Emergency Landing for absolute novice?












3














Suppose I am a passenger in a small, non-commercial plane (e.g. at most 8 seats), and the pilot suddenly dies or is otherwise incapacitated mid-flight. Suppose further that nobody else on the plane knows the first thing about flying, or that I were the only other person on the plane. I understand the basic physics of flying, and have been in airplane cockpits before for a ride, but never piloted one. Cockpits are an intimidating bank of switches and dials, and I imagine I'd have very little time to acquaint myself with them experimentally in an emergency.



What minimalistic, general information should I know in an emergency situation to try to land a small plane?



I'm looking for perhaps 5–10 fast-and-simple rules-of-thumb that would be useful in a life-or-death situation, yet easy to remember.



A great answer might include 2–3 sentence answers for things such as:




  • Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?

  • How could I contact air traffic control?

  • What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?

  • What rate of descent is too dangerous?

  • How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)

  • How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?

  • How might I determine a good angle of attack?










share|improve this question







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  • 1




    Similar question (but not necessarily a duplicate): Pilot passed out in a small GA plane. What can a passenger do?
    – Tanner Swett
    7 hours ago












  • Welcome to aviation.SE! As Tanner said, we have a very similar question already; it would probably be helpful if you could add something about how your question is different, otherwise people may vote to close yours as a duplicate.
    – Pondlife
    3 hours ago










  • Thanks to @TannerSwett for pointing that out — it's definitely close! Whereas that question was intended for somebody familiar with planes (e.g. "initiated to fly a plane" and "100s of hours on flight sims"), my question is intended for somebody with essentially zero experience with planes: I don't know how to turn an engine on/off, or how to operate the radio. I expect that the answer for these questions would be different based on the different levels of familiarity with aircraft. I'm also interested what people would consider most immediately important.
    – jvriesem
    2 hours ago
















3














Suppose I am a passenger in a small, non-commercial plane (e.g. at most 8 seats), and the pilot suddenly dies or is otherwise incapacitated mid-flight. Suppose further that nobody else on the plane knows the first thing about flying, or that I were the only other person on the plane. I understand the basic physics of flying, and have been in airplane cockpits before for a ride, but never piloted one. Cockpits are an intimidating bank of switches and dials, and I imagine I'd have very little time to acquaint myself with them experimentally in an emergency.



What minimalistic, general information should I know in an emergency situation to try to land a small plane?



I'm looking for perhaps 5–10 fast-and-simple rules-of-thumb that would be useful in a life-or-death situation, yet easy to remember.



A great answer might include 2–3 sentence answers for things such as:




  • Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?

  • How could I contact air traffic control?

  • What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?

  • What rate of descent is too dangerous?

  • How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)

  • How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?

  • How might I determine a good angle of attack?










share|improve this question







New contributor




jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
















  • 1




    Similar question (but not necessarily a duplicate): Pilot passed out in a small GA plane. What can a passenger do?
    – Tanner Swett
    7 hours ago












  • Welcome to aviation.SE! As Tanner said, we have a very similar question already; it would probably be helpful if you could add something about how your question is different, otherwise people may vote to close yours as a duplicate.
    – Pondlife
    3 hours ago










  • Thanks to @TannerSwett for pointing that out — it's definitely close! Whereas that question was intended for somebody familiar with planes (e.g. "initiated to fly a plane" and "100s of hours on flight sims"), my question is intended for somebody with essentially zero experience with planes: I don't know how to turn an engine on/off, or how to operate the radio. I expect that the answer for these questions would be different based on the different levels of familiarity with aircraft. I'm also interested what people would consider most immediately important.
    – jvriesem
    2 hours ago














3












3








3







Suppose I am a passenger in a small, non-commercial plane (e.g. at most 8 seats), and the pilot suddenly dies or is otherwise incapacitated mid-flight. Suppose further that nobody else on the plane knows the first thing about flying, or that I were the only other person on the plane. I understand the basic physics of flying, and have been in airplane cockpits before for a ride, but never piloted one. Cockpits are an intimidating bank of switches and dials, and I imagine I'd have very little time to acquaint myself with them experimentally in an emergency.



