Forget great landings for a minute. As a student pilot, you’re simply trying to make safe landings. Great landings come later, and thankfully, germinate from the same skill set you’re learning today. The truth is that many of us don’t land the airplane well, and it’s one of the highest failure points on the practical test. But safe landings—and great landings for that matter—happen for a reason. They are often predictable based on a defined set of skills strung together, starting with the final approach. Break these skills into pieces, and the puzzle is easier to put together. Let’s examine the three puzzle pieces, or phases, of a landing maneuver: the approach, flare, and rollout.
The approach. Ever hear the phrase, “Every good landing begins with a good approach”? Well, it’s true! And a good (stabilized) approach means being at the proper approach angle to the runway (glidepath), properly aligned and tracking the runway centerline and at the proper speed—all the way down the final approach. Too often, pilots are lax in achieving and maintaining these para-meters early enough during the approach—if at all—and then on short final, hope these details will magically fall into place on their own. This wishful thinking strategy is the stuff that accident reports are made of. Instead, stabilize the approach early and remain highly alert for any deviations from the desired approach course, glidepath, and speed, immediately making any power and/or flight control inputs needed to return the airplane to the desired, stabilized approach to the runway.
What does a stabilized approach look like? The next time you happen to see a larger airplane—perhaps a corporate jet or an airliner on its final approach (the last 1,000 feet above runway)—notice how stable the airplane appears, very little rolling or pitching. And if you’re close enough, you’ll also hear the engines maintaining a fairly stabilized power setting—no throttle jockeying! This does not mean the pilot isn’t making any inputs. On the contrary, that pilot is very likely making more inputs to all the controls (throttles, ailerons, elevator, and rudder) than at any other time throughout the flight, especially if the winds are strong or gusty. It’s just that the timely inputs needed to control the flight path are being made so steadily and subtly, that from outside the airplane, it appears as though the airplane is gently settling along an invisible guidewire toward the runway, almost as if by itself.
How? The moment the pilot observes the slightest deviations from the desired approach path or speed, he is correcting for them immediately, without over-controlling. Admittedly, smaller general aviation aircraft do not demand such tight tolerances for their approaches to be safe. In part, that’s what makes GA aircraft so much fun to fly. But the down side is that if you’re not paying close enough attention, the aircraft can quickly become a tiger with a mean bite.
For GA pilots, speed control is often a huge factor in botched landings. For every airplane there is a specific airspeed that works best for the particular conditions that exist: aircraft weight, flap configuration, runway length, and wind or gust conditions. For example, on a windy or gusty day, the normal, still-air approach speed is probably too slow. Conversely, a very short runway might demand something slower than normal. So before you begin your approach, make a conscious decision regarding the best approach speed for that particular situation. For our discussion, let’s call that speed, “Vbest.” The critical step is to make sure the Vbest you have chosen is actually being maintained as close as possible to the point where the flare begins. All too often, pilots allow their airspeed to decay well below Vbest on short final, resulting in a high sink rate and a reduced ability to flare the airplane before it touches the runway.
Properly flown, the airplane’s approach path should not suddenly change as you near the runway or clear obstacles. Continue to fly the airplane in a stabilized manner along that invisible guide-wire leading right to the point where the flare begins. To accomplish this, you will need to select a visual aiming point down the runway (past the threshold) that permits the airplane to cross over the threshold at a safe height. This number varies from airplane to airplane. Most GA airplanes can safely cross the threshold at between 10 to 20 feet, allowing the flare to begin just a few hundred feet past the threshold. This plan works on all but the very shortest of runways, where a slightly lower threshold crossing height (TCH) might be required.
If a crosswind condition exists, begin to incorporate the needed control inputs for the sideslip (upwind aileron, opposite rudder, slight power addition) early enough to permit the corrections to be fully completed and stabilized prior to reaching the flare point. That way, you won’t be flaring and figuring out the correct crosswind inputs at the same time. This greatly improves the odds that you’ll be correcting properly and adequately for the existing crosswind conditions while allowing you to concentrate more on the flare maneuver.
The flare. The flare should begin at the point where the normal glidepath intercepts the runway and any further descent would have caused you to descend right onto the runway—technically known as “pranging it on.” To eliminate aircraft-carrier-style landings, Orville and Wilbur invented the flare maneuver: Smoothly begin to level off using elevator control and reducing power toward idle while attempting to fly as close as possible above the runway without actually touching it as the airspeed reduces toward stall speed. However, do not actually look at the airspeed indicator throughout the flare. Using outside, forward visual reference, make your best attempt to keep the airplane just inches above the runway for as long as the wings will permit. When the wings finally do run out of lift, your tires will kiss the runway for a very gentle “grease-job” landing.
The exact opposite occurs when airspeed is too high in the flare and the pilot begins pushing forward on the control yoke, or releasing too much back-pressure, in an attempt to force the airplane onto the ground before running out of runway. The result is a nosewheel-first touchdown that quickly evolves from “wheel-barrowing” into a severe porpoising encounter, and ends with a loss of directional control or a collapsed nosegear if allowed to develop beyond two or three push-pull phugoid oscillations. Resist that urge to push on the yoke. Instead, go around! And on the next approach, maintain a slower Vbest approach speed that results in less floating.
Another critical detail that must occur while in the flare is to ensure that the airplane continues to track the centerline of the runway; no side drift. This task is made more challenging in crosswind conditions by the fact that as the airplane’s speed diminishes in the flare, the ailerons become gradually less effective, thus requiring a greater deflection to track the runway centerline to the touchdown point. Once begun, if a drift to the side of the runway is allowed to continue unchecked, it’s just the grace of God that determines where you will end up. Remember, God may be a great co-pilot, but you’re the PIC!
The rollout. The final element of every landing is the rollout. As obvious from frequent checkride failures and accident reports, many pilots let down their guard the moment the tires (or a tire) touches the ground. Apparently believing the landing maneuver is completed, they act as if making any further flight control inputs is unnecessary. This is so not true. Similar to the flare maneuver, the flight controls become less effective at touchdown, making greater control deflections necessary to maintain control throughout the rollout. Remember: Fly the wing until it is safely in the hangar or tied down on the ramp. This will require the pilot to increase the upwind aileron deflection—not reduce it, as so many pilots instinctively do. Neutralizing the flight controls immediately upon landing in a strong crosswind is evil. It’s also a very bad habit and a surefire way to bend some metal. Don’t do it!
The last essential ingredient to making consistently-better landings is practice. And with that final element, I guarantee, your landings will improve, too.
