Hi, again,
AHRS
would first like to thank Air Rabbit for his thoroughness.Too bad for those(dudes and Gorillas) who have reading phobios.This is a professional world and AVIATION AND FLYING IS A CONTROLLED SAFETY ACTIVITY FROM ENGINE START UP ALL THE WAY TO ENGINE SHUT DOWN .The most embarassing accidents are those that happen during the flareand they happen to the most experienced of pilits and Test PILOTS! RECOLLECT THE UNSTABILISED FLARE GENTLEMEN?Ref U.P.S. MD11!
An important oversight Air Rabbit (if I have your permission Sir) is ref point 11.During the longitudinal nose alignment....we do have to be conscious of the central position of the rudders and associatedly....the NOSE WHEEL prior to touchdown! Thrust reversers should not be deployed harriedly as they tend to quickly shift the CG towards the nose (especially with a forward CG of the day)and....BANG comes down the nose (additional to with which we wouldn't want the nose to be skewed off centre do we?)
While the time factor to hold off the flare is quite valid, particularly so in strong cross winds and narrow runways...the yardstick should be a reckoned based on the aircrafts landing weight and therefore effective momentum of inertia..the lighter the weight the more likely the drift tendency.I have noticed that a shallower flare would give you better forward/sideways visibility to monitor the c-line deviation tendency.Ensure that it is not a short runway you are landing at for this luxury!IF IN A DEEP FLARE..YOU RISK TROUBLE AND ESPECIALLY IF EXCESS ON SPEED AT THE FLARE POINT.TIME based flares is proportional to wheel height.DHORT STUBBY landing gear such as say ATR42/72/C130 require fairly brisk low height flares otherwise you risk balloning and bounced landings
I would expound the application of "crab technique" on approach for a heavy LW and fairly steady cross wind on the one hand and elect the ailerons aagainst wind in gusty conditions.in any case follow the Flight DIRECTORS IF EQUIPPED and be wary of speed and attitude trends and excursions by applying rapid and more aggressive corrections ...just as the Auto Pilot does during cross winds.
FINALLY FOR THOSE WITH DEPTH PERCEPTION INEPTITUDE AND A TENDENCY TO MAKE "DRAMATIC ARRIVAL LANDINGS"...before every takeoff and once properly aligned do peep on your windscreen to observe where the runway edge intersects the windscreen and keep on memorising that reference..it will in time register itself naturally in your subconscious not dissimilar like learning to ride the bike analogy to maintain balance.IF THIS ALSO FAILS...DO THROW IN YOUR SCAN ON TO THE IVSI during the last momentso f flare whilst monitoring sped decay AND PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO RADIO HEIGHT CALL OUT RATES AS A CUE OF YOUR SINK RATE.The IVSI needle should be in the region of 300 to 200 fpm for the kind of landing that will assure a touch down at the rate of 3ft per second which should more than satidfy your ego as well as assure you a nice commentary from the valued passengers and crew at the gate!
Additional critique is most welcome
First, I want to acknowledge your comment about my post, but I would be remiss if I didn’t also let you know that many of the folks on this forum ARE professional pilots, who fly all sorts of aircraft for a living; in the real world; and they do it day in and day out. Admittedly, one cannot know the background and experience of everyone here, and due to the anonymous nature of forums such as this one, anyone may be or may NOT be what they claim to be. However, it’s not terribly difficult for a veteran pilot to recognize those who have little experience or who have larger egos than their experience would allow … as differentiated from those with little or no experience simply seeking information, or those with lots of experience offering observations about a particular subject. I hope I am wrong, but so far, you come across, on this post at least, as belonging to the first group; i.e., with either little experience or a
very large ego. So, without trying to be overly critical
AHRS, you might want to dial back some of the critical-sounding, advice-giving rhetoric.
I'm not too sure what it is you believe was an "oversight." Perhaps you missed what I said about the longitudinal axis of the airplane, what to do after touchdown, and to be sure that you properly use deceleration systems appropriately. Here is what I said:
(6) Achieve and maintain the longitudinal axis of the aircraft parallel with the runway centerline and the centerline between the main landing gear.
* * * *
(11) As touchdown occurs, ensure that the throttles are at idle; if appropriate, ensure that the spoilers have deployed; and without delay, fly the nose gear onto the runway.
(12) Use spoilers, propeller reverse or thrust reverse, and/or wheel brakes in a manner that ensures bringing the aircraft to a safe speed considering the point of touchdown, the runway remaining, and as appropriate for the conditions.
