Hi all, first up, thoughts and prayers to all those affected by the accident at Moorabbin last week. I am not here to speculate or go into details on that particular incident, however it did get me thinking (as a relatively low time RPL pilot) about losing power on final at a built-up aerodrome and what options there are to ensure the best possible outcome.
The most obvious thing to me seems to make it standard practice to effectively perform a glide approach from downwind, or turn base a lot earlier than "normal". Does anyone do this or teach this? I'm guessing it would cause problems in the circuit being in a different pattern to everybody else all the time. What other issues are there? I'm lucky to fly out at Lilydale where there are plenty of off-field options if the dreaded did happen, but i still cant help feeling sometimes when I turn base at the "correct" point (45 degrees from the threshold or thereabouts), that if i lost my engine at that point or anywhere up to final on the "correct" glidepath, it definitely wouldnt be a certainty that I'd make it back to the field, whereas if i'd just turned base earlier and set up for a glide approach, it would be a lot better situation.
I'm guessing the dangers would be a much steeper approach path, possibly the chance of coming in too fast?