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Old 8th May 2003, 18:11
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Dude~
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Far East
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I used to fly from Popham and have recently started flying from Elstree. I think the key thing is to be consistant. Make sure your approach is stable, on speed, none of this 'extra 5kts for saftey' and a reasonable height, rate of descent and power/flap setting.

Airline pilots 'fly the numbers' and it works for them. If you arrive over the threshold at the right speed it gives a much better chance to land well, than if you arrive over the threshold off centre/ too high / too fast.

Of course, a stable, precise approach will not directly help on an undulating runway. Here you need to be prepared for whats going to hapopen. You need to think about the slope of the landing zone, and prepare mentally. It doesnt matter if you level off then let the runway rise to meet you rather than you sinking to meet the runway. Just so long as the speed is correct. At Popham, I tended to 'round out' (not flare yet) in a shallow bank to align with the runway, then power completely off and a gentle flare since the runway continues its downslope for a while. Here, a normal flare (ie maintaining height at the expense of airpseed) would leave you gaining height over the runway. THe opposite happens at Elstree on 26 where you need to flare and almost enter a very slight climb to prevent impacting the runway with too high a rate of descent. This is exasperated by aircraft with high Vat speeds. What this means is that your airspeed is going to decay very quickly so a little power may be helpfull, but then of course, at Elstree there is not much room to play with.

I once spent a whole summer at a grass strip with no obstacles and 900m practising presicion landings, and high rate of descent / high drag / power off flares. You have to be precise, otherwise you end up stalling at 4 or 5 feet.

Anyway, I have dribbled on enough. Think about the anatomy of your landings and go over it again and again then it will flow better when you come to fly. A relaxed mind will perform much better than a mind struggling to keep ahead of the aircraft!


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