Make the same good landing time after time
Do you consistently make good landings? The experts see the traffic pattern as a precise ballet where pilots maneuver and reconfigure the aircraft the same way, every time. To them, a good landing starts on downwind, not in the flare.
Ron Fowler
Ron Fowler wrote Making Perfect Landings and several other books, most of them published by Iowa State University Press. During an interview from his home in Christmas, Florida, he provided his version of the landing ballet.
"Try as best you can to make every landing just like the one before," Fowler said. "You are either managing the plane, or the plane is managing you." The three secrets, he said, are to fly a perfect ground track, manage your airspeed, and make a precision descent. Here's how he does it.
On the downwind leg, he maintains a consistent one-half-mile distance from the runway. Yes, that is a tight pattern. How do you gauge one-half mile? Look at the runway and estimate from that; if it is a 5,000-foot runway, then mentally turn half of it 90 degrees to the runway to visualize a half-mile.
Then, pick out landmarks that track that line, and check the windsock to see if the airplane needs to be crabbed to maintain that path. Once you know you are on a half-mile-wide downwind, look at where the runway intersects either the wing (low-wing airplane) or the strut (high-wing airplane). That way, you'll never again have to line up on that Arby's at your hometown airport.
Select as a touchdown target the second stripe on the runway centerline. That is only a target; you will aim to land on the third stripe. By selecting a stripe, and not "the numbers," you assure that you will not land short. Berms at the approach end of the runway can be 8 inches high, and the landing gear will not survive an impact.
Reduce the power abeam the third stripe. It is critical to retrim the airplane every time you change the power or flap settings. Trim for the proper approach speed as recommended by the manufacturer. It is common for pilots to underuse the trim.
Next, pick out a landmark a half-mile from the end of the runway; you can turn base past that point if you wish, but plan to pass over it on final 300 to 400 feet above the ground. You may find that this is a higher approach than normal, but it is preferable to one that is low and flat, Fowler said. As you turn base, look at the landmark and "make the cookies and milk come out together," Fowler said. That is, plan the descent so that you are 300 to 400 feet high at the landmark on final. Don't just fall somewhere in that range — pick a number. Don't make a power adjustment more than 50 rpm if you can help it. If you find you need to adjust power by more than 100 rpm, go around. "Anytime pilots have to make large power changes, they make inconsistent glide paths and a bad landing," Fowler said.
Be ready to go around
Check the owner's manual and fly within five knots of the suggested speed. ("Three knots is what I make my students do," Fowler said.) If you are more than five knots off, it is time to go around, he said.
On final, keep the flight path lined up with the centerline. It is there to show you wind drift. Use one degree of heading correction for each knot of crosswind component.
Be aware of the wind when turning base to final. If you have a tailwind, start a shallow turn early. If it is a headwind, start the turn late and square it off. If it appears that you need more than 15 to 20 degrees of bank to line up with the final approach course, go around.
Where do you put the flaps down? Anywhere you want to, but do it the same way every time. Otherwise, you deal with an unfamiliar situation for each landing. If you want to put down two notches on downwind, do that every time. If you would rather do that on base, then let that be your method. But be consistent. "Full flaps won't prevent a go-around if the plane is properly trimmed," he said.
"Go out and try this for yourself," Fowler advises.
I did. I rented a Piper Archer and brought along flight instructor Markku Koppanen to take care of the plane while I read Fowler's notes, and to get a second opinion of the tips Fowler offers. Bottom line? We both felt we benefited from the practice.
I found that to make the steep approach, I needed a head start on slowing the airplane, and so I flew downwind at 85 knots. We experimented with nearly a dozen landings before settling on an initial power reduction abeam the third runway stripe to 1,200 rpm. That allowed us to complete the approach and to land on the target with no more than a 100-rpm power reduction, although that last part was tough. We overshot the target a few times, but landed short of the third stripe on only one of the dozen landings. All the touchdowns, by the way, would have pleased the passengers — if I'd had any. There was only one greaser, however.
