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Stalls
Instructor should as a preliminary tell the student that the stall is a critical part of the landing process. We slow an airplane to the stall to minimize the ground impact and speed. This is better for the airplane's future life. Preliminary to the stall the sounds of the aircraft will change. The controls will become less effective and responsive. The sounds in the cockpit change in pitch and are quieter.

As the aircraft slows, have the student move the controls to feel the reduced authority and effectiveness. By doing with without rudder the student can sense the yaw that occurs during uncoordinated flight. Bo doing this at different speeds the student can gradually become accustomed to the changes. Make slow shallow turns to acquaint the student with the sensitivity that develops at the slowest speeds.

The final slow speed is the area of the buffet. Have the student cycle several times into and out of the buffet before going for the break. Should the student misuse the rudder, the resulting wing drop should be corrected with rudder, not aileron. This is a very important introduction of rudder use. At a later time you can let the student try to raise the wing with aileron for the thrill of it.

The Last Thirty Seconds
If only we could go back and do the last thirty seconds of every landing over again. I have written about the flare as well as other aspects of the approach and landing before. Now I will try to touch on the myriad reasons no two landings can ever be the same. I might as well be talking about snowflakes.

Constant repetition at one airport in one pattern will not organize all the variables into a blue print fitting all other airports. With all the pilot controlled constants in balance, the uncontrollable variables will still make every landing a unique experience. The purpose of landing practice should, after pilot control of airspeed is standardized, be directed toward learning to adapt to and use the variables to make safe landings anywhere any time.

The following is only a partial listing of variables. Pages could be, and have been written about each variable. What follows is a partial analysis. Without regard to how they occur in the sequence or in importance we have pilot, airplane, surface and climatic variations of:
--airspeed,
--approach angles,
--aircraft attitudes,
--aircraft configuration,
--power settings,
--power changes,
--density altitudes,
--height of flare,
--smoothness of flares,
--ground effects both high and low,
--wing lengths,
--wing positions on aircraft,
--landing gears,
--wind velocities,
--wind variations,
-- wind angles,
--flap configurations,
--flare altitude,
--pilot anticipation,
--pilot reaction,
--pilot seating
--pilot perspective,
--control effect,
--timing,
--patience,
--runway alignment
--runway length
--runway width
--runway surface
--runway obstacles
--more.

During WWII the phenomena known as ground effect was for the first time fully studied. Ground effect occurs whenever an aircraft is within half a wingspan of the surface. The actual effect is very complex but it allows an aircraft to remain aloft with less drag and less power than is possible at even slightly higher altitudes. All other variables relating to landings have influence on ground effect. The pilot's ability to control ground effect depends on how he both anticipates and reacts to these other variables.

The closer to the ground the flare and the greater the airspeed the more pronounced will be ground effect in causing float and ballooning. Once again variables of density altitude, wing length, wing position on aircraft, get to have their say. An aircraft with a relatively short wing may fall right through ground effect at below specific airspeeds. (Piper Cherokee C ) The same aircraft with a relatively long wing will float ...if slightly high approach speed is used into the flare. Piper Archer II) The flare into ground effect in the early morning will need a completely different touch in the mid-afternoon due to changes in the air density of the ground effect. A combination of a short wing, a hot day, and a low airspeed makes a landing more like a crash. A long wing, a cool day, and a high airspeed will cause you to float till tomorrow.

The airspeed, flap configuration, and approach angle to the runway is one group of variables that affect the accuracy of the landing. A constant airspeed will not bring you down to the runway at a constant angle if the wind velocity varies. The wind velocity always varies on an approach. The proper approach airspeed only allows us to flare in ground effect to bring the sink rate to zero. The flare transfers the energy of descent into forward motion in ground effect. Too slow may reduce the efficiency of ground effect. Too fast and the improved efficiency of ground effect results in either a balloon or float. The problem of the pilot is to adapt all the variables to the existing ground effect so as to accomplish an acceptable landing. Neither accuracy nor softness is a certainty for every landing.

As a student, you will never get a chance to do all the variations. You will be given the learning tools to perform basic landings safely. Only by continued exposure to the variables will you become proficient in landings. It is the variables that give students a sense of intimidation, uncertainty and lack of progress. Every landing will be different and only relatively good when compared to what is possible. Seek not perfect landings but safe landings. A major learning hurdle for all students is the common misconceptions as to what constitutes a good landing.

Pitch and Yaw Lesson
One of the ways an instructor can help a student recognize pitch attitude and yaw pictures out of the cockpit window is by lowering the tail while on the ground. It is important that student pilots know what the pitch and yaw of an airplane on takeoff and landing can be controlled and set by visual reference. The key lies in being aware of the needed attitude and being able to control attaining it. Knowing the objectives needed on the ground makes getting them in the air easier for the student. This is both a takeoff and landing lesson. The basic pitch attitude on landing and takeoff are the same. Cover the end of the runway with the nose of the airplane and you will be using the proper pitch attitude. Use your peripheral vision to each side of the nose to keep the aircraft straight.

Student is to sit in the cockpit with seat adjusted for flight. Hold yoke partially back as though in level flight. Student to look over level nose with wide view of horizon to each side. Instructor will slowly lower the tail to the ground. At the same time the student will, using only one or two fingers below the horn of the yoke, slowly initially but with a logarithmically increase in speed pull the yoke both back and up for its full travel.

The intent is to get the elevator full up at the same moment the tail touches the ground. During this process the student should be noting that the visual horizon remains stationary as the pitch axis rotates. A landing is an act of faith. You must believe that a good landing will result even though you can't see the runway.

This procedure should be repeated until the yoke movement and the tail lowering reach the end of their travel simultaneously. It should be noted that holding the yoke with a full grip will most likely limit the yoke travel. The geometry of the arm and yoke cause this. By using the finger tips and lifting you will find that the last few inches of yoke travel include an upward moment. Do this until you get it right.

Now the instructor should swing the tail to each side so the student can observe how the movement of the horizon can be used to detect yaw. Explain that any time the nose rises above the horizon an ever-increasing P-factor complex will pull the nose to the left. Increasing right pressure on the rudder is required as the nose rises. This counters the P-factor complex and aligns the nose with the flight direction. You do this in anticipation not in reaction.

Ground Effect
Ground effect was first fully analyzed during WWII when aircraft being ferried across the Atlantic Ocean discovered that once an aircraft in difficulty descended within half a wing span of the surface a significant increase in aircraft efficiency occurred. Pilots benefit from this increased efficiency during takeoff and can make use of it for acceleration by remaining close to the ground. Pilots who do not make use of ground effect by an immediate climb experience a decrease in efficiency. The same effect causes the flare in landing to be significantly different from any such flare practiced at altitude.

The closer to the ground a flying airplane is, the greater the benefits of ground effect. Ground effect dampens downwash vortices as well as wing tip vortices. This means that while in ground effect an aircraft has less induced drag. Lower (by half) induced drag allows a reduced angle of attack which further reduces induced drag. The airplane 'magically' acquires the performance possible only with a longer wing. Longitudinal stability is likewise greater such that the elevator control forces required to raise the nose may be up to fifteen degrees greater than that required at altitude. The forward C.G. limit is determined by the ability of the elevator to lift the nose while in ground effect.