What minimalistic, general information should I know in an emergency situation to try to land a small plane?



I'm looking for perhaps 5–10 fast-and-simple rules-of-thumb that would be useful in a life-or-death situation, yet easy to remember.



A great answer might include 2–3 sentence answers for things such as:




  • Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?

  • How could I contact air traffic control?

  • What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?

  • What rate of descent is too dangerous?

  • How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)

  • How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?

  • How might I determine a good angle of attack?










share|improve this question







New contributor




jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











Suppose I am a passenger in a small, non-commercial plane (e.g. at most 8 seats), and the pilot suddenly dies or is otherwise incapacitated mid-flight. Suppose further that nobody else on the plane knows the first thing about flying, or that I were the only other person on the plane. I understand the basic physics of flying, and have been in airplane cockpits before for a ride, but never piloted one. Cockpits are an intimidating bank of switches and dials, and I imagine I'd have very little time to acquaint myself with them experimentally in an emergency.



What minimalistic, general information should I know in an emergency situation to try to land a small plane?



I'm looking for perhaps 5–10 fast-and-simple rules-of-thumb that would be useful in a life-or-death situation, yet easy to remember.



A great answer might include 2–3 sentence answers for things such as:




  • Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?

  • How could I contact air traffic control?

  • What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?

  • What rate of descent is too dangerous?

  • How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)

  • How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?

  • How might I determine a good angle of attack?







landing emergency passenger pilot-incapacitation






share|improve this question







New contributor




jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.











share|improve this question







New contributor




jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









share|improve this question




share|improve this question






New contributor




jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.









asked 8 hours ago









jvriesem

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1163




New contributor




jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.





New contributor





jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.






jvriesem is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.








  • 1




    Similar question (but not necessarily a duplicate): Pilot passed out in a small GA plane. What can a passenger do?
    – Tanner Swett
    7 hours ago












  • Welcome to aviation.SE! As Tanner said, we have a very similar question already; it would probably be helpful if you could add something about how your question is different, otherwise people may vote to close yours as a duplicate.
    – Pondlife
    3 hours ago










  • Thanks to @TannerSwett for pointing that out — it's definitely close! Whereas that question was intended for somebody familiar with planes (e.g. "initiated to fly a plane" and "100s of hours on flight sims"), my question is intended for somebody with essentially zero experience with planes: I don't know how to turn an engine on/off, or how to operate the radio. I expect that the answer for these questions would be different based on the different levels of familiarity with aircraft. I'm also interested what people would consider most immediately important.
    – jvriesem
    2 hours ago














  • 1




    Similar question (but not necessarily a duplicate): Pilot passed out in a small GA plane. What can a passenger do?
    – Tanner Swett
    7 hours ago












  • Welcome to aviation.SE! As Tanner said, we have a very similar question already; it would probably be helpful if you could add something about how your question is different, otherwise people may vote to close yours as a duplicate.
    – Pondlife
    3 hours ago










  • Thanks to @TannerSwett for pointing that out — it's definitely close! Whereas that question was intended for somebody familiar with planes (e.g. "initiated to fly a plane" and "100s of hours on flight sims"), my question is intended for somebody with essentially zero experience with planes: I don't know how to turn an engine on/off, or how to operate the radio. I expect that the answer for these questions would be different based on the different levels of familiarity with aircraft. I'm also interested what people would consider most immediately important.
    – jvriesem
    2 hours ago








1




1




Similar question (but not necessarily a duplicate): Pilot passed out in a small GA plane. What can a passenger do?
– Tanner Swett
7 hours ago






Similar question (but not necessarily a duplicate): Pilot passed out in a small GA plane. What can a passenger do?
– Tanner Swett
7 hours ago














