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Old 12th Sep 2013, 10:41
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Pace
 
Join Date: Jan 2001
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Not enough pilots have the right feel for an aircraft and become like unwilling passengers hoping it will all turn out OK in the last fifty feet.

After a nasty fog experience in a light twin I wanted to see if its possible to land off an ILS blind in thick fog.

I did this with a safety pilot and on an ILS in VMC. it was a case of accurately flying the needles and using a radar altimeter for a flare point. Worked a treat.
Another friend did it for real in a KingAir on a ferry where they badly messed up and were forced to land blind.

in VMC while you need to be at the right speed to touch down at or near the stall with a sink to the runway for stopping distances landing and stall are not really so closely tied to land an aircraft.
the longer the distance between nose wheel and mains the faster an aircraft can land.

Another friend with severe handling problems landed a citation,normal VREF 105 kts at a radar estimated speed of 200 kts touch down speed! He even stopped on the runway at Edinburgh **** scared but he landed ask Mad Jock who was there at the time.

so its a matter of knowing your aircraft and its characteristics and adjusting your flying to suit and of course knowing how to handle the aircraft

Most landings are way way to flat
'Cause some instructors TRAIN that! I was horrified when I was "checked out" in the DA-42, to do flight testing on it. The company pilot insisted that I three point it. "What?". "That's how you land a DA-42".

Okay, so I did just to satisfy him, and then made every landing a gentle two point, hold the nose off 'till I ran out of control. The plane was perfectly fine with that technique. I worry about who trained him!
Usually flat landing are caused by bad trimming! Get the aircraft trimmed well back so a slight forward pressure on the column is required to maintain the glide! speed control is vital if you are going for a near the stall landing or you will end up floating down the runway or heading skywards.
How likely you are to land on the nose also depends on the coupling nose to mains. Short coupled you are far more likely to land flat or on the nose than long coupled! Know your aircraft
Pace

Last edited by Pace; 12th Sep 2013 at 11:24.
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