Nope Chuck that's definitely not what I'm saying:
If the student pilot adopts the conventional landing technique it doesn't matter what he or she goes on to fly... it could be a tail dragger, glider, commercial jet, helicopter, hot air balloon or even flaring a parachute it will work well for him/her. Looking well ahead is necessary in order to take in the ENTIRE picture enabling the student to quickly grasp the concept of ROD and how it needs to change close to the ground and also how to control drift in the flare. Managing ROD in the latter stages is what this is all about and it can be taught very efficiently if the student has the confidence to steel his/her eyes away from the touch down point. I strongly suspect you unwittingly do it this way yourself Chuck.
As for looking well ahead; a gardener who walks or drives his lawn mower looking just a few yards in front of him can expect to look back at some a very wonky stripes. However if he picks a line of sight in the distance he can expect to achieve almost perfect stripes. That's probably true of crop spraying but then you would be a better judge of that than I Chuck.
All the best and happy landings everyone!
Last edited by sapco2; 12th May 2013 at 18:43.