Flight Training - January/February 2022 - 14

PREFLIGHT FLIGHT LESSON
BY TRAVIS BENDER
NO-RETRACTION REACTION
DEALING WITH UNRESPONSIVE FLAPS
WHAT HAPPENED
Around 800 feet agl, my
friend asked if I raised the
flaps, as they were still
deployed. I checked the
flap lever, and it indicated
zero degrees, meaning
we now had flaps that
wouldn't come up.
called ATC to let them know I was coming
back because of a stuck flap issue.
On landing, I decided to leave flaps at
EVERY TIME I FLY, I BRIEF ABNORMAL SITUATIONS ON
the ground prior to departure, but on this day, I was
thrown a unique situation that I had not dealt with
before, let alone thought of.
I was flying a Cessna 152 with another pilot friend
to work on commercial maneuvers. Wanting to do
a soft-field takeoff, I added 10 degrees of flaps and
followed the proper takeoff procedure.
Climbing past 200 feet above ground level (agl),
I retracted flaps and prepared to leave the airport
area. Passing 500 feet I noticed the airplane wasn't
climbing at its usual climb rate, but after checking
the engine gauges, I attributed it to the 152 being an
underpowered trainer.
Around 800 feet, after tower told me to switch
to Approach, my friend asked if I raised the flaps, as
they were still deployed. I checked the flap lever, and
it indicated zero degrees, meaning we now had flaps
that wouldn't come up.
I knew that the situation wasn't hazardous at
the moment, so I stopped climbing at 1,000 feet to
preserve speed. Flaps still hadn't retracted, and I
thought about lowering them to 20 degrees to see if
they came up after, but then realized how that could
make things worse and just decided to leave them at
10 degrees. With speed and altitude under control, I
14
FLIGHT TRAINING JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022
FLAPLESS
Could you make a no-flaps landing
in your training airplane? Or a
landing in a flap configuration
other than full? Practice landing in
these configurations, in the event
you experience a malfunction that
precludes you from landing in the
preferred configuration.
Flaps might fail to extend or
retract, but they can also extend
asymmetrically-one up and
one down. The left flap comes
down while the right one remains
in place when the flap switch
is deployed. The extended left
flap would increase the angle of
attack of the left wing, rolling
the airplane to the right. More lift
means more induced drag from
that down flap, so simultaneously
with the right roll the airplane
would yaw to the left. You'd push
right rudder to counter the yaw
and roll out of the bank with left
aileron, and likely lower the nose
to be safe. Then, if the flap does
not retract, you must concentrate
on maneuvering for landing while
flying cross-controlled.
10 degrees and not lower them. It's a 152,
so I knew I had no problems landing on
the 2,600-foot-long runway, but I pulled
power more than normal and allowed
the airplane to slow down on final. I used
pitch and some trim to help manage speed
as well. I gave myself a go-around point,
and touched down uneventfully, except
for the fire trucks on the taxiways. Seeing
the trucks was probably the strangest part
of the flight, given I had practiced no-flap
landings before.
Debriefing with the flight school staff,
I realized I made one mistake. I should
have moved the lever back to 10 degrees
for landing. Why? Well, if the flaps magically
came back to life, they would've
instantly raised to 0 degrees. On short
final at 100 feet agl, the loss of lift from the
flaps retracting could have made things a
lot trickier.
Maintenance looked at the airplane
after the flight and found that the flap's
microswitch was faulty. They replaced
the part, and the airplane has been flying
great since then.
Looking back at the situation, I feel my
responsiveness and problem-solving were
decent. No scenario is perfect, and for
me, I learned a great lesson about the flap
lever on landing. As a pilot, every flight is
an opportunity to gain a new insight, and
this day was no exception.
TOP LEFT: SARAH HANSON; ABOVE: STEVE KARP
Flight Training - January/February 2022

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