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Old 22nd Jun 2008, 15:48
  #11 (permalink)  
mstram
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Toronto, Ont, Canada
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The advise about "flying low" over the runway is good.

I agree about flying more often, too. I also recommend practicing with a flight simulator software (Xplane, MSFS ..etc). Some hate the sims, others love em, I'm of the opinion that the more you practice, either with a sim, or even just imagining landings in your mind, it's bound to help.

I also recommend that you go up with an instructor and practice stalls until you are very familiar with exactly when the a.c. will stall and how it reacts. They are scary at first, but like anything different / unknown, the more you practice and get familiar with something, the easier it becomes.

Another thing that might help is to improve your "height awareness", which was implied by the "low flying" exercise.

An interesting fact I learned from an instructor is how the perspective changes as you get lower. You can practice this indoors by standing next to a desk / table, and look down on it. Now squat down slowly watching the table top until your eyes are at table height. Notice as your viewpoint lowered, that the table top "flattens out". The same thing happens when you land a plane. Have your instructor do a landing and just pay attention to looking at the runway and surrounding terrain and notice how it "flattens out" as you get lower and lower.

That perspective thing and a whole lot of other great info is in the class book "Stick and Rudder" by Langewiesche, if you haven't read it, do yourself a favour and grab a copy.
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