i would observe the captains that flew like i wanted to fly
I hark back to my first couple of jet months on the line (722). With an abundance of F/O seniority at the time, I bid for a lovely English gentleman (who is no longer with us, unfortunately).
Now, Stan was a good, honest, workmanlike piklot type of chap (as well as being one of Nature's loveliest gentlefolk) but, try as I could, I could not work out how the devil he landed the bird. He would drive it into the flare and then, just as I made ready to scream out in terror (722 pilots will understand precisely what I mean), the aircraft would (somehow) just run gently along the ground. In the five years or so I had on the 72 I flew with Stan for a good few months in total .. and his worst landing was better than my second best (my best was an absolute artefact of smoke and mirrors and had very little to do with my inputs .. the aircraft kissed the ground without sound or vibration ... quite an unnerving sensation as the only indication of ground roll was the decreasing airspeed. However, being young and very cocky I was quite prepared to take credit for it while having no idea how it had happened and, hence, little chance of repeating the experience ...)
Oh, how I envied that man's manipulative and management skills ....
the runway has ears!!! and will come up to meet you and show you who your daddy is!!!
isn't that just the awful truth ...