The benefits of ground effect return to the pilot during the flare phase of a landing. The extent of the benefit is commensurate with airspeed, ground proximity, and wing length. Low-wing aircraft have a ground effect advantage over high-wing aircraft which inhibits landing skill transition from low-wing to high-wing but not so much from high-wing to low-wing. It is apparently easier to adapt to the presence of ground effect than to its non-presence.

Ground effect is created when the wing vortices are changed by proximity to the ground. In this change the ground acts so that downwash is reduced and the resultant induced drag is reduced. This makes possible a lower angle of attack that will keep the plane aloft albeit close to the ground. A much higher angle of attack would be required out of ground effect. A high wing aircraft is incapable of getting the same effect as a low-wing aircraft. For this reason many low-wing aircraft tend to land flatter than high-wing aircraft. You don't see many nose high landings in low-wing aircraft.

Ground effect becomes a potential hazard when poorly understood and utilized. Low-wing aircraft with a short wing span has a critical approach and flare speed below which an aircraft will 'fall through' any available ground effect and make 'firm' runway contact. The same aircraft with a long wing and excess airspeed will 'float' off the end of the runway before excess airspeed can be dissipated in the increased efficiency of ground effect. The first hot day of spring (density altitude again) is an occasion for numerous hard landings where the pilots approach and flare is based on the ground effect available on winter days. The airspeed, flare level, airport, and aircraft may be constant but variations in temperature will change the ground effect. Even experienced pilots need an excuse for an occasional poor landing. On the same hot day a takeoff may allow the aircraft to become airborne and remain so in ground effect and not have the capability of climbing out of ground effect. In density altitude situations this increased performance in ground effect can deceive the pilot into thinking that it will continue to be available during climb. Takeoff accidents arise every year or so at Lake Tahoe because aircraft are unable to climb out of ground effect. I once flew over two miles in ground effect before acquiring the speed needed to climb.

Round-out
Let us assume that in a no wind condition, a constant airspeed, full flaps, and power at 1500 RPM the runway is made. Where you look is important. As an automobile driver you have already developed a skill useful in landing. You should look down the runway the same way you would in a car going 70 mph. If you look out too far you could fly into the runway or roundout too low and balloon. If you look too close to the airplane, like out the side window, you will probably roundout too high. Do what comes naturally from your driving to level the aircraft somewhere between hip and shoulder high above the runway. This requires you to exercise your best judgment as to height. The rest of the landing is energy management; the trading of speed for altitude lost at an ever-decreasing rate. You should touchdown within the first 1/3 of the runway.

We are now down to the last hundred feet of the approach. You can now safely ignore the airspeed indicator and rely on visual and kinesthetic senses. You are entering the round-out. This is the transition from 100' to about 3 or 4 feet above the runway. You look down the runway much as you would in an automobile going 60-70 miles per hour. You already have the required visual skills. Landing is just a new application. Once you have leveled off, the round-out becomes the flare. At most, use only two fingers on the yoke.

There is a football skill that does transfer readily to the flare for landing flying skill. I don't wish to imply that football players make better pilots but I do believe that they can transfer a visual skill to flying to make the better landings sooner. Football players, as a group, exercise their visual skills to be able to see straight ahead while being aware of what is occurring at the outer edges of their peripheral vision.

As a pilot you need a similar ability to see at a distance the end of the runway until the nose rises to cut off the view and at the same time you must have sensed the position of the visual horizon. As you move the yoke back and up, you are attempting to rock the aircraft on its pitch axis in such a way that the visual horizon remains constant. If the horizon seems to rise, it means that the aircraft is sinking. If the horizon seems to fall, it means that the aircraft is rising. Either of these movements can be controlled, to a degree, by moving the yoke back or holding it still. You need this peripheral vision skill because you are in the process of covering the runway with the nose of the aircraft.

In the round out as the aircraft loses speed you will learn to sense a kinesthetic sinking as in a very slow elevator. It is the kinesthetic sense that lets you sense rise or fall in small amounts. The peripheral movement of the horizon give you a dual reference as to when and how much to move the yoke back and up. Concurrent with this up/down potential we have a deceleration occurring. As the aircraft slows it requires ever-greater deflection of the elevator to give the same effect. We are endeavoring to rock the aircraft on its pitch axis with the elevator until it stalls without any fall in the visual horizon out the sides of cockpit.

At the very first sinking sensation you should begin and continue the yoke movement as practiced previously. If you observe the horizon falling, it means that the aircraft is rising. A rising horizon means the aircraft is sinking. What you are trying to do is to maintain the horizon in a stable position as you gradually increase the pitch attitude. Any abrupt or instinctive movement of yoke or power will be counter productive.

Where you look in the flare makes a great difference in the landing to follow. Look down at the ground and you will probably round out too high and give the spring gear a chance to do its thing. Focus too far and you could fail to round out. Looking too far down the runway can result in flying into the ground. When that happens you do a kangaroo with wings imitation until the nosewheel collapses.

Move the yoke too soon or too fast and the desired rocking motion will become a far less desirable balloon. A balloon is a rapid increase in altitude along with a loss of airspeed. The balloon is the onset of a corresponding rapid fall. The fall, because of the reduced airspeed, will go right through the previous altitude all the way to the ground with a THUMP, If we are slow enough there will be more of a SQUISH. of the landing gear absorbing the shock. Just a bit more speed can send us back into the air nose high the nose will drop first and SMASH the nose wheel and strut on the ground along with the propeller tips. It will not rise again and will probably slide only a few feet.
No damage or injury inside the cockpit. Enough outside, however.

You have already acquired the sighting skill needed for the round out and flare. It is the same as the one you use while driving at the equivalent speed. Use it until the rising nose causes the runway to disappear. This is going to be very near level flight. The roundout should be planned to bring the wheels to about a hip high height. Any higher will reduce the effectiveness of ground effect. Too low will likely result in a yoke reaction accentuated by the ground effect to give a balloon.

Do not change your sighting point until the previously selected approach point has passed. At the POH gross weight recommended approach speed we can expect to have several hundred feet of float in the flare before touchdown. Later on, we will use a slower speed to reduce the float and improve landing accuracy. However we are not through, just being patient.

Flare as It Should Be
Unfortunately, the flare cannot be simulated as to the runway rising up into the windshield on short final only to disappear during the flare. The flare is the transition from descending flight to level decelerating flight just prior to the "hold off" landing finale. Most students give up too soon on the flare by failing to continue the back and up yoke movement. The student should be aware that the geometry of the arm-wrist-yoke will cause some twisting that will result in one wing being low. Use your rudder to help hold that wing up and keep the nose straight with the runway. Unless required for a crosswind the wings should be level.

The round out and flare with full flaps requires that control movement and power decrease be so applied as to minimize float or a rapid sink rate. The flare dissipates energy by stopping the descent prior to touchdown. Landing practice is working toward repeatable results down to the flare. We are learning the anticipation, judgment patience and skills needed in applying control pressures. Use of a consistent configuration, airspeed, and patterns helps the pilot to attain repeatable results. Once the basic consistencies have been mastered, we learn the variations required by variable conditions.

We are trying to level out high enough over the runway so as to avoid the "bounce" caused by ground effect but yet no so high as to not have the benefits of that effect during the final moments of landing. Where you flare and how you flare will vary with climatic conditions. You want to level off before hitting the runway with the wheels about belt high with power on. As deceleration takes place the back and up yoke movement increases in both speed and amount until at the stop. One impediment to good landings is keeping your eyes on the runway just in front of the plane. By looking farther down the runway you will be able to level (flare) the plane appropriately.