Welcome to aviation.SE! As Tanner said, we have a very similar question already; it would probably be helpful if you could add something about how your question is different, otherwise people may vote to close yours as a duplicate.
– Pondlife
3 hours ago




Welcome to aviation.SE! As Tanner said, we have a very similar question already; it would probably be helpful if you could add something about how your question is different, otherwise people may vote to close yours as a duplicate.
– Pondlife
3 hours ago












Thanks to @TannerSwett for pointing that out — it's definitely close! Whereas that question was intended for somebody familiar with planes (e.g. "initiated to fly a plane" and "100s of hours on flight sims"), my question is intended for somebody with essentially zero experience with planes: I don't know how to turn an engine on/off, or how to operate the radio. I expect that the answer for these questions would be different based on the different levels of familiarity with aircraft. I'm also interested what people would consider most immediately important.
– jvriesem
2 hours ago




Thanks to @TannerSwett for pointing that out — it's definitely close! Whereas that question was intended for somebody familiar with planes (e.g. "initiated to fly a plane" and "100s of hours on flight sims"), my question is intended for somebody with essentially zero experience with planes: I don't know how to turn an engine on/off, or how to operate the radio. I expect that the answer for these questions would be different based on the different levels of familiarity with aircraft. I'm also interested what people would consider most immediately important.
– jvriesem
2 hours ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















3














That's way too complicated a question. The best thing you can do is get MS Flight Simulator and learn to fly one of the light planes on it. It even has lessons in it. You can easily learn enough to survive the real deal if that ever happened and you had access to the controls. Instructors these day frequently get new students who've spent time with FSX and are surprisingly advanced right at the start.



Other than that, the most important thing for a passenger to know is how to tune the communications radio to the emergency frequency 121.5 and how to broadcast on it. This will get you in contact with the nearest air traffic unit, wherever you are (they all monitor it) and you would be able to be talked down. It's been done a number of times.



Have your host show you how to control the plane in level flight, enough to keep in level flight do basic turns (very easy). If you can do that, and can get ATC on the radio on your own, you'll be able to make it down. You'll be steered to a suitable airport with a nice big runway and told what to do step by step. No worries.






share|improve this answer





















  • Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
    – jvriesem
    2 hours ago



















1














ATC has successfully talked down folks with zero experience in GA planes, and if there's one thing you need to learn, it's how to call ATC so they can give you that help. Any pilot would be happy to teach you this, and it should only take a few minutes while you're sitting in the plane before departure. Anything you know beyond that will make ATC's help a lot easier to understand and get you safely on the ground that much faster, but that's the bare minimum.



My recommendation is a "discovery flight" at a nearby flight school; that will teach you far more of the basic skills you'd need to survive than days of looking for tips online. Flight sim time would save money if you're interested in becoming a pilot, but otherwise I wouldn't bother; you need to actually sit in a real plane, touch real buttons and knobs and levers, and feel how a real plane reacts--with someone at your side explaining the key points along the way. I learned every one of the things on your list and more, plus made my first landing, in that one hour lesson.



FWIW, it doesn't matter if that discovery flight is in a Cessna and your emergency happens in a Mooney, or whatever. For light planes, most of the differences border on cosmetic for emergency purposes. Once you know what to look for and why, it shouldn't take much to recognize the important controls and instruments in any other light plane. Again, any pilot you're flying with should be happy to explain the differences if you don't pick them up on your own; an instructor is only needed when you're starting from zero.



If you'll be flying GA a lot, particularly in the same plane and/or with the same pilot, look into "Pinch Hitter" courses; they'll cost quite a bit more than a simple discovery flight, but they're worth every penny if you'll be flying often enough for real concerns about emergencies.






share|improve this answer





























    0














    flying a plane, specially a small one requires a lot a practice, but if you find your self in this situation, and assuming is a small prop, complex twin engine aircraft (Variable prop, retractable landing gear).



    Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?
    all the controls are in the front panel, 3 levers in the mid control panel, black for thrust, blue for prop, red for fuel, don't touch red and blue, move black, back to reduce power and forward to increase



    How could I contact air traffic control?
    usually on the yoke is a small button (ptt) press it and talk, or by the microphone, set on the radio the frequency 121.50



    What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?
    try to maintain level wings, aim for an airport



    What rate of descent is too dangerous?
    try to maintain between 500 to 700 fpm rate of descent



    How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)
    depends on the aircraft, usually black rounded knob on the panel, usually on the right side, it moves up and down, look for it.



    How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?
    the airspeed indicator has colors, try to maintain the speed on the green band



    How might I determine a good angle of attack?
    it depends on the speed, and configuration, but a good indication is the rate of descent and constant speed, aim for 500 fpm descent maintaining speed on the green band



    safe flights






    share|improve this answer





















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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

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      3 Answers
      3






      active

      oldest

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      active

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      active

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      3














      That's way too complicated a question. The best thing you can do is get MS Flight Simulator and learn to fly one of the light planes on it. It even has lessons in it. You can easily learn enough to survive the real deal if that ever happened and you had access to the controls. Instructors these day frequently get new students who've spent time with FSX and are surprisingly advanced right at the start.



      Other than that, the most important thing for a passenger to know is how to tune the communications radio to the emergency frequency 121.5 and how to broadcast on it. This will get you in contact with the nearest air traffic unit, wherever you are (they all monitor it) and you would be able to be talked down. It's been done a number of times.



      Have your host show you how to control the plane in level flight, enough to keep in level flight do basic turns (very easy). If you can do that, and can get ATC on the radio on your own, you'll be able to make it down. You'll be steered to a suitable airport with a nice big runway and told what to do step by step. No worries.






      share|improve this answer





















      • Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
        – jvriesem
        2 hours ago
















      3














      That's way too complicated a question. The best thing you can do is get MS Flight Simulator and learn to fly one of the light planes on it. It even has lessons in it. You can easily learn enough to survive the real deal if that ever happened and you had access to the controls. Instructors these day frequently get new students who've spent time with FSX and are surprisingly advanced right at the start.



      Other than that, the most important thing for a passenger to know is how to tune the communications radio to the emergency frequency 121.5 and how to broadcast on it. This will get you in contact with the nearest air traffic unit, wherever you are (they all monitor it) and you would be able to be talked down. It's been done a number of times.



      Have your host show you how to control the plane in level flight, enough to keep in level flight do basic turns (very easy). If you can do that, and can get ATC on the radio on your own, you'll be able to make it down. You'll be steered to a suitable airport with a nice big runway and told what to do step by step. No worries.






      share|improve this answer





















      • Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
        – jvriesem
        2 hours ago














      3












      3








      3






      That's way too complicated a question. The best thing you can do is get MS Flight Simulator and learn to fly one of the light planes on it. It even has lessons in it. You can easily learn enough to survive the real deal if that ever happened and you had access to the controls. Instructors these day frequently get new students who've spent time with FSX and are surprisingly advanced right at the start.



      Other than that, the most important thing for a passenger to know is how to tune the communications radio to the emergency frequency 121.5 and how to broadcast on it. This will get you in contact with the nearest air traffic unit, wherever you are (they all monitor it) and you would be able to be talked down. It's been done a number of times.



      Have your host show you how to control the plane in level flight, enough to keep in level flight do basic turns (very easy). If you can do that, and can get ATC on the radio on your own, you'll be able to make it down. You'll be steered to a suitable airport with a nice big runway and told what to do step by step. No worries.






      share|improve this answer












      That's way too complicated a question. The best thing you can do is get MS Flight Simulator and learn to fly one of the light planes on it. It even has lessons in it. You can easily learn enough to survive the real deal if that ever happened and you had access to the controls. Instructors these day frequently get new students who've spent time with FSX and are surprisingly advanced right at the start.