Crosswinds
Fowler suggests crabbing during most of final, but switching to the slip method of controlling crosswinds while well above the runway; he does not like the kick-out method. That's when the pilot crabs to within a few feet of the runway and then kicks in rudder at the last second to align the fuselage with the runway centerline. "The kick-out method is too difficult. You can't tell when the tires are going to touch," Fowler said. In other words, your aircraft may still be in a crab at touchdown, and that is hard on the landing gear.
Many textbooks tell you that in order to break the glide, you should level the flight path above the runway, starting at 20 feet. If you actually wait that long, Fowler suggests, you are going to float. "You are going to be zipping along," he said.
Use a good follow-through, just like a good golfer or baseball player. Keep applying aft pressure after touchdown. Too many pilots let the nose slam down. That is because they were actually trained to do that during touch-and-go practice in their student days, Fowler said.
Caveats
Ah, you say, but the pattern at my airport is so busy I can't possibly turn a half-mile final. That's true, but you can still be 300 to 400 feet above the ground when one-half mile from the end of the runway, and you can aim for the second runway centerline stripe from that point. You can also have the airplane fully configured and trimmed by that point.
Obviously, you need to make a smaller power reduction if the aircraft ahead forces you to a two-mile or longer final approach. But at the final half-mile ground reference point, you can reduce power to the value you have previously tested.
William K. Kershner
Bill Kershner was a key contributor to the 1986 three-part FAA pamphlet series titled On Landings that is still available on the Internet. Links are provided on AOPA Online by going to the Web address at the end of this article. Like Fowler, Kershner has written many books for student pilots, commercial pilots, and flight instructors, most of them also published by Iowa State University Press (see " Wake Turbulence," p. 91). A link to Iowa State University Press is also provided on AOPA Online. Here are Kershner's suggestions for consistent landings.
Kershner's mantra is to make configuration changes early so that adjustments during the final phase of landing are few. "The less juggling you have to do the better," he said. He puts in the first two notches of flaps in his Cessna 150 after reducing power to 1,700 rpm abeam the intended point of landing. He slows to 65 kt and will use that speed on base and on early final, transitioning to 60 kt on short final. His first turn to base is made with 30 degrees of bank so that he can get around the turn quickly, level the wings, look for non-pattern, straight-in traffic (which he hates), and look at the runway for altitude cues. The turn to final is shallow. "I stabilize the flap configuration and airspeed as soon as I can. You're too busy to be changing them," he said. On final, when he knows he has the runway made, he reduces the throttle to idle "so I don't have to worry about it." Like Fowler, Kershner does not try to land on the end of the runway.
Just above the pavement, he looks out along the nose 75 to 100 feet ahead and watches the runway. He tries to hold the aircraft off to keep it from landing. The stall warning horn tells him when he is 5 to 8 kt above the stall speed.
His main point is that he lands the same way every time — consistently.
A final tip
The coach of the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Eagles Flight Team — Mike Leeper — offers a final few tips. It makes a huge difference in your landings if you trim the airplane in its final configuration at 300 feet and then let go of the yoke for a second. That tells you if the aircraft is properly trimmed. If it is, your landings will improve. "It works like magic," Leeper said.
Leeper also preaches consistency. "Lower the flaps at the same place, make your radio calls at the same spot, turn base at the same location, every time."
His flight team appears to be able to make consistent landings, since they have consistently won their regional collegiate flight competition 14 years running.
E-mail the author at [email protected].
Once Around the Pattern
Here's a checklist of tips as you fly the pattern
Turn downwind one-half mile from the runway. Use the runway to help visualize that distance. Retrim with every power and configuration change.
Pick ground references for the downwind course.
Note where the wing or strut intersects the runway. Use that point in the future to assure a one-half-mile downwind.
Reduce power abeam your touchdown point — the third runway centerline stripe.
