Techniques to a good flair?

[low n' slow]

Hey all
I was just wondering what different techniques people use to get that silk-smooth flair and touchdown. My touchdowns have been referred to as "controlled terminations of flight", I would like that referral to be more in line with "smooth landings". Any tips?
cheers/lns

[DCDriver]

Well, Low n' Slow,
spelling the word correctly might be a start....or don't you have a flair for that sort of attention to detail? :) :)

[matelot]

I used to flair a lot in my flared bell-bottoms. :)

------------------
Me, sweat? I'm that cool, it's condensation.

[CaptainSquelch]

A shave, aftershave, deodorant, a clean shirt and shoes are a good preparations. A well planned approach and timely thottleback are essential for a smooth landing. The rest is up to your attitude.


Good hunting
Sq

[Jet Man]

Stick to the numbers and look at the end of the runway not over the nose!

[genius-747]

well a proper answer.
i suppose your flying a single engined plane.
nose down until near to the ground, gently pull back, trickle of power if necessary, allow for the ground effect which will let you float a little and as you feel the sink increasingly pull back on the colum until your main gear touches down, hold your control colum as it is and the nse wheel will follow, do not push to colum forward on main gear touch down otherwise you will smack the nose wheel into the runway.

safe flying..

[HugMonster]

Genius, that's fine for some types, not for others. Further, you don't state at which stage to take the power OFF.

Put simply, different aircraft will behave differently. Is it a low-wing? High wing? What power engine? Flap settings?

low n slow, have a word with an instructor.

But the most common fault among frequent bad landers is not looking far enough along the runway. Many try to look very close, to judge their height. Others I have seen actually try to look down out of the side window. Look at the far end of the runway.

[Luftwaffle]

Someone has to say it:

There are three secrets to perfect landings. Unfortunately no one knows what they are.

[low n' slow]

Flair/Flare, you all understood what I meant! :-)
Thanx for all tips, tried everything but that last secret still remains! anybody?
by the way: C172, 160 bHp, flaps 30
Guess it's just practice!
cheers/lns

[GRpr]

low n' slow

Everyone has their own opinion, and experiences, on this one, so here are mine!......

Start the flare at about 20ft above the runway, and at this stage transfer your gaze to the end of the runway. As to power reduction, there are as many views as pieces of string(?) and the timing, extent of this varies from instructor to instructor. It won't have much effect on the final touchdown in a 172. So far, I am sure you are yawning. It is from this point on that I may be able to help.

OK, now for my experiences and opinion.

Firstly, when a C172 is going slow enough in the hold-off phase to make a slow touchdown (and the stick is right back, or nearly so), you CAN'T see over the nose, and therefore can't see the end of the runway. The situation is much worse in a C152. Looking over the nose after the initial flare will usually result in a three point landing, because you will stop pulling back on the control column when the end of the runway disappears! Also, you have now lost all depth perception.

So, what to do?

Where I was taught, the method was to stop looking at the end of the runway after the initial flare and the hold off begins. Look now about 30m ahead,and to one side of the cowling. One instructor used to push the student's head against the side window by way of encouragement (and none too gently either)! You will find that you have excellent depth perception, and can stay straight as your peripheral vision tells you if need any correction to stay straight.

With this method, you will find you can keep the aeroplane flying along quite nicely, just above the runway, until the stick is right back, and she will just settle down when she is ready, at a nice slow speed (with the stall warner just going). The end of the runway disappeared from view long ago!! Remember to get that head off to one side!

When I was doing my PPL my landings left something to be desired - until the CFI did a few circuits with me. We landed and he went and stood about 30m in front, and to one side of the aircraft. He got another instructor to push down on the fuselage, so that the nosewheel came off the ground and the view ahead was obscured by the cowling, just as happens in the hold off. He simply asked: "Can you see my feet?" I couldn't. Cushion inserted, and I could. Problem solved. I could previously see to one side in the flare, but only about 10m ahead so everything was too close and a blur. The seat was semi collapsed!

I'm not that short, about 5' 11" (1.80m) (6ft to the girls), but the cushion just revolutionised my landings and I never looked back. You can usually adjust the C172 seat upwards, but a battered filling can lose you 2-3" of height, and this may be all you need.

So, in summary, two suggestions.

1. DO NOT look at the end of the runway during the hold-off.

2. Get a friend to try the tail push-down test for you, and use a cushion if you think it might help.

[HugMonster]

Sorry, GRpr, disagree almost totally.

Using that technique you're in danger of all sorts of things, from going off the side of the runway to dropping the nosegear in first.

Best advice is to get an instructor to spend some time with you in the circuit, analyse what you're doing wrong, and correct it, not to learn some technique that might (by luck) work for one person but SHOULD NOT be taught from a site like this.

[expedite_climb]

HugMonster, I agree with you completley ! I wouldn't recommend this rather unusual technique.

However I would say that the number of times a cushion has helped a students landings is countless.

Also bare this in mind, no two landings are the same. Most people find their landing 'quality' goes in fits and starts, e.g. a good week or bad week.

Even experienced instructors won't do a greaser every time !

[GRpr]

Hugmonster

Oh well, just opinion and experiences.

I've seen what I posted at four different schools and teach the same myself.

Seems to work well - but everyone's different!

[Frederic]

Slow'n Low,
Rule number one: do what you feel most comfortable with! As long as you don't wreck the aircraft, you're fine. You'll learn the fine tuning as you get more experienced (even then, nobody's perfect, I've seen some 20000 hour pilots mess up their landings!) Nevertheless here's some personal typs: Think speed reduction instead of anything else. Learn to feel when you should close the throttle. You should so that your speed reduction results in the nosewheel being well of the ground by the time your mainwheels touch. Touchdown should never be soft, but not hard either, just try to give the ground a firm hug.Don't try to hard to make a perfect landing... at some point you have to let the aircraft land itself. A common mistake is not looking in the right place: I look at the point I want to land during the approach and once over the threshold I transfer my focus to the end of the runway.

[Pointer]

Never mind all the others; it's not the flair you need, just arrest the descent at the right moment.

Happy landings, by the way i do controled crashes into LCY several times a week with a XXXL C172 also refered to as Fokker 50. no different than small planes just a little heavy.

See Ya... ;)

[Meatbomber]

Oh btw ... i'm kindda small and i found it kind of difficult to make nice greasers with C172s while i had no problems in all other A/C i flew at that time (Robin Remorquer, gliders, etc) .. i finaly found out that i was sitting very low even with the seat all the way forward so my vis over the nose was very restricted. I fixed that (pillow) and voila the "bumpy landing syndrome" cured ..

Actually got a LOT better when i went for taildraggers.. since then i don't need to see over the nose no more ;)

Phil
da Meatbomber