Next, unless you fly an airplane that directly connects nose gear position with rudder pedal position at all times, I would think you would recognize that there shouldn't be a concern with making sure the nose wheel is centered at touchdown. Even the light training airplanes disengage rudder pedal steering as the nose gear strut fully extends after the weight is removed at takeoff, centering the nose gear with a centering cam. Therefore, if a crosswind has any energy to it at all, you are likely going to need at least some cross-control applied at landing ... which means rudder pedal and rudder surface displacement from neutral - at least to some degree – and there shouldn’t be a concern for the position of the nose wheel.
With regard to your statement regarding CG, unless you're flying unsecured cargo or passengers, the application of thrust reversers or wheel brakes won't change the CG of the airplane. If it DOES - I don't want to fly on the airplanes you fly. Besides, my statement that the pilot should "use spoilers, propeller reverse or thrust reverse, and/or wheel brakes in a manner that ensures bringing the aircraft to a safe speed considering the point of touchdown, the runway remaining, and as appropriate for the conditions" means just that. This is not an encouragement to use any system inappropriately or too "hurriedly."
I’m not sure what you mean by the “time factor to hold off the flare” unless you mean that the gross weight of the airplane would dictate when you should initiate the flare. Of course heavier airplanes have a larger momentum – but at the range of gross weights for landing, the rotational rates around the lateral axis for the flare in conjunction with the “power” afforded such airplanes to achieve the necessary rotational rates with the elevator system installed, wouldn’t be noticeably different if approximately the same rate of descent was maintained to the flare initiation point. The same can be said for the rotational rates around the vertical axis while aligning the longitudinal axis of the aircraft with the runway centerline. Forward speed
would be somewhat different, causing the touchdown point to shift toward the approach end or departure end depending on the weight of airplane, but the vertical closure with the runway surface should be relatively the same regardless of the gross weight.
You might be interested to know that, proportionally, aircraft size and landing gear size are relatively equal across the spectrum of airplanes. So the idea that airplanes equipped with “short, stubby landing gear” or “long-legged landing gear” should have differing flare techniques is not accurate. I’m also at a loss to understand your terms “shallow flare” and “deep flare,” as they aren’t recognizable aeronautical terms with which I am familiar. I’m presuming that you mean a flare to a lower pitch attitude or to a higher pitch attitude. If that is an accurate assumption, such circumstances
should not be allowed to develop as the flare should take the pitch attitude to the level flight attitude for the configuration and gross weight of the airplane at that time – and the flare should be to the level flight attitude each time, every time, no matter what. And, again, for a given airplane, while there
will be a difference in pitch attitudes to achieve level flight – depending on gross weight (which, naturally, is not a concern to light, training type airplanes) – here again, the differences will not be huge; and after understanding your airplane and what attitudes provide level flight at varying gross weights, achieving the proper flare attitude should become almost second nature. “Ballooning” is usually caused by reaching a flare attitude that is too high; a “bounce” is usually caused by a rate of descent at touchdown that is too high – usually because the flare attitude is too low.
Of course the crosswind approach technique is an individual preference – and usually falls into either the “crab technique” (that you mention) or the “forward slip technique.” Whichever technique you use, you should use all the time … at least until you get so experienced that you are demonstrating each technique to your students. And the one thing I would never teach my students is to “follow the flight directors.” Autopilots are getting rather sophisticated and are quite capable of landing an airplane, even in relatively moderate crosswinds. However, this is through the use, usually, of three independent autopilots – one commanding and the other two monitoring. Flight directors are not usually that sophisticated, and following an inside instrument that diligently that close to the ground is an invitation to severe problems.
Lastly, your last paragraph is perhaps the most loaded with the kind of critical-sounding, advice-giving rhetoric I mentioned above. Each pilot will select the input stimuli with which he or she is most comfortable. It will be from that comfortable position each pilot will make control application strategies and execute them to make his or her airplane do what he or she wants done at that time. So, please don’t take it personally if I say that your “advice” is relatively worthless to anyone
except those who fly exactly the way you fly (if you do fly airplanes at all), and I always maintain that no two pilots fly exactly the same way.
This forum is a wonderful place to exchange ideas, learn from those who have “been there, done that” and those who do it every day. No pilot ever stops learning – and when they do, they either die or retire. So, welcome to the forum. Ask questions. Offer observations. But, please, be aware of who frequents these forums and respect the intelligence and experience of those here who have both.