A-4F Skyhawk operations manual: Difference between revisions

=== Cockpit ===

The Skyhawk cockpit is simple and spare, even when compared to its contemporary aircraft. Unlike modern fighters, all the gauges are convention analog ones and there is no HUD. Nonetheless, the cockpit should be accessible to anyone with experience in lightplanes such as the Cessna 172. The airspeed indicator, vertical speed gauge, and altimeter all operate identically to the ones you are familiar with, and there is a conventional HSI/gyrocompass at the bottom of the panel.

=== Final Approach ===

Fly the final approach using power to control pitch and altitude. This advice is repeated in pilot manuals everywhere, but nowhere is it more important than when flying a jet at very high angles of attack. If you try to correct for a low approach by pulling back on the stick, you will create only a little bit more lift and a lot more drag. Your airspeed will drop rapidly and you will pancake into the ground well short of the threshold. To make matters worse, the engine takes several seconds to "spool" to a new power setting once you move the throttle, making this kind of pancake maneuver very difficult and dangerous to recover from once it happens. Successful landings involve careful attention and practice. Hints and tips that I have found useful:

Don't look at the engine RPM gauge once you are stable on the glideslope (unless you think there is a problem, of course). Approach power settings will vary widely depending on aircraft gross weight. Learn to use small throttle movements and listen for the changes, rather than trying to find a specific RPM setting. Try flying approaches at many weight settings to drive this point home; if you are using the RPM gauge as a crutch, flying at different weights is a good way to break this habit.

=== Touchdown ===