The flare (C-150) should be entered at 60-knots. Any effort to slow up sooner will reduce the ground effect benefits needed later in the landing. You should avoid moving the yoke forward during the flare. The apparent mistake you are trying to prevent will only reappear in another larger form. In the one-second it takes you to react with the yoke it is already too late. Go-around. If the situation seems to require forward yoke, just hold it still for a few moments and the aircraft will resume its sink. Reducing the power another hundred will have the same effect. Using the forefinger on the throttle makes power reduction in 100-rpm increments easier. Once the sinking resumes continue the back/up yoke pressure.

The ideal, at this time, is that the aircraft has reached its stall angle of attack on the pitch axis. The stall warner lets you know of this occurrence. The elevator is to the backstop. The aircraft makes a slight drop to the ground and is through flying. The pilot continues to hold the yoke full back and up. The flaps are removed while the nose wheel remains clear of the runway. If no power is added, as for takeoff, the nose wheel touches and the strut compresses to allow steering with the rudder pedals. With power the takeoff can proceed without the nose wheel ever touching.

Flare
The plane in a proper roundout will begin to decelerate and an elevator-like sinking sensation will commence. You have now entered the realm of the flare. Now the pilot needs to have faith. Faith that the runway will be where it was when he last saw it. Faith that it will be there when the wheels touch the ground. The runway should disappear during the flare. The pilot's eyes are looking over the nose of the aircraft. The relative movement of the nose and the horizon are now the only visual references.

Initially, the deceleration occurs rather rapidly but as the aircraft gets lower to the runway the deceleration slows the more the ground effect cushion becomes effective. During the rapid decelerating phase an elevator-like sinking sensation will commence. Then every back-and-up yoke movement has an ever decreasing effect on raising the aircraft higher but an ever-increasing effect on pitch attitude. Time for patience.

Smoothly-logarithmically bring the yoke back and UP for its full travel as you very slowly reduce the power to off. Keeping your eyes over the sides of the nose you watch the relative movement of the horizon (NOT THE RUNWAY). You are attempting to keep the horizon in the same position, neither rising nor falling. As you have moved the yoke, you have VERY SLOWLY decreased the power in concert to keep the horizon constant. In the flare you are deliberately moving behind the power curve. This means, should you desire to increase airspeed you must lower the nose.

Ideally every movement of the yoke and power will be smoothly back. However, either may be stopped. If there is a change in the horizon, then a brief stop of either yoke or power should provide the correction. Stop the yoke movement if the horizon appears to drop. Stop reducing the power if the horizon appears to rise. Any forward movement of the yoke will cause problems such as wheel-barrowing, etc.) As the nose rises you must anticipate an increasing left yawing tendency of the nose. Proportionate to the amount of power, you should apply right rudder pressure to maintain runway heading. The runway will DISAPPEAR if things are done correctly. The aircraft will decelerate and stall. The plane will touchdown when it is through flying. This, too, requires FAITH and PATIENCE.

The difference in the flare between a power on approach and a power off approach is mostly that the power off requires a greater change in pitch attitude to slow any sinking. The power on flare gives you another variable, other than pitch changes, to use in making adjustments. The power off approach relies only on your yoke movement. You are adjusting your flight path to an ever-decreasing rate of descent. At the moment of touchdown the rate of descent is near zero, the yoke is full back-and-up, the stall horn is blaring and the aircraft is rolling straight down the runway. Perfect landings occur very seldom even with the best of pilots. We just keep trying.

Flare to Touchdown
The runway should disappear in the flare. Smoothly-logarithmically bring the yoke back and UP for its full travel as you very slowly reduce the power to off. As the yoke is moved, any power is very slowly decreased in concert. The idea is to keep the horizon constant, neither rising nor falling. Ideally every movement of the yoke and power will be smoothly back.

Keep your eye unfocused to both sides of the nose as you watch the relative movement of the horizon. You are attempting to keep the horizon in the same position, neither rising nor falling. If there is a change in the horizon, then a brief stop of either yoke or power should provide the correction. Stop the yoke movement if the horizon appears to drop. Stop reducing the power if the horizon appears to rise. As the nose tilts up on the horizon the pilot must anticipate an increasing left yawing tendency of the nose and apply right rudder pressure to maintain runway heading. The runway will disappear if pressures are correctly applied. The aircraft will decelerate and stall. Any forward movement of the yoke is to be avoided.

Approaching the runway with full flaps and power at 1500, the runway is made. You should touchdown within the first 1/3 of the runway. Where you look is important. As a driver at 70 mph you have developed a skill useful in landing. You look down the runway the same way. You should level the nose of the plane somewhere between hip and shoulder high above the runway. This requires you to exercise your best judgment as to height. The rest of the landing is energy management; the trading of speed for altitude lost at an ever-decreasing rate.

With the yoke full back, power off, and the runway out of sight you should hear the stall warner just as touchdown occurs. Even a relatively high flare in this configuration will keep the plane on the ground after initial contact. The main gear springs tend to 'squat' and absorb the shock without rebounding. The nose gear compresses and rebounds sending the nose into the air. Do not let the yoke go forward. Do not let the nose wheel touch the ground. Where the plane stays on the ground just keep the yoke back. IF the plane becomes airborne, GO AROUND.

Salvaging a poor flare is best accomplished by going around. The delay in the human response to sense input and then react is just sufficiently out of synchronization to make any corrective response be in phase with what the aircraft is doing and exactly out of phase with what you want to accomplish. Can a poor flare be salvaged? Yes. The question should be, "How many poor salvaged landings can you afford while you're learning how to do it?" Make the go-around it's cheaper.

Approach Adjustments
Every approach and landing is going to be different; however, I will attempt to generalize adjustments made on approach, during flare and touchdown. We are landing into a constant velocity direct headwind. We have established a stabilized approach on final. The aircraft will fly hands-off, on gross weight airspeed, and glide path that assures touchdown in the first third of the runway.

On the approach path you select an aiming point related the runway. You use this point to determine if you are high, low or all right for your planned flare and landing. If you are on glide slope the selected point will maintain a constant position on the windshield only to pass under the aircraft during the flare.

If you are high, you have a sequence of three corrective actions while maintaining the constant approach speed. First, put in maximum flaps for wind conditions. Second, reduce power incrementally as required to stabilize your aiming point on the glide path. Third and last reduce the airspeed to increase the sink rate over distance. If the desired slope cannot be acquired, make a go-around. The use of a slip is always an option even though it is indicative of a gross error in planning.

The low approach is quite deceptive in making the pilot with little experience think just a little more power, a knot or two lower speed, or a change in pitch will salvage the situation. If you are low, you have one best option besides the go-around. Being low can most safely be corrected by using full power and a POH approach airspeed to re-acquire the desired glide path. Hold a rigid lock on the yoke for an estimated number of seconds you think will be required to reach the optimum approach slope. Do not re-trim. Practice doing this by time since visual cues will be missing. Of all approach procedures, the use of full power in this manner requires the greatest anticipation and skill of application. Use the palm of your hand to hold forward pressure on the yoke rather than a fist grip which may cause you to pull rather than push.

