All of this discussion about 180s is important, because we all have to respond instinctively in the event of an emergency. He who hesitates is lost. You need to know how high you have to be before attempting to turn back. Below x number of feet, land straight ahead. If above x number of feet (with a margin thrown in for wind), it is safe to turn back.
By the way, we often don't consider that a "180" is actually a 360 degree
turn in this situation. Yes we do reverse course, but a strict 180 would
put us on the downwind PARALLEL to the runway. As an example, if we do a
left turn to do our 180, we need to continue our turn 90 degrees past the
downwind heading and then make a 90 degree right turn to line up for a
final approach. 180 degrees to downwind, 90 degrees to "base" and a right
90 degree turn to line up with the runway. 4x90=360. See? Remember this
when experimenting (at altitude!) with emergency turnbacks. As Percy
said, line up with a road and try and come around, lining up with it in
the
opposite direction as if you were going to land. I think you will be
surprised at how much altitude this turnback eats up with the throttle off
to simulate an engine failure.
Michael J. Nutt
Warren, MI
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