“There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. … Clearly, it is this second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.”
―Douglas Adams,Life, the Universe and Everything
Alright, landings can be a little daunting. You are literally hurling yourself at the ground! I like to break down to the individual skills and drill them until I am ready to bring them together to execute buttery landings.
1. Nail your speeds.
The secret to setting up a perfect landing is a perfect approach. To do this we want to make sure we are nailing our speeds on downwind, base, and final. For a 172 you should be using pitch power and trim to nail 85 knots on the downwind leg and then take your hands off the controls to confirm you are trimmed correctly.
2. Work on slow flight
A good landing is a transition from a stabilized approach to slow flight just above the runway. Stay up at altitude and work on slow flight until it feels as natural as any other phase of flight.
3. Control your rate of descent.
When you move onto your instrument rating you will come to love your vertical speed indicator. Get in the habit now of establishing a steady 500 foot per minute rate of descent and you’ll be in good shape on final.
4. Low approaches
Forget about landing. You’ll need to demonstrate low approaches and go arounds on your Checkride anyway, so why not work on that for a while? Nail your pattern, lock in your speeds, fix your rate of descent, and practice slow flight down the runway before going around and doing it again. Transition your eyes to the horizon and keep flying the plane!
5. Let your instructor fly a lap.
Take a breather. Flying can be a pretty physical game. Ask your instructor to take over and demonstrate the perfect pattern and you’ll be able to see what everything should look like.
6. Practice on the simulator.
I’ll probably catch a bit of flack for this one, but if F16 pilots in the air force can benefit from sim rides, then so can we. Make sure you are using at least a joystick and rudder pedals to get the best out of it. The great thing about simulators is that you don’t have to burn time and money waiting for traffic or ATC. Program your start point and reset to drill the perfect landings.
So, there are my 6 tips for fixing your landings.
1. Nail your speeds
2. Work on slow flight
3. Control your rate of descent
4. Practice low approaches
5. Watch your instructor
6. And drill on the simulators until you get it down.
If you're looking to build your home simulator, check out this blog post on how to get started:https://www.emeraldsquadronaviation.com/post/unlocking-excellence-the-power-of-home-flight-simulators-in-pilot-training
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