Fly-in landings

I often use SocialFlight, created by regular AOPA contributor Jeff Simon, to find nearby fly-ins. AOPA also maintains an events calendar you can check out in our airport directory, and we invite you to add fly-ins that are missing online (aopa.org/destinations/addevent).

I know I’m not alone in my desire to see airplanes landing and taking off at these events. The bigger the fly-in, the more people are lined up along the runway to admire the comings and goings—and to judge the pilots’ landing finesse. And I think every pilot flying into one of these events knows their landings could get unwanted attention if not gracefully executed—but that is part of the fun and challenge of mastering our landing skills. The ultimate place to test our skills is at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, where we attempt to land on our assigned runway dot.

Many landings at the fly-ins I visit are beautiful; terrific speed control, touchdown on the first third of the runway, gentle kiss of the runway surface just above stall speed. I often wish my landing would have been as good as some I witness from the runway’s edge.

Some landings, while safe, are not as precise. The distraction of mixing into arriving traffic and/or a new airport environment can throw us off our game and we arrive on short final too fast or too high, causing us to land farther down the runway than we’d prefer. Throw in a gusty crosswind and things can get really interesting.

And then there is the occasional scary landing; as an observer you sense something is not quite right about the approach, and you begin to mentally urge the pilot to go around—particularly at shorter runways where the margin for error is reduced.

I recently attended a fly-in at a private airport with a 2,000-foot grass runway set in a narrow valley with 1,000-foot-tall mountains paralleling both sides of the runway. Moments after I landed a Just Aircraft Highlander was approaching. These impressive STOL aircraft stall at 36 miles per hour and can land in 300 feet. The airplane was very high on short final. No problem, I thought, the pilot will just pull the power and plunk down with ease. Instead, the pilot throttled up. Great, I thought, a good decision to go around. Instead, the pilot cut the throttle and pointed the nose down toward the ground. I then heard another burst of power as the airplane rapidly floated down the runway. In mounting desperation, the pilot slammed the airplane onto the ground resulting in a sizable bounce and immediate swerve toward the trees on the left side of the runway. We spectators held our collective breath until the pilot regained control of the airplane—its left wing mere feet from striking the trees.

Was the pilot distracted by the terrain and nonstandard traffic pattern? Was he or she debating a go-around, but ultimately fixated on salvaging a poor approach? I’m not sure, but it made me think about my own preparations for fly-ins.

A pilot I spoke to at the fly-in said if he hasn’t flown in a week or two prior to a fly-in, he’ll take one lap around the pattern at his home airport and make a full-stop landing to be mentally “in the game” before launching for the fly-in. Taking the time to build and maintain proficiency makes all the difference between precise and good enough landings—and a lap or two around the pattern on game day provides us the opportunity to refresh and hone the fundamentals. I thought that was a terrific idea, even for experienced pilots who have flown the same airplane for years.

If short grass runways aren’t your thing, consider flying into something a little longer. The Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina, a private airport owned by a nonprofit organization, holds its annual fly-in September 21 to 27, 2026, and you’re invited to land on its manicured 7,000-foot-long grass runway—believed to be the longest in the United States. Southern hospitality, great food, and airplane watching are the name of the game during this laid-back event. Stop by the AOPA Oasis hospitality tent where you can beat the heat with air conditioning and bottled water, enjoy multiple college football games on three large monitors, and check out the next AOPA Sweepstakes airplane we’re planning to fly to Triple Tree. You can plan your flight home and check the weather at our flight planning station.

I hope to see you—and your beautiful landing—at Triple Tree or another fly-in soon. And I’ll do my best to make my landing as good as yours.

[email protected]