Lousy landings have lots of causes—but some have an easy fix, too. Simply standardizing a pilot’s viewing angle over the glareshield can improve the quality and consistency of landings, says Tripp Wacker, a Florida-based designated pilot examiner who has developed the Eye Aligner.
“As pilots move from one airplane to another, their seat height varies and their view over the nose in the landing attitude changes,” he said. “That makes it more difficult, maybe even impossible, for them to consistently judge the roundout and flare during approaches and landings.”
The Eye Aligner looks like a mobile version of the fixed seat-height adjustment tools found in airliners and corporate jets. By placing the Eye Aligner on the glareshield and leveling it, pilots can adjust their seat height (and maybe cushions) so that their forward view remains the same. Once their seating position is set, the Eye Aligner gets packed away in the pilot’s flight bag.
The Eye Aligner is machined from billeted aluminum, and it appears sturdy and well designed.
I brought an Eye Aligner to a busy flight school recently to test whether students were sitting at what the device determined to be the proper height. In Cessna 172s, both students and instructors were frequently seated too low, and that was especially true in a Cessna 182 that’s used for instrument training.
Wacker said pilots who sit too low tend to induce pitch oscillations as the airplane flares.
“They’re taught to bring the cowl up to the horizon, and then their aiming point on the runway disappears,” he said. “They’ll raise the nose, the lower the nose, raise it and then lower it. By aligning their eyes properly, and knowing where to look, they’ll consistently get better results.”
Price: $89.95
Where: www.sightforflight.com
