Mixture set for best RPM everywhere, especially high DA field.
Down drainage, slope, wind management runway and egress route.
Accept engine failure now to save precious seconds later.
Angle across as necessary in strong crosswind.
Nose wheel just off or tail up when expected. Or abort.
Mains off when expected. Or abort.
Dynamic proactive fuselage leveling in low ground effect. Or abort.
Low ground effect until pitch up, as necessary, to just clear obstacle.
After obstacle, lower nose, if necessary, to Dan Gryder's Defined Minimum Maneuvering Speed to climb out.
Pitch up to Vy in updrafts. Take maximum advantage of free lift.
Pitch down to cruise in downdrafts. Fly through downdrafts quickly.
All turns energy management. Don t go below Defined Minimum Maneuvering Speed. Don't pull back on the stick except wings level.
Seek ridge lift in hilly or mountain terrain.
At an altitude you would be comfortable with unexpected stall/spin, change from low altitude orientation to high altitude orientation.
Low power in the mountains may be low altitude orientation takeoff, climb out, enroute, approach, and landing.

Low altitude orientation: Contact, least pitch necessary, energy management turns, and seek thermal and or ridge lift. Observation 99.9% outside the cockpit.
High altitude orientation: IFR type altitude, attitude, maneuver, and procedural track. Integration of contact and instrument flying.

Less than 100 fpm climb is a useless indication of ceiling most of the day in the mountains. In unstable air at high DA, heat rise wind energy exceeds engine thrust.

A safer way to estimate performance is when we have to pitch up to slower than Defined Minimum Maneuvering Speed to climb or maintain altitude, it is time to turn down drainage. If down air is the culprit, we can seek up air and then turn back up drainage.

OK, I didn't know about or use Dan's DMMS. I did have a feel for when it was time to find good air. I never had much faith in engines, V speeds, and just pulling back harder on the stick.

For the first point on your list Jim, you might explain/expand that we want Max Power.

The proxy of max RPM is good for fixed props. But for constant speed props, fuel flow is a good proxy. For normal takeoffs (full rich), I expect to see 21-22 GPH on my IO-470F. For max power, at SL lean to 19.5, and for DAs of 4K 17.6, 6K 16.7, 8K 15.8 respectively.

As for Dan Gryder's Defined Minimum Maneuvering Speed, I think he and the Flight Chops journalist are doing a dis-service to the pilot community by purposefully mixing and confusing two separate concepts. The comparison questions in the video between airline pilots and private pilots and the logic regarding safety was very misleading. Something like 60 Minutes reporting! I don’t want to get into the Safety argument but Part 121 achieves this via a system of which the pilot is a part.

Maneuvering speed as defined by Va is weight-based and assures that the aircraft will stall before it breaks (up) off the wings. Obviously this is a maximum. And in this case, a stall is the desired result.

Dan Gryder's Defined Minimum Maneuvering Speed sets a maneuver to 30 degrees for his definition of minimum maneuvering speed to avoid a stall. This may be a useful rule of thumb in certain cases but not in others. It leads one down the path of flying the aircraft by watching the ASI. The logical extension to the absurd is that you stop at a Stop sign in your car by only watching your speedometer.

There are some good points in the Flight Chops video but also confusing terminology and misinformation. I found it odd that even with the directive to push on the yoke with both hands, the pilot never did this (and nothing was said). Odd that there was no mention of Angle of Attack and stalls.

Blue skies,

Tom

Thanks for the information on constant speed prop leaning by fuel flow, Tom. I seldom flew constant speed props and didn't have a fuel flow gauge in the few I instructed in.

Yes, we have to be careful with high speed high g stuff, Va, but energy management turns avoid that. I do like the idea of the least pitch up necessary to miss stuff we can't rudder turn in ground effect or energy management turn around. I agree that 30 degree bank angle doesn't always get the turn completed in time and DMMS is too dependant on watching the ASI. Mainly we need to use contact flying skills to just miss (pitch) things we can't go around and retain low pitch energy over high pitched and dangerous climb out. Vy and certainly Vx may be too high pitched for safety.

Most old guys learned to unload the wing by pushing on the stick (fewer yokels back then) with the right hand. Left hand was to be on the throttle. Luscombe messed with my mind except that I was usually in the right seat. I do agree with that technique rather than the requirement to just pitch down to the horizon and not lose altitude. This later came in with the new Practical Test Standards in the 70s.

Tom,

Va, unfortunately kidnaps a very important safety concept, airspeed necessary to be able to maneuver effectively to miss stuff during maneuvering flight, which includes takeoff and landing and small airplane mountain flying.

You are right about Va definition, but we also need a way to tell pilots to maintain safe kinetic energy, especially on takeoff and climb out. I am not comfortable at slower than necessary airspeed during takeoff. I admit my life's work required no climb out.

Pitching up out of low ground effect earlier than necessary is slower than necessary airspeed. Going higher than necessary over obstructions is slower than necessary airspeed. Attempting to maintain altitude in downdrafts during maneuvering flight (all small airplane flight in the mountains) is slower than necessary airspeed.

Somebody needed a new term and Defined Minimum Maneuvering Speed seems like a good one. I would go with Defined No Slower Than Necessary Speed, but I have been accused, fairly, of being confusing as well.

We all have skin in the game.