      Other than that, the most important thing for a passenger to know is how to tune the communications radio to the emergency frequency 121.5 and how to broadcast on it. This will get you in contact with the nearest air traffic unit, wherever you are (they all monitor it) and you would be able to be talked down. It's been done a number of times.



      Have your host show you how to control the plane in level flight, enough to keep in level flight do basic turns (very easy). If you can do that, and can get ATC on the radio on your own, you'll be able to make it down. You'll be steered to a suitable airport with a nice big runway and told what to do step by step. No worries.







      share|improve this answer












      share|improve this answer



      share|improve this answer










      answered 5 hours ago









      John K

      14.5k11544




      14.5k11544












      • Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
        – jvriesem
        2 hours ago


















      • Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
        – jvriesem
        2 hours ago
















      Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
      – jvriesem
      2 hours ago




      Sure, I could invest dozens or hundreds of hours in a flight sim, but I'm asking what the first things to know are for someone who doesn't want to invest that much time in learning to fly. :-) +1 for the rest of the answer, though!
      – jvriesem
      2 hours ago











      1














      ATC has successfully talked down folks with zero experience in GA planes, and if there's one thing you need to learn, it's how to call ATC so they can give you that help. Any pilot would be happy to teach you this, and it should only take a few minutes while you're sitting in the plane before departure. Anything you know beyond that will make ATC's help a lot easier to understand and get you safely on the ground that much faster, but that's the bare minimum.



      My recommendation is a "discovery flight" at a nearby flight school; that will teach you far more of the basic skills you'd need to survive than days of looking for tips online. Flight sim time would save money if you're interested in becoming a pilot, but otherwise I wouldn't bother; you need to actually sit in a real plane, touch real buttons and knobs and levers, and feel how a real plane reacts--with someone at your side explaining the key points along the way. I learned every one of the things on your list and more, plus made my first landing, in that one hour lesson.



      FWIW, it doesn't matter if that discovery flight is in a Cessna and your emergency happens in a Mooney, or whatever. For light planes, most of the differences border on cosmetic for emergency purposes. Once you know what to look for and why, it shouldn't take much to recognize the important controls and instruments in any other light plane. Again, any pilot you're flying with should be happy to explain the differences if you don't pick them up on your own; an instructor is only needed when you're starting from zero.



      If you'll be flying GA a lot, particularly in the same plane and/or with the same pilot, look into "Pinch Hitter" courses; they'll cost quite a bit more than a simple discovery flight, but they're worth every penny if you'll be flying often enough for real concerns about emergencies.






      share|improve this answer


























        1














        ATC has successfully talked down folks with zero experience in GA planes, and if there's one thing you need to learn, it's how to call ATC so they can give you that help. Any pilot would be happy to teach you this, and it should only take a few minutes while you're sitting in the plane before departure. Anything you know beyond that will make ATC's help a lot easier to understand and get you safely on the ground that much faster, but that's the bare minimum.



        My recommendation is a "discovery flight" at a nearby flight school; that will teach you far more of the basic skills you'd need to survive than days of looking for tips online. Flight sim time would save money if you're interested in becoming a pilot, but otherwise I wouldn't bother; you need to actually sit in a real plane, touch real buttons and knobs and levers, and feel how a real plane reacts--with someone at your side explaining the key points along the way. I learned every one of the things on your list and more, plus made my first landing, in that one hour lesson.



        FWIW, it doesn't matter if that discovery flight is in a Cessna and your emergency happens in a Mooney, or whatever. For light planes, most of the differences border on cosmetic for emergency purposes. Once you know what to look for and why, it shouldn't take much to recognize the important controls and instruments in any other light plane. Again, any pilot you're flying with should be happy to explain the differences if you don't pick them up on your own; an instructor is only needed when you're starting from zero.



