:

Since I gave up saving the flight at lease twice should I have gone
with both burners or just kept ahead of the flight path.

Instructor:

This was just a case of not having had enough flight time.  This will
come. The point I was making was don't underestimate the power of your
burner.  It will most of the time keep you from hitting the ground.
What happened was that you "believed" that you were going to hit the
ground therefore you stopped burring and consequently hit the ground.  

If you had stuck with it, you would have leveled out and actually began a
climb. The climb of course is not wanted, therefore you must then
initiate a vent just as you level out in order to compensate for the
hard/over burn.  We will practice this over and over again.  It is a
common maneuver used for steep approach landings.