At the end of the selected time reduce power to 1500 rpm and allow the aircraft to re-establish its stabilized approach. Don't let the nose pitch up. Practice and master the process at altitude before using on an actual approach. Any other corrective actions have hazards that may be beyond the skill level of the pilot.

High round-out Adjustments
Looking too close to the plane can cause you to round out and flare too high. If you have rounded off too high but have the correct approach speed, a slow, smooth, and slight reduction of power will allow the plane to sink. If you power is already off. GO AROUND. An abrupt power reduction followed by an abrupt yoke movement is the natural (wrong) reaction.

Low Roundout Adjustments
In making a number of round-outs the pilot has become accustomed to a certain amount of yoke movement being required to level and hold the aircraft at the desired roundout altitude. Then, because of a distraction the roundout is delayed. The yoke movement is more abrupt. A low roundout greatly increases ground effect. The double whammy of ground effect and abrupt yoke movement causes the aircraft to balloon. It 'bounces' to a higher altitude and loses speed.

The effect is even greater if you have less than full flaps. Do not lower the nose. Hold the nose level. Go around. Apply full power. Hold the aircraft level and relatively close to the ground. Do not attempt to climb. Take advantage of ground effect and use it to enhance the performance of the plane. An aircraft needs less power to fly in ground effect. It can fly slower safely in ground effect. Milk off the flaps until climb speed is acquired. Do not climb until you have climb speed.

Flare adjustments
At the flare you should be using a wide peripheral view to note the position of the horizon to each side of the nose. What you are trying to do in the flare is to maintain the horizon as a constant level as you lose airspeed and raise the pitch attitude. Every yoke movement should be back but stopping is all right. Every power change should be a reduction but not reducing is all right. The coordination of the two can be used to correct any rise or fall of the horizon.

The difference in the flare between a power on approach and a power off approach is mostly the way energy is managed. The power off requires a greater but more non-reversible changes. The power off approach relies only on your yoke movement. The power on flare gives you another variable, power reduction in addition to the yoke, to use in making adjustments. You are adjusting your flight path to an ever-decreasing rate of descent. At the moment of touchdown the rate of descent is near zero, the yoke is full back-and-up, the stall horn is blaring and the aircraft if rolling straight down the runway. Perfect landings occur very seldom even with the best of pilots. We just keep trying.

A low flare greatly increases ground effect. This effect can cause the airplane to climb (balloon) much more from any yoke movement than would occur at a few feet higher. Partial flaps can make the situation even worse. Once again, if the balloon is pronounced such that the airplane is well off the runway and at low speed, a full power go-around is called for. Do not attempt to climb. Stay level, fly relatively close to the ground and milk off flaps while accelerating to climb speed.

Crosswind Flare
Ground contact is going to be made with the upwind main wheel first. As with all other landings 'faith' is required in making a correct crosswind landing. This means that the aileron will be over to hold the wing and wheel down as well as back to keep the nosewheel off the ground. Even a bit more 'faith' is required than usual. The desire to land level is often difficult for students to resist. Once the upwind tire touches hold even more aileron into the wind with the yoke. The wing tip will not touch the ground so long as the plane is rolling straight.

The advantage of a constant airspeed is that rudder pressures and aircraft reactions will be more consistent. The rudder controls rollout direction. No brakes. Bring up any flaps immediately on touching down except when gear is retractable. At the plane slows the ailerons will lose effectiveness and the downwind wheel will touch the ground. The nose wheel should be held off until the elevators lose power. With he yoke full over and full back the controls are correctly configured for taxiing in the strongest wind.

Flare Opinions (Instructor)
What I have in writing about the flare is a collection of opinions. I never know, for sure, which opinion will hit the hot button for a given student. That said, here goes using a C-150. With very slight changes of procedure the method can be made to fit almost any single engine aircraft.

First I must assume that you are capable of hands-off, full flap descent from 600' to 100' at a constant airspeed of 60 knots which will allow you to keep the runway numbers in view with a power setting of 1500 rpm. This is the stabilized approach often mentioned, frequently sought, and seldom achieved without adequate trim skills. You are not ready for landing practice until you can demonstrate, at altitude, a descent 500' hands-off on airspeed. In the C-150 you will be close if you are trimmed for level cruise. Pull the C.H. reduce power to 1500. Hold heading and altitude and put in full flaps at the white arc. Plane should begin a descent at 60 knots. This is the same procedure you would use in making a short approach.

With practice and experience you will learn to visually detect the 'sweet line' across the windshield that tells you that your approach is relatively high or low. A constant airspeed is essential to make this determination quickly and accurately. Being high, with the runway moving toward you, in a full flap configuration, requires that selective power reductions be used as required to stabilize and set the 'sweet line'. After full flaps and power off, your last recourse is to lower the approach speed to increase the sink rate over distance. The best practice for correcting the high approach is to use the suggested procedures while making a series of go-arounds at ever-lower altitude over the runway.

Flare Instruction (Instructor)
Unfortunately, the flare cannot be simulated as to the runway rising up into the windshield on short final only to disappear during the flare. The flare is the transition from descending flight to level decelerating flight just prior to the "hold off" landing finale. Most students give up too soon on the flare by failing to continue the back and up yoke movement. The student should be aware that the geometry of the arm-wrist-yoke will cause some twisting that will result in one wing being low. Unless required for a crosswind the wings should be level. If your landings tend to be on the left side of the center line it is because you are not holding enough right rudder as you raise the nose into and beyond the flare.

If a student is having difficulty in the flare it may be that some minimum controllable practice is required. At altitude, go through no flap, partial flap and full flap minimum controllable with 'zero tolerance'. The heading and altitude are to be maintained exactly from initiation through recovery. Take the student to the longest available runway such as 29 at Stockton. Get ATC clearance for low over-flights. Make a normal approach to the numbers and a normal flare. Have the student maintain this flare attitude and airspeed without touching the runway. Use power as required but do not trim off yoke pressure. Not trimming off yoke pressure requires that the arm and elbow be rigidly braced against the side of the cockpit door. If contact is made with the runway, reduce power. Now the student is ready to make flares to a landing. Exactly the same process is performed within one-foot of the runway. Because of the effect of altitude and ground effect power control will be more sensitive.

I recently had a student who always flared too low. I found that in my instructions to him I had not made clear the reference point used. When I talked about flaring somewhere between hip and shoulder high I was talking about the height of the wheels above the ground, not the cockpit.

Flare Constants (Instructor)
The pilot's best opportunity for an acceptable landing is to set as many constants as he can. The easiest to acquire are those of power, attitude, airspeed, and configuration. Power is set quickly by sound and feel, then checked visually for fine adjustment. Knowing by predetermined trim amounts to be finely adjusted later sets attitude. Attitude and small trim adjustments set airspeed. As configuration changes pre-determined changes in attitude and trim are made to acquire desired airspeeds. On short final we have committed ourselves to an approach angle that is best varied by small power reductions if high and timed full power changes if low.

Reaching the round-out and flare all of the constants we have acquired come into conflict with variables that will be reacted to by inexperience and anticipated by experience. You will make and are expected to make mistakes during the flare to landing. Your instructor will even create the opportunity for you to make and learn from mistakes. The student must not underestimate the importance of this phase. You need to learn how to deal with variations of winds, ground effects, perspective and control effects. This is not easy. It is literally impossible to recreate the same situation twice in a row. If it were possible the landing process could be taught more quickly with a greater sense of success.

