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Not long ago a friend asked me what I think of a certain airfield, and if it was “too short” for his SR22. The field we discussed is 400 Meters (1310 ft) and I was pretty sure that with him alone on board and 50 percent fuel it is possible. He was not sure, and of course we had no idea what the wind would be, so he made the professional decision (he is a pro and it shows) to not go there.
On the other hand, I have been to the island of Helgoland twice and I remember that it was really no bug deal. But in the Northern Sea, of course, you always have some wind, and there are no obstacles in the approach.
On one of my last flights I made a test: How short can I REALLY land my SR22, if necessary? I tried it at my home field, EDML (Landshut) near Munich in Bavaria.
The parameters:
– I had 50 percent fuel on board (40 gallons)
– About 30 pounds of stuff in the baggage compartment
– Only me on board
– The headwind was on the runway (24) … last wind check was 260-12 to 14 knots
– My SR22 is equipped with Twin Caliper Beringer Brakes.
I used the typical short field approach speed I always use: 77 KIAS, minus 1 knot for each 100 pounds below MTOM. But I never fly slower than 74, maybe 73, knots, because the plane starts to feel “mushy” below that speed, with little elevator authority. I also fly power-on approaches only. I try to reach idle rpm at touchdown, but I do not pull the power at 20 ft AGL.
It was a bit bumpy too, all the way down, so speed could not be controlled perfectly. I still managed to touch down on the threshold line with the main wheels (my FlySTO data shows that I did not land before the threshold). The ground speed over the threshold was only 49 kts, so the wind, at that moment was probably around 10 knots. The stall warning came on at touchdown, and it typically does so at 59 KIAS.
I used all of the Beringer’s braking performance, but I was careful to not lock a tire, which really is bad for them (and they are new!).
I came to a complete stop 173 meters, 568 ft after the threshold. I made a picture to later confirm the distance, but FlySTO also shows 175m to a complete stop.
This little unscientific test shows what’s really possible. Without ANY wind, my estimate, the landing roll would not have been longer than 250 m, but I’ll try that again on a calm day.
So when other pilots ask me if it is possible to safely land on a 500 m runway (typical for small club type fields in Germany) … I really see no problem. And the best way to become good at it is to practice short landings on long runways!
