Hello everyone,
This is a topic that has already been discussed in other threads, but here’s a new case. In short, I’m a cadet who has just started flying (about 300 type hours), flying the A320 family (A319/A320CEO & NEO/A321CEO). Interestingly, my first few flights up to about a month and a half went well, but suddenly, after a slightly tougher one (or so I think), I started losing confidence and developed a terrible tendency to float. They had to extend my LIFUS phase hours until I finally got it (about 20 days ago). On the flights I’ve had since then, I haven’t been free of floating, and it’s happened to me again on several occasions. To date, I’ve been able to handle the situation well when it happens, but I know it’s a dangerous situation. The company promotes the technique outlined in the FCOM and FCTM manuals. Basically, it comes down to this: under standard conditions and approaches (ILS-3º), maintain about 700 ft/min until reaching about 30 ft RA, at which point we should begin the flare and cut back on thrust. It is key to pass 50ft at ~700ft/min, when the THS freezes (not talking about A321NEO or XLR). In principle, this is the theory, and it’s what I try to do, but in practice, I see things that differ from it. I’ll discuss them below, and I’d like to hear your opinion.
- As for the altitude at which to initiate the flare, many pilots avoid waiting until 30 feet to start the flare and instead perform kind of two separate flares. At around 50 feet, they begin to reduce their rate of descent in a certain way and then complete the flare later on. I understand that this somehow alters the glide path and, ultimately, the touchdown point. In any case, in my limited experience, it is true that on the occasions when I accidentally dropped that 700 ft/min rate to around 500 ft/min at about 50 ft, I felt the plane was much more under control before touchdown and I felt much more comfortable.
- As for the flare itself, the manual states that you should perform a gentle and progressive flare, so I assume you should hold the sidestick in that position until the touchdown (generally speaking, every situation is different). However, when I look at real-life situations and watch YouTube videos of actual approaches, I see many pilots making small touches on the sidestick during the flare without holding a specific position... and they land perfectly. In fact, there are many cases where it seems like there are excessive inputs in terms of quantity, which is exactly what I’ve been told not to do. How is this possible?
- The last point concerns when to cut the thrust. I know the “20 ft” callout is a reminder, and that the manual says it should be done rapidly and “when best adapted.” My tendency is to do it at around 30 feet as I also start the flare. But I’ve heard all kinds of opinions on this. Some say 30 feet is too early, that I might lose speed and stall, resulting in a hard landing; others say I should wait until 20 feet and cut the thrust just before touching down to make the landing smoother. I’ve also heard variations here depending on the type of aircraft. For example, I’ve been told not to even think about cutting back at 30 ft with a heavy A321. It’s true that in the latter case, I’ve occasionally waited to cut back a little later after starting the flare around 30 ft, but it’s also true that the A321 is the one that’s given me the most trouble. The funny thing about all this is that I think I can understand why they tell me to maintain thrust for longer, since when I flew the Warrior or the DA42, if I had a high rate of descent during the flare or anticipated a slightly harder landing, I’d give it a little throttle to slow the rate. But of course, in that case, the engine gave me power instantly, and we were dealing with different inertias. This is an A32X, much heavier, with Autothrust and other inertias that I haven’t mastered yet...
Maybe I’m overthinking this and I shouldn’t, but it worries me that some people use a different technique and still land successfully. Obviously, what I want is to land successfully too, and not find myself in a situation like the one I faced during the LIFUS phase extension, where I had a terrible time. I hope I don't end up losing this job after all the hard work I've put in... I find this situation strange, since I’ve never encountered similar problems in the other planes I’ve flown (non-jets like the Cessna 172, Piper Warrior, or DA42). Thank you all very much.