We have now reached the last thirty seconds of the landing process. Each landing, good, bad, and indifferent will be a combination of reaction and anticipation the timing of which will meet with varieties of success. This is the way it has been from the beginning of aviation and will be until we have full movement simulators for small aircraft such as exist for airliners.
The landing gear is able to sustain the shock of a 'firm' ground contact without damage.

As in the approach, there are some new constants that can be taught and used in the last thirty seconds. My first recommendation is that you learn to develop a smooth speed increase in yoke up and back movement that corresponds to the deceleration of the aircraft. Along with this yoke movement you want to acquire a kinesthetic (Butt/stomach) feeling, augmented by sight, for an ever so slight rising and falling of the aircraft. This sense and the anticipation-reactions that you use will adjust the aircraft attitude during the last thirty seconds. You are trying to keep the aircraft at a near constant altitude above the runway. The airplane should land when it is ready; not when you want it to.

Now the variables come into conflict with your effort to keep a constant altitude. A slight difference in approach speed either fast or slow will make a significant difference on how well you anticipate or react to the ground effect. You will need exposure to both high and low approach speeds. You will learn how different speeds require different control application to achieve the equivalent result. The flap configuration must be varied according to wind conditions. More or less flap extension will make a significant difference in the lift to drag ratios that occur in the flare. You will need exposure to all landing configurations from no flaps to full flaps. You will need to make a full range of flare altitudes from high to low. You will learn to wait, when to react, when to anticipate and most of all when to go-around.

Refining the Flare
The Situation
Every approach and landing is going to be different. I will attempt to generalize an idealized approach, flare and landing. We are landing into a constant velocity direct headwind. We have established a stabilized approach on final. The aircraft will fly hands-off, on gross weight airspeed, and glide path that assures touchdown in the first third of the runway.

The Approach
On the approach path you select an aiming point related the runway. You use this point to determine if you are either high, low or all right for your planned flare and landing. If you are on glide slope the selected point will maintain a constant position on the windshield only to pass under the aircraft during the flare.

If you are high, you have a sequence of three corrective actions while maintaining the constant approach speed. First, put in maximum flaps for wind conditions. Second, reduce power incrementally as required to stabilize your aiming point on the glide path. Third and last, reduce the airspeed to increase the sink rate over distance. If the desired slope cannot be acquired, go-around.

If you are low, you have one best option besides the go-around. Apply full power while holding the POH approach speed. Hold a rigid lock on the yoke for an estimated number of seconds you think will be required to reach the optimum approach slope. Do not re-trim. At the end of the selected time reduce power to 1500 rpm and allow the aircraft to re-establish its stabilized approach. Any other corrective actions have hazards that may be beyond the skill level of the pilot.

Where you look as you get close the round-out will significantly affect the effectiveness of the flare. Looking too far down the runway can result in flying into the ground. Looking too close to the aircraft can result in an excessively high flare. Do not change your sighting point until the previously selected approach point has passed. At the POH gross weight recommended approach speed we can expect to have several hundred feet of float before touchdown.

The Round-out:
You have already acquired the sighting skill needed for the round-out and flare. It is the same as the one you use while driving at the equivalent speed. Use it until the rising nose causes the runway to disappear. This is going to be very near level flight. The roundout should be planned to bring the wheels to about a hip high height. Any higher will reduce the effectiveness of ground effect. Too low will likely result in a yoke reaction accentuated by the ground effect to give a balloon.

Ground Demonstration:
Student to sit in the cockpit with seat adjusted for flight. Hold yoke partially back as though in level flight. Student to look over level nose with wide view of horizon to each side. Instructor will slowly lower the tail to the ground. At the same time the student will, using only one or two fingers below the horn of the yoke, slowly initially but with a logarithmically increase in speed pull the yoke both back and up for its full travel.

Now the instructor should swing the tail to each side so the student can observe how the movement of the horizon can be used to detect yaw. Explain that any time the nose rises above the horizon an ever increasing P-factor will pull the nose to the left. Increasing right pressure on the rudder is required as the nose rises. This counters the P-factor and aligns the nose with the flight direction. You do this in anticipation not in reaction.

The Flare:
At this point you should use a wide peripheral view to note the position of the horizon to each side of the nose. What you are trying to do in the flare is to maintain the horizon as a constant level as you lose airspeed and raise the pitch attitude. Every yoke movement should be back but stopping is all right. Every power change should be a reduction but not reducing is all right. The coordination of the two can be used to correct any rise or fall of the horizon.

In the round-out as the aircraft loses speed you will learn to sense a kinesthetic sinking as in a very slow elevator. At the very first sensation you should begin and continue the yoke movement as practiced previously. If you observe the horizon falling, it means that the aircraft is rising. A rising horizon means the aircraft is sinking. What you are trying to do is to maintain the horizon in a stable position as you gradually increase the pitch attitude. Any abrupt or instinctive movement of yoke or power will be counter productive. All movements must be in anticipation not reaction.

The Last Few Seconds
If only we could go back and do the last thirty seconds of every landing over again. I have written about the flare before as well as other aspects of the approach and landing before. Now I will try to touch on the myriad reasons no two landings can ever be the same. I might as well be talking about snowflakes.

Constant repetition at one airport in one pattern will not organize all the variables into a blue print fitting all other airports. Even by setting all the pilot controlled constants the uncontrollable variables will make every landing a unique experience. The purpose of landing practice should, after pilot control of airspeed is standardized, be directed toward learning to adapt to and use the variables to make safe landings.

Without regard to how they occur in the sequence or in importance we have variations of airspeed, approach angles, aircraft attitudes, power settings, power changes, density altitudes, heights of flare, smoothness of flares, ground effects both high and low, wing lengths, wing positions on aircraft, landing gears, wind velocities, wind variations, and angles, flap configurations, flare altitude, pilot anticipation, pilot reaction, pilot perspective, control effect, timing, patience, runway alignment and more.

During WWII the phenomena known as ground effect was for the first time fully studied. Ground effect occurs when ever an aircraft is within half a wing span of the surface. The actual effect is very complex but it allows an aircraft to remain aloft with less drag and less power than is possible have even slightly higher altitudes. All other variables relating to landings have influence on ground effect. The pilot's ability to control ground effect depends on how he both anticipates and reacts to these other variables.

The closer to the ground the flare, and the greater the airspeed the more pronounced will be ground effect in causing float and ballooning. Once again variables of density altitude, wing length, wing position on aircraft, get to have their say. An aircraft with a relatively short wing may fall right through ground effect at below specific airspeeds. The same aircraft with a relatively long wing will float ...if only a slightly high airspeed is used into the flare. The flare into ground effect in the early morning will need a completely different touch in the mid-afternoon due to changes in the air density of the ground effect. A combination of a short wing, a hot day, and a low airspeed makes a landing more like a crash. A long wing, a cool day, and a high airspeed will cause you to float till tomorrow.

The airspeed, flap configuration, and approach angle to the runway is one group of variables that affect the accuracy of the landing. A constant airspeed will not bring you down to the runway at a constant angle if the wind velocity varies. The wind velocity always varies on an approach. The proper approach airspeed only allows us to flare in ground effect to bring the sink rate to zero. The flare transfers the energy of descent into forward motion in ground effect. Too slow may reduce the efficiency of ground effect. Too fast and the improved efficiency of ground effect results in either a balloon or float. The problem of the pilot is to adapt all the variables to the existing ground effect so as to accomplish an acceptable landing.