        If you'll be flying GA a lot, particularly in the same plane and/or with the same pilot, look into "Pinch Hitter" courses; they'll cost quite a bit more than a simple discovery flight, but they're worth every penny if you'll be flying often enough for real concerns about emergencies.






        share|improve this answer
























          1












          1








          1






          ATC has successfully talked down folks with zero experience in GA planes, and if there's one thing you need to learn, it's how to call ATC so they can give you that help. Any pilot would be happy to teach you this, and it should only take a few minutes while you're sitting in the plane before departure. Anything you know beyond that will make ATC's help a lot easier to understand and get you safely on the ground that much faster, but that's the bare minimum.



          My recommendation is a "discovery flight" at a nearby flight school; that will teach you far more of the basic skills you'd need to survive than days of looking for tips online. Flight sim time would save money if you're interested in becoming a pilot, but otherwise I wouldn't bother; you need to actually sit in a real plane, touch real buttons and knobs and levers, and feel how a real plane reacts--with someone at your side explaining the key points along the way. I learned every one of the things on your list and more, plus made my first landing, in that one hour lesson.



          FWIW, it doesn't matter if that discovery flight is in a Cessna and your emergency happens in a Mooney, or whatever. For light planes, most of the differences border on cosmetic for emergency purposes. Once you know what to look for and why, it shouldn't take much to recognize the important controls and instruments in any other light plane. Again, any pilot you're flying with should be happy to explain the differences if you don't pick them up on your own; an instructor is only needed when you're starting from zero.



          If you'll be flying GA a lot, particularly in the same plane and/or with the same pilot, look into "Pinch Hitter" courses; they'll cost quite a bit more than a simple discovery flight, but they're worth every penny if you'll be flying often enough for real concerns about emergencies.






          share|improve this answer












          ATC has successfully talked down folks with zero experience in GA planes, and if there's one thing you need to learn, it's how to call ATC so they can give you that help. Any pilot would be happy to teach you this, and it should only take a few minutes while you're sitting in the plane before departure. Anything you know beyond that will make ATC's help a lot easier to understand and get you safely on the ground that much faster, but that's the bare minimum.



          My recommendation is a "discovery flight" at a nearby flight school; that will teach you far more of the basic skills you'd need to survive than days of looking for tips online. Flight sim time would save money if you're interested in becoming a pilot, but otherwise I wouldn't bother; you need to actually sit in a real plane, touch real buttons and knobs and levers, and feel how a real plane reacts--with someone at your side explaining the key points along the way. I learned every one of the things on your list and more, plus made my first landing, in that one hour lesson.



          FWIW, it doesn't matter if that discovery flight is in a Cessna and your emergency happens in a Mooney, or whatever. For light planes, most of the differences border on cosmetic for emergency purposes. Once you know what to look for and why, it shouldn't take much to recognize the important controls and instruments in any other light plane. Again, any pilot you're flying with should be happy to explain the differences if you don't pick them up on your own; an instructor is only needed when you're starting from zero.



          If you'll be flying GA a lot, particularly in the same plane and/or with the same pilot, look into "Pinch Hitter" courses; they'll cost quite a bit more than a simple discovery flight, but they're worth every penny if you'll be flying often enough for real concerns about emergencies.







          share|improve this answer












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          share|improve this answer










          answered 21 mins ago









          StephenS

          1,811113




          1,811113























              0














              flying a plane, specially a small one requires a lot a practice, but if you find your self in this situation, and assuming is a small prop, complex twin engine aircraft (Variable prop, retractable landing gear).



              Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?
              all the controls are in the front panel, 3 levers in the mid control panel, black for thrust, blue for prop, red for fuel, don't touch red and blue, move black, back to reduce power and forward to increase



              How could I contact air traffic control?
              usually on the yoke is a small button (ptt) press it and talk, or by the microphone, set on the radio the frequency 121.50



              What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?
              try to maintain level wings, aim for an airport



              What rate of descent is too dangerous?
              try to maintain between 500 to 700 fpm rate of descent



              How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)
              depends on the aircraft, usually black rounded knob on the panel, usually on the right side, it moves up and down, look for it.