Set flaps. Consider using two notches. Retrim.
Pick a ground reference point one-half-mile from the end of the runway. Be 300 to 400 feet above the ground at that point.
Maintain airspeed to within 5 kt of the manufacturer's recommendation.
At 300 feet, take your hand off the yoke or stick briefly to assure that you are properly trimmed.
Aim for the second stripe, land on the third.
Putting It Into Practice
A passing performance
A prima ballerina I'm not. I've had my share of good landings, but I've also had my share of, well, arrivals. Nevertheless, I have to agree with the fundamental principle Al Marsh and his experts espouse — do it the same way every time and you vastly increase your chances of a finale performed to the orchestral strains of stall horn beeping and tires chirping onto the runway.
As for the specifics, well. I tried out the experts' tips. The steeper approach recommended by Ron Fowler came fairly naturally to me — I'd always rather be high than low, and that's the way I normally fly. I have to admit that a couple of times I didn't think I'd make it down without a little forward slip, although I always did. The runway aiming point — aim for the second stripe and land on the third — worked well, too. But the power changes of no more than 50 rpm on final were tough. It took some practice to find the sweet spot in the power setting all the way back on downwind, but it did seem to work well once I had it.
At first I was skeptical of Bill Kershner's recommendation that you put in two notches of flaps on downwind — that seems like an awful lot of drag a long way from the touchdown point. But I confess to being a convert on that one. Here's why: In the extremely tight half-mile pattern recommended by these experts, you can find yourself very busy on base if you're trying to turn, put in flaps, get stabilized, and look for traffic. That base leg is really short, especially if, like me, you're a little shy about making 30-degree bank turns so low and slow. By getting the flaps in on downwind, you leave yourself plenty of time to do everything else.
I have to admit that the result of using the experts' techniques was a series of consistently good landings. Just for the sake of comparison, once I had mastered these guidelines I decided to revert to my typical pattern protocol and see how that turned out. The answer is not very well. I was a little fast, a little high, and I landed a little long. It wasn't a bad landing, but it wasn't the work of a ballerina, either.
So what did I really take away from this practice session? A happy medium. The best landing of all came from using most of the experts' techniques with a couple of variations that added to my own comfort level. I flew a slightly wider pattern than they recommend — about three-quarters of a mile — to give me a few more seconds to get stabilized on each leg of the approach. I also landed with only two notches of flaps — both put in on downwind — instead of the three notches available to me.
So, when I do what I'm supposed to do — and do it the same way time after time — I'm happier with the results. I know better than to let the airplane lead this pas de deux. But the truth is that sometimes circumstances conspire to turn my greaser into a thud.
For example, we've all been approaching a new airport, made that introductory call to the tower, and been told to prepare to enter a left downwind for a given runway. So far, so good. Then the controller advises us to make a 360-degree turn for spacing, asks us to extend the downwind indefinitely, tells us to hurry up and slide in front of the jet on the ILS, or changes the runway and tells us to skip all that pattern stuff and land straight in.
Fine for the controller, but what happened to my one-half-mile pattern and reducing power abeam the runway stripes? Now I find myself adjusting to a rapidly changing situation and, dare I say it, setting aside all of those carefully practiced habits in an attempt to get on the ground. The result is often something less than graceful.
To make these unusual landings go as well as possible, I try to practice doing the same thing time after time in a couple of different ways. I take opportunities to make go arounds just because or to land on runways with right-hand patterns — it's amazing how something as minor as turning the other way can throw off your visual cues. I also make the occasional straight-in approach, or practice trying to keep my speed up on final for those trips when I'm in line with the big boys to land. And, when it seems like everything I've practiced is null and void, I focus on being about 400 feet agl one-half mile from the threshold and maintaining precisely the right airspeed.
Get that right and I know I'll land safely, even if my passengers don't give me a standing ovation. — Elizabeth A. Tennyson
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