The pilot's best opportunity for an acceptable landing is to set as many constants as he can. The easiest to acquire are those of power, attitude, airspeed, and configuration. Power is set quickly by sound and feel, then checked visually for fine adjustment. Attitude is set by knowing by predetermined trim amounts to be finely adjusted later. Airspeed is set by attitude and small trim adjustments. As configuration changes pre-determined changes in attitude and trim are made to acquire desired airspeeds. On short final we have committed ourselves to an approach angle that is best varied by small power reductions if high and timed full power changes if low.

Reaching the round-out and flare all of the constants we have acquired come into conflict with variables that will be reacted to by inexperience and anticipated by experience. You will make and are expected to make mistakes during the flare to landing. Your instructor will even create the opportunity for you to make and learn from mistakes. The importance of this phase must not be underestimated by the student. You need to learn how to deal with variations of winds, ground effects, perspective and control effects. This is not easy. It is literally impossible to recreate the same situation twice in a row. If it were possible the landing process could be taught more quickly with a greater sense of success.

As in the approach, there are some new constants that can be taught and used in the last thirty seconds. My first recommendation is that you learn to develop a smooth speed increase in yoke movement that corresponds to the deceleration of the aircraft. Along with this yoke movement you want to acquire a kinesthetic (Butt/stomach) feeling, augmented by sight, for ever so slight rising and falling of the aircraft. This sense and the anticipation-reactions that you use will adjust the aircraft attitude during the last thirty seconds. You are trying to keep the aircraft at a near constant altitude above the runway. The airplane should land when it is ready; not when you want it to.

Now the variables come into conflict with your effort to keep a constant altitude. A slight difference in approach speed either fast or slow will make a significant difference on how well you anticipate or react to the ground effect. You will need exposure to both high and low approach speeds. You will learn how different speeds require different control application to achieve the equivalent result. The flap configuration must be varied according to wind conditions. More or less flap extension will make a significant difference in the lift to drag ratios that occur in the flare. You will need exposure to all landing configurations from no flaps to full flaps. You will need to make a full range of flare altitudes from high to low. You will learn when to wait, when to react, when to anticipate and most of all when to go-around.

As a student, you will never get a chance to do all the variations. You will be given the learning tools to perform basic landings safely. Only by continued exposure to the variables will you become proficient in landings. It is the variables that give students a sense of intimidation and lack of progress. Every landing will be different and only relatively good when compared to what is possible. Seek not perfect landings but safe landings.

Getting the Flare (Opinion)
I am a student pilot, but I had the same exact problem. My instructor finally told me that he would control the throttle and give me enough to get down the runway for a go around...all I had to do was fly level at about 10 feet. It was so easy; I just flew it nice and slow straight down the runway and then he gave it full throttle and we took off. Then he said we would do the exact same thing one more time.

This time we started flying straight down the runway and he bled off the throttle. He was subtle enough for me not to notice right away. He just kept saying "Keep it level!" Of course the only way to do this is to increase pitch. It becomes a nice gentle flair just as you lose lift. Exactly what you want. My landings are much better now that I don't have to think about it so much. I certainly don't believe this is the only technique or the right one in every situation, but it worked great for me.
Rob Crowe, Student Pilot

Some of the things about flying an airplane close to the ground are enough different than driving a car to cause all sorts of transference difficulties.

Opinion
When do you "flare?" I don't flare myself! :-) I fly down the approach as smoothly as I can, and when the runway starts to look like a highway I level out to keep it like that! That should put you a foot or two above the runway. I call that action a "round out" and you transition from the descent on the approach into level flight just above the runway.

When landing an airplane you use the controls just a bit differently than you do in normal flight. In normal flight you always use the rudders and the ailerons together. In landing you do not.

You keep the airplane over the centerline with the yoke! If you start to drift to the left, you put the right wing down and slide back to the right. And, vice versa, of course! :-) Meanwhile you are using the rudders independently to keep the nose of the airplane pointed toward the far end of the runway. Just keep the airplane pointed at the far end and you cannot go far wrong.

Once you have leveled out, you merely want to NOT land! Sounds weird, since you are supposed to be landing, but it really isn't. To stay flying you MUST have power available. You pulled the power off during the approach. This means that the airplane CAN'T continue to fly.

So what we want to do is keep it from landing as long as we can. We do this by pulling back on the yoke. Not too rapidly and now too slowly. How fast should we pull back? Just watch the world in your peripheral vision. You will see the world either rising up in your field of view, or moving down in your field of view. What you want to remember is DOWN is BAD. If the world starts to move DOWN you are moving higher. Just stop coming back on the yoke until it stop moving down and then start trying to keep it from moving either up OR down. Before long, the world will start coming up, whatever you do, and you will be coming back faster to keep it from coming up too fast. The next thing you know the yoke is ALL the way back and the wheels are turning! You just landed.

Some of the folks here used to practice a mantra. After they leveled out over the runway and while trying to keep it from landing, they would recite "patience, patience, patience!" Usually, by the third "patience" the wheels would gently contact the runway. :-)

If you have trouble with the proper height to level out, ask your instructor if you can't go to an airport with a long runway, and then make a regular approach, but level out and fly down the centerline as minimum airspeed by adding a bit of power. Keep it over the centerline with the ailerons and keep the nose pointed with the rudder and keep the runway looking like a highway and get a feel for the whole thing. One trip down the runway gives you as much practice at this critical time of flying, as you would get from a dozen or so landings!
This landing technique has worked for me for fortyfive years! :-)
HighFlyer

The Question
Also does anyone have any advice on landings, and ways to judge the amount of flare you need?

The Opinion
Never worry about the amount of flare you need. Make your landing in three steps.
Step one. Final approach. Speed approximately best glide speed for the weight you are carrying. Use aileron to make minor corrections to keep the airplane over the extended centerline of the runway, while using the rudder pedals to keep the nose pointed at the far end of the runway.
Step Two. When the runway starts to look like a highway you should stop descending and fly level just above the runway. Try to be about hip high. Take off all the power at that time.

Step Three. Flare! To flare you don't do anything special. You just try to do your best to keep the airplane OFF OF THE RUNWAY! Power is off, altitude is pretty much gone, down to a foot or so, so all you can do is
ease back on the yoke. It helps to watch the world out of the corners of your eyes. If the world starts to go down, you are climbing. Stop pulling back on the yoke and just hold it there until the world starts moving slowly up again. If it starts up at all quickly come back faster on the yoke. Some people, at this point, say "Patience" three or four times. Pretty soon you get to the end of the travel. By that time the "stall warning horn" is getting quite noticeable! About then, you should hear the main gear squeak as they start turning. The nose wheel should be well clear of the runway. Once you are rolling solidly on the mains you can gently lower the nose.
HighFlyer

More Flare (Opinion)
Flare: Separate the landing into two parts; roundout and flare. As you approach the threshold of the runway level out the airplane. Your goal here is to be flying straight and level down the centerline and about hip high. That cleans up the descent rate you carried down the final.