              How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?
              the airspeed indicator has colors, try to maintain the speed on the green band



              How might I determine a good angle of attack?
              it depends on the speed, and configuration, but a good indication is the rate of descent and constant speed, aim for 500 fpm descent maintaining speed on the green band



              safe flights






              share|improve this answer


























                0














                flying a plane, specially a small one requires a lot a practice, but if you find your self in this situation, and assuming is a small prop, complex twin engine aircraft (Variable prop, retractable landing gear).



                Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?
                all the controls are in the front panel, 3 levers in the mid control panel, black for thrust, blue for prop, red for fuel, don't touch red and blue, move black, back to reduce power and forward to increase



                How could I contact air traffic control?
                usually on the yoke is a small button (ptt) press it and talk, or by the microphone, set on the radio the frequency 121.50



                What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?
                try to maintain level wings, aim for an airport



                What rate of descent is too dangerous?
                try to maintain between 500 to 700 fpm rate of descent



                How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)
                depends on the aircraft, usually black rounded knob on the panel, usually on the right side, it moves up and down, look for it.



                How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?
                the airspeed indicator has colors, try to maintain the speed on the green band



                How might I determine a good angle of attack?
                it depends on the speed, and configuration, but a good indication is the rate of descent and constant speed, aim for 500 fpm descent maintaining speed on the green band



                safe flights






                share|improve this answer
























                  0












                  0








                  0






                  flying a plane, specially a small one requires a lot a practice, but if you find your self in this situation, and assuming is a small prop, complex twin engine aircraft (Variable prop, retractable landing gear).



                  Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?
                  all the controls are in the front panel, 3 levers in the mid control panel, black for thrust, blue for prop, red for fuel, don't touch red and blue, move black, back to reduce power and forward to increase



                  How could I contact air traffic control?
                  usually on the yoke is a small button (ptt) press it and talk, or by the microphone, set on the radio the frequency 121.50



                  What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?
                  try to maintain level wings, aim for an airport



                  What rate of descent is too dangerous?
                  try to maintain between 500 to 700 fpm rate of descent



                  How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)
                  depends on the aircraft, usually black rounded knob on the panel, usually on the right side, it moves up and down, look for it.



                  How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?
                  the airspeed indicator has colors, try to maintain the speed on the green band



                  How might I determine a good angle of attack?
                  it depends on the speed, and configuration, but a good indication is the rate of descent and constant speed, aim for 500 fpm descent maintaining speed on the green band



                  safe flights






                  share|improve this answer












                  flying a plane, specially a small one requires a lot a practice, but if you find your self in this situation, and assuming is a small prop, complex twin engine aircraft (Variable prop, retractable landing gear).



                  Where might I expect to find certain, key controls?
                  all the controls are in the front panel, 3 levers in the mid control panel, black for thrust, blue for prop, red for fuel, don't touch red and blue, move black, back to reduce power and forward to increase



                  How could I contact air traffic control?
                  usually on the yoke is a small button (ptt) press it and talk, or by the microphone, set on the radio the frequency 121.50



                  What kind of terrain should I aim for, if possible?
                  try to maintain level wings, aim for an airport



                  What rate of descent is too dangerous?
                  try to maintain between 500 to 700 fpm rate of descent



                  How to deploy landing gear? (What might this button look like?!)
                  depends on the aircraft, usually black rounded knob on the panel, usually on the right side, it moves up and down, look for it.



                  How to control the aircraft speed, and how slow is too slow?
                  the airspeed indicator has colors, try to maintain the speed on the green band



                  How might I determine a good angle of attack?
                  it depends on the speed, and configuration, but a good indication is the rate of descent and constant speed, aim for 500 fpm descent maintaining speed on the green band



                  safe flights







                  share|improve this answer












                  share|improve this answer



                  share|improve this answer










                  answered 2 hours ago









                  Carlos Norena

                  511




                  511






















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