Three Easy Steps to Perfect Landings

Every approach Glide should be finished at exactly the same indicated airspeed. The sooner you

can stabilize the airspeed and flap configuration the easier the landing will

be. Control your PGP the same every landing. I recommend placing your PGP at the base of the

runway numbers or, if the runway has no numbers, where you imagine the base of the numbers

would be if it had numbers. The important point here, once again, is

consistency.

Step 2. Transition from Approach Glide to Slow Flight over the Runway (a.k.a. ‘Flare to Land’

and ‘Round Off’)

Starting at the same height above the runway every time, with little or no power, cross control

the airplane until it is aligned with the runway and centered. If you are unable to cross control

the airplane enough to align it, you will not be able to safely land – the cross wind is too strong

– abort the landing. Keeping the airplane aligned and centered on the runway, slowly increase

the

pitch attitude (pull the nose up) slowing the rate of descent until the airplane is approximately

one foot (30 cm) above the runway.

Step 3. Slow Flight over the Runway

Maintain a constant height above the runway while keeping it centered and aligned by cross

controlling. The airplane will slow down, causing the wing to produce less lift.

You will need to continuously increase the pitch attitude to compensate for the loss of lift to

keep the plane at a steady height. At this stage, you are trying as hard as you can to keep the

airplane from landing.

Remember: DON’T LET IT LAND! The worst thing you can do is to land the airplane. If you

try, you will bang it on when the aerodynamic forces on the plane are

still high. This makes the landing unnecessarily rough and dangerous. As the airplane slows and

the nose rises, one of two things will happen. If you are

flying a Cessna 152 the airplane will stall and you will gently descend to the runway. If you are

flying a Piper Cherokee, you will pull the elevator control to its limit and

the airplane will gently descend to the runway.

There is an optional and often even smoother way to land. The landing I described above is

called a ‘full stall landing.’ The easier landing is called an attitude landing.

The differences are minor. In this third step, hold the airplane at a constant height until the nose

comes up to a predetermined pitch attitude. Hold the attitude. As the

airplane slows, it continues losing lift and settles to the runway.

While an attitude landing is easier than a full stall landing, it is very easy to be a bit lazy and let

the airplane land at a lower and lower pitch attitude. This means higher

airspeeds with greater aerodynamic forces on the airplane after it touches down. I recommend

full stall landings until you start flying airplanes that are so heavy that

an attitude landing is the only safe way to land them.