Once you are level you want to hold that altitude. To do this look at the world out of the corners of your eyes. You cannot see any detail, but that is fine. You should be looking well down the runway, about the same distance as you would in a car driving at freeway speeds! When the world out there starts to RISE in your peripheral vision it means you are going down. Ease back on the yoke to keep it still. Don't overdo it or the world will start going DOWN again. If that should happen, do NOT go forward on the yoke. Just hold it right
where it is for a second or two and WAIT. Before you know it the world will start up again and you can continue to come back.

When you get the yoke ALL of the way back, the stall warning should have been going off for some time, think to yourself "Patience, Patience, Patience." By the third patience you will be rolling down the runway with the nosewheel safely off the ground.

As you slow down, gently allow the nose wheel to settle onto the runway. Remember it is a little wheel and doesn't like to turn fast! :-) It helps some, if, on your final approach course, you fly a bit strangely. :-)

I suggest getting lined up over the extended centerline of the runway with you nose pointed directly at the FAR end of the runway. Once you get in that position, use the ailerons by themselves to keep the airplane directly over the extended centerline. Always use the rudder pedals as you need to, to keep the nose of the airplane pointed directly at the FAR end of the runway.

Then, when the runway starts to look like a piece of highway, do the round out. Level the airplane out so that it looks like you are driving down the runway in a truck! That is about the right height.

Then make sure the throttle is at idle, and use your peripheral vision to keep the world moving upward VERY slowly! Take all of the power off, and then try NOT to land!

While you are doing that, be certain to continue to use the ailerons by themselves to keep you over the centerline of the runway and keep using the rudder pedals to keep the nose pointed directly at the far
end of the runway. It doesn't matter if you are in a bank when you land, as long as you are over the runway and your nose is pointed at the far end!

After you land, KEEP using the ailerons to stay on the centerline, even if they don't seem to do anything! They still do help a LOT to keep the airplane going in the direction you want it to go. Keep using the rudders to aim for the far end of the runway.

If you learn how to land this way, and do it consistently, you will find that landing in a crosswind is the same as landing without one. The only difference is that you will have more bank in when you actually land! You will tend to land on the UPwind wheel. Don't let that bother you. Airplanes are designed and built to land on ONE main wheel!

The important goals, to make a GOOD landing, are:1. Have all of your wheels pointed in the direction you are moving when you land, and be sure that you are moving in the right direction! :-)

2. Have the airplane going as slowly as you can when it finally quits flying. That way it will most likely STAY on the ground when you finally get it there! :-)

3. Don't thump the nose wheel down as soon as you touch down. Slow down a bit first and then set it down as gently as you can! :-)

4. A "greaser" is not necessarily a "good" landing! A perfect landing is when you do all three of the above, and then you realize that the wheels are turning and you couldn't tell when they started to do that! If you get one or two of those every year, you are doing well! :-) Murphy's law says that you will ONLY make a landing like
that when you are alone in the airplane and there is NO ONE at the airport!
HighFlyer

Back Side of Power Curve
Here's a simple way to demonstrate the backside of the power curve. You can do this in most any light GA airplane. Take it upstairs to a safe altitude and do the following. 1. Establish cruise flight at approximately 2,000 RPM and note the airspeed. Increase pitch attitude and note that the airplane climbs initially. Decrease pitch attitude and note that the airplane descends. You are on the front side of the power curve!!!!

2. Now reduce power to idle, maintain altitude, and just prior to the stall return power to 2,000 RPM. Continue to maintain altitude and note the new airspeed on the backside of the power curve. Increase AND decrease pitch attitude and note that the airplane descends in both cases.
Dudley Henriques

$700 to Solo
When you first started into finance, programming, and flying you came into the situation with some ideas.

As you continued you found that some of the conceptions were working for you but others were not working. The usual tendency to keep the good and discard the bad. However, there are a number of innate characteristics that are based upon deeply seated instincts. We dislike losing, having to feel bad about our situation, admitting that the ‘idea’ we were so certain of is not working, and being faced with discarding the idea and its associated wishful thinking. In flying the nice smooth touchdown you used when playing with model airplanes as a child are often ingrained and difficult to discard. Yet they must be discarded.

The approach to a landing is a composite of positive and negatives consisting of but not limited to thoughts, perceptions, actions, reactions, instincts, and training. In every individual these forces are in conflict. The illogical elements are always rubbing against the logical determining what we will do, to what extent we will do it and what is the probability (risk) of it being right or wrong. Flying into the ground at 70 miles per hour is not a common experience yet we do essentially the same thing every day we drive a car. What is not common in our flying or our driving is trying to stay a couple of feet above the ground while slowing to 40 miles per hour and knowing there will be a ‘bump. The negative aspects of the landing process can be overcome by making logical decisions that will negate the illogical (instinctive) concerns that are a part of the landing process.

We’ve got to get rid of the negative thoughts, your experience in finance and computing have similar aspects related to the landing and flying process. No one likes to lose money, have a program fail to perform or to make a poor landing. One of the dangers of programming, finance or flying is over-confidence which makes us refuse to accept any failures known as losses. Still you have learned to cut your losses even when selling at a loss, leaving a job that has run out of opportunity and making a go-around. You have accepted the loss of finances, opportunity and relationships and so must you accept that every landing will not go well. I do believe I have made a number of instructional mistakes by demonstrating too many good landings.

Every investment, program or landing has risk. On taking the risk you will sense success or regret but not always just one. You have invested again after a loss, programmed again after a failure and landed after a poor landing. You have acknowledged your errors in all cases and have been motivated to give it another go. Looking back at your flying in the pattern over the last few flights the other day you noted the vast improvement achieved in all the little factors required to make a satisfactory landing.

I do think that you are striving for perfection. I do not want you to make perfect landings or even try to. I want safe and controlled landings. The little problems of landings should cause you no pain or regret. What I am trying to do to you is adjust the ‘idea’ of the landing you seem to have away from perfection into the possible. I see you so focused on a perceived reality that you are failing to see what is actually happening.

Look over the nose and far down the runway as when driving and cover the end of the runway with the nose. If you limit your finger-hold on the yoke so that you cannot pull up too hard or quickly rather resort to a gradually increase in pressure and speed to keep the nose on the end of the runway. Arriving at the flare with some power gives you another problem or tool depending on how it is used. The power may cause a balloon if the round out or flare occurs too low or quickly. However, reduction of the power gently in concert with yoke back/up movement will advert the ballooning. Having the power off prior to touchdown avoids this situation. It is a choice you make depending on planned touchdown point. My recommendation is that you always take the safe option of going around when you balloon.

The best option whenever doubts arise is to go-around. Don’t chase the airspeed indicator, set the nose for the airspeed you want, let the airspeed stop changing, trim off all pressure, let go of the yoke to make sure things are stabilized. Keep a light touch in the flare, split your vision to both sides of the nose and hold the horizon still. Ideally every movement of the throttle is back, of the yoke back and up. The stall warner bleeps before touchdown with the yoke all the way back and up

In conclusion, a failed landing is an opportunity to do the most difficult aspect of landing, a good go-around. Once you start getting some good landings, don’t become over-confident or expect that all the rest will be. Landings are a lot like earthquakes, the further away the last good/bad landing the closer becomes the next good/bad landing. The only certainty is the certainty.

Seeing During the Landing
Cause:
Airspeed control
Where you look
Cure
Airspeed control:
What you are looking for.
What you think you see.
What you do when you see it.

