Originally Posted by Jwscud
AirRabbit - specifically regarding thrust levers, you suggest that if they require advancing late in the landing a go around should be initiated. I have flown plenty of approaches where a late positive addition of thrust was simply required to arrest the rate of descent very late in a landing rather than due to a condition that would require an immediate go around.
Hi Jwscud – of course, you are correct – and I wouldn’t negatively critique an experienced pilot for making the kind of adjustment you describe – however, in the initial training for landings – I try to instill in the student that power advancement once the flare is well underway or has been established is “go-around neighborhood.” I find that such an understanding reduces the tendency to “take a stab at something/anything.” Once landings are really “learned,” any “fine tuning” with additional power in this area – which is almost always a ROD “adjustment” – is better understood and used only when it is necessary. Perhaps the most difficult aspect to grasp and achieve regularly (until sufficiently practiced) is “elevator back pressure” vs “raising the nose position.”
With the power being reduced and the attitude being maintained – the airspeed will decrease and will tend to bring the nose down – requiring a counter action of increasing elevator back pressure – BUT not to the point that it raises the nose position. In those cases where I’ve seen power added to either adjust ROD or adjust the rate of airspeed reduction while flaring, is usually, but not always, due to an overly aggressive initiation of the elevator back pressure to initiate the flare … the nose starts up, and as the power is either being reduced or is already at “idle,” the rate of descent begins to increase. Because I’ve stressed not getting the nose higher than what is necessary to maintain level flight – the pilot is left with the only option of adding power. Unfortunately, and particularly with the very “new” folks, adding power almost always means either an increase in airspeed or a leveling off (if not a brief climb) – and leveling off with added power means a longer landing and/or gaining altitude – neither of which, at this point, is necessarily needed or wanted, and could become dangerous.