Repeatedly doing those special landings require the ability to very accurately judge the height of the airplane in last few feet before the touch down and feeling the increasing heaviness of elevator as the speed starts decreasing. Like any sportsman or a performer a pilot also keeps developing the judgment but finally best landings start to happen when you get into what sportsmen or artists call "in the zone". All planning and calculations are done but dissolve in the subconscious and the execution is marked by absence of thought. B747 was a very good airplane for the pleasure of landing. You could feel the aircraft entering the ground effect cushion. A small flare and controlled thrust reduction and the touch down was noticed only by the reluctant speed brake moving gently back and forth as full weight of the aircraft was not yet on wheels. This is difficult to achieve in Airbus FBW as it lacks tactile feed back so it is purely visual landing as other senses do not come in play.