Were I teaching you I would review your basics. As I recall you are flying a C-172 but which one? The rudder is the same almost throughout all models. The differences are in flap extension and power. If you're fortunate you are flying with a stock C-172 of 150/160 h.p. Go to the C-172 part of my web site and read about the engineered relationship between trim turns and flap movements.

Regardless, climb to training altitude and work out your own table for trim movement and flap extension.

Start the program from level cruise at 2450 and 105 knots If you are a pinch/flip trimmer learn something new as follows.

From cruise reduce power to 1700rpm while holding heading and altitude until reaching 80 knots.. During this slowdown use your fingertip to take the to trim button that is just out of reach and move the trim wheel downward three times. You will now be trimmed for a descent at 80 knots, But before you start to descend put in ten-degrees of flap while pushing forward with you thumb to hold 70 knots and take off one of the three turns previously applied. You are now descending at 70 knots hands off

It is now time to turn base in a 12 knot wind down the runway. In light winds you wait a bit and in strong winds you turn sooner. You make the base turn at 70 knots and 30 degree bank Use thumb pressure to maintain 70 knots entering the turn and finger pressure to maintain 70 knots in the turn and both thumb and finger to recover from the bank and maintain 70 knots. Turns should be accomplished with no more than two knot variation in airspeed. You use your base leg to correct for any sense of being high or low. On the base leg you repeat the addition of 10-degrees more of flaps with thumb pressure to hold 70 knots and immediate removal of another turn of trim for hands-off 70 knots. Turn final.

Put in the final amount of flaps while holding thumb pressure to hold 60 knots. One Cessna engineered features of the C-172 is that a go-around made with full power and full removal of flaps will be at hands-off Vy of 75 Knots. If your loading does not give you 60 knots, re-trim by a button or two. You now use power reductions to correct for being high but my recommendation is that you not go below 1000 rpm since a bit of propeller flow over the elevators gives the authority need to raise the nose. Keep 60 knots down to your flare point then do not look at the airspeed again.

The more shallow your approach, for whatever reason, the more difficult it is to plan your arrival and flare. Even more will errors in airspeed and judgment be accentuated in the final moments of arrival. Given the choice by situation and winds use the steepest approach safety allows. The no-flap approach is far more difficult to control for accuracy than is the full flap approach.

Look over the nose to the far end of the runway and cover it with the nose of the aircraft. Keep it covered. A common cause of flaring high is looking too close to the airplane. You will not see the runway, you don't want to see it. A landing is an act of faith that the runway will be there when the plane decides to touch down. At 60 knots your aircraft will float two/three hundred feet with power unchanged. It is good practice to use this float to get a feel of ground-effect.

A sudden removal of power will require an equally sudden pull on the yoke to keep the nose wheel from hitting first. Far better for you to make all power reductions in 100 rpm increments and your yoke movements in the flare more UP than back. (Make a dry run with the yoke in the cockpit and note that the last 6-8 inches of movement requires yoke to be lifted to get full elevator authority.) If you keep the far end of the runway covered with the nose your landing will not be a 'greaser'. A good landing is a 'thump' in which you do not allow the 'thump' to move the yoke or you forward,

Any forward movement will cause the nose wheel to touch. You should be able to do touch-and-goes without using the nose wheel on the runway.

Regarding crosswinds, I hope you know how to do the Dutch roll. It is a training exercise involving keeping the nose straight regardless of the bank/aileron applied. It's on my web site. Should take several three-minute sessions to get it to work for you. Slow and smooth. The basic landing process above depends on your ability to maintain airspeeds Vy in climbs and turns as well as airspeeds while applying flaps and trim. One important skill is the ability to hold an approach speed with full power when low on an approach. This is the best option for recovering to a normal glide path. Practice this at altitude with flaps and all approach speeds.

Once you have mastered the standard procedures you will find that variations such as a short approach fit right in. Short approach is when abeam the numbers reduce power to 1700, at the white arc put in full flaps and one trim down from level cruise. You will be at 60 knots. A short-short approach requires power off and two down turns of the trim wheel with full flaps and 60 knots. Don't try to be your own instructor. Get a CFI to talk you through the entire process as he does it. See if he can make what I have given you work. In any event, the first twenty-two words are both the cause and cure to your difficulty
Gene

B wrote:
My problem is that I always seem to roundout and flare too high which results in me struggling to get the plane down. I either start to run out of airspeed so I have to goose the throttle a little, or my sink rate is a little too high when I touch down and I get a good jolt.

So I got out with an instructor this weekend and we worked on my landing issue and it seems that we got it solved.

Apparently I had misdiagnosed the problem. I wasn't rounding out too high. I'm actually rounding out at about the correct height and performing the flare properly. The problem was that my airspeed was getting little low at the last second, so during the flare, my rate of descent was a little too high because of the airspeed bleeding off too quickly.

The root of the problem actually starts all the way back on the downwind leg. I was making my downwind leg a little long, so that when I get on final, I end up a little flat on the approach. Part of the problem here was that it had become such a habit, that the sight picture looked correct to me even though the approach was flat.

Since I was coming in flat, I would end up dragging it in at the end but I wouldn't give it enough power to maintain the correct approach airspeed. I generally nail my approach speeds, but I was letting it get slow as soon as I was transitioning my focus from the AI/landing-point to end-of-runway (I also discovered that I was focusing on the middle of the runway instead of the end which I never realized before - so I think this helped too).

So by the time I was rounding out, I was probably about 4 or 5 knots too slow without realizing it. This caused me to bleed off airspeed quicker than I should which resulted in a high sink rate.

Now this sounds like a problem where the solution is obvious, but the mistakes I was making were very subtle. The approach wasn't so low that it was that obvious. The slow airspeed at the end wasn't obvious
because I was nailing my airspeeds until the very last second. In fact it took the instructor awhile to figure out exactly what the problem was.

Anyway - it appears the problem is solved. I corrected the problems and made several very nice landings in a row. Just thought you guys would be interested to know how it turned out.
I appreciate all the advice you guys gave!
Thanks,
B

Nicolas,
While on the ground, position the aircraft so that you can see the horizon in the distance. Have the instructor and one other person slowly lower the tail of the aircraft until it touches the ground. You should be looking at the sides of the nose as the nose rises.

Next have them move the tail side to side while lowering the tail a second time. This should give you an idea of how to use the rudder to keep the nose straight.

Now the third time have them lower the nose while you very slowly but logarithmically (increasing the rate of yoke movement) pull back and UP on the yoke. The idea is that you do not want the yoke all the way back and up until the tail touches. Do this several times while watching the horizon to both sides of the nose..

This should give you a good idea of what to look for and expect during the landing flare.
Gene
DO NOT FIX THE EYES AS AT ONE POINT.. YOU WANT TO SEE THE HORIZON TO BOTH SIDES OF THE NOSE.

In my advice I neglected to point out the importance of your seat height adjustment. Your seat is properly adjusted for height when

you have it adjusted for the rudder pedals and you can turn your head towards the window without raising or lowering your head and see the lower side of the wing.

As the aircraft slows it will begin to sink much as would a slow elevator. You should be able to feel this sinking and you should anticipate by keeping the nose touching the far end of the runway.

Much of any landing problem is related to knowing where to look and in anticipation of what you should do.

One more item. You are NOT doing the landing. You must be patient and let the aircraft decide when it is ready to land.