We spend a lot of time on training traffic pattern procedures (downwind, base, final), such as power settings, speeds, and where to do it. But it has been my experience that there is not much conversion of that procedure to straight-in landings. I fly out of a towered airport and the norm for landings are either straight-in or from a base leg.
So when flying (C172) for a straight-in landing, for example, when should I start my descent from pattern altitude? I use a rule of thumb to start my power back at about 3 miles (to 80 knots), since the runway PAPI is set for a 3 degree glide slope, at 1000' AGL, I will intercept it at 3.6 miles (if I did the math right). But I just wing it (sort of speak) when it comes to the right place to put in additional flaps and make further speed reductions. In the pattern, we have fixed queues to indicate the proper place to make changes, but in a straight-in, especially at an unfamiliar airport, there are no easy visual queue that I know of. Any advice?
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