Best flare technique

[RMarvin86]

I hope this is the best place to post my question.

I'm wondering about the correct flare technique tu use during the very last of the landing.

During my training I get told to reduce power to Idle at the moment I'm sure to arrive over the rwy and this is exactly what I'm used to do but I find it helpfull before touchdown to give a little of throtlle about 200-300 RPM more in order to reduce the flare and have a soft touch.
I'm worried this may lead to create a bad flying habbit escpecially for the future if going to fly other types.

Hope for advice. Thx.

[poss]

The way I have been taught is - level out close to the runway, try and keep it flying and raise the nose to keep airborn.

[ronnie3585]

Landing with a trickle of power is fine as it provides a cushioning effect.

Obviously not a technique to use at a short field!

[CPilotUK]

RMarvin86,

The best place to 'post' your question is your Instructor. I'm sure by the end of today, you will receive over 100 different techniques which will confuse you even more; At this early stage of your training, that's not what you want.

Although pprune is a great source of information, you need excellent skills to separate the wheat from the chaff.

CPilotUK

[mark sicknote]

I read once on pprune....

Do something at X altitude....then refine it.

Started flying a new type (musketeer) with an ex USAF jock.

He was concerned with my late level off...

It really is something that needs to be felt...and personal taste.

"round out" "flare" "break the glide"

All mean different things to different pilots.

I now do "something' and then "refine" it. Depends on ac type and conditions.

Guess best advice is use your own instinct. I used to over criticize my own landing technique. Accept that no two landings are the same and enjoy the differences that you feel.

Best,

Sicknote:ok:

[Put1992]

I've viewed several airline DVD's, and I noticed that they do not retard the throttles until the very last moment before touchdown, and on a 737 video I watched, not fully at all until after touchdown.

Im just wondering why this is, as I have been taught to fully idle when crossing the threshold.

Cheers

[SkyCamMK]

Flaring is about matching attitude or angle of attack with sink rate to maintain lift whilst keeping the nose above the ground for a safe landing. A firm touchdown is not bad or a light one good necessarily... it depends on things like, mass, head, tail or cross wind, speed and of course skill experience and aircraft type. More complex type tend to glide less well. Flying in ground effect is easier in some aircraft than others. Stall speeds vary too. On an FI flight test an examniner criticised a recent instructor for landing with power on "for extra control" because he demonstrated that he was compensating for a lack of technique! As you fly more you will feel more and then probably understand more of what it takes to make a consistently good landing. There are so many factors that contribute. A good approach is a good start. Situational awareness being a critical factor. Hope this helps?? In short keep the nose up! don't be too fast and when competent use the highest flap setting for the conditions. Good luck!

[Chuck Ellsworth]

There are four parts of a landing:

(1) The stabilized approach attitude.

(2) The flare from the approach attitude to the level attitude

(3) The hold off.

(4) The touch down.

The use of power will extend the time period the airplane is subject to wind and turbulence factors and thereby make for more work and more chance of the airplane getting into a bad touch down attitude and drift problems.

[Mike Cross]

Chuck's right - up to a point.

Remember when you were learning to drive? You probably thought changing gear was just a matter of pushing the pedals in the right sequence. You soon found out it was a lot more subtle than that and it took quite a bit of practice before your co-ordination would work in all conditions. Well landing's a bit similar.

You need to disconnect from the idea that the timing of pulling back the power is linked to the timing of the flare. The purpose of the flare is as Chuck says, to get you to the level attitude. I'd clarify that a bit by adding "stable and flying along the runway with the mains 2-3 feet above it". The power comes off once you've achieved that. If your rotation is spot on then the power will come off immediately but consider what happens if you get the rotation wrong:-

If for example you have a high rate of descent or an uphill runway or are heavily loaded the flare will absorb more energy than if you are lightly loaded, on a downhill runway or on a shallow approach. In the former case the speed will bleed off a lot more quickly and if you've pulled the power too soon you won't get the chance to put it back on before you hit. Mountain flying at high altitude in thin air and landing uphill on steep runways or snowfields really shows it up but you can get caught out just as well on any unfamiliar approach.

Conversely if you over-rotate and pull back the power at the same time you suddenly find you have ballooned to 15 feet above the runway with no power, no airspeed, and the stall warning blasting. A sudden descent from that height can spoil your day.

As your experience builds you'll find you can get the rotation spot on and once you know you've done it that's when you pull power.

There are various gotchas with landings. For example on an uphill runway it's easy to be a lot higher than you think you are. If it's a gusty day then a sudden gust will lift you or a sudden lull will drop you. If there's a strong wind it will die down as you near the ground and the reduction in headwind will reduce your airspeed and require more power.

Like learning to drive you don't get it by putting all of your concentration on one thing, it's a matter of developing a feel for it.

Don't worry and keep practicing.

[hugh flung_dung]

When you close the throttle the airflow over the tailplane decreases so the nose tends to drop, plainly it's not too sensible to do this just before the flare.
Arrive at the correct point, in the correct configuration and at the correct speed, then flare and as you do so (not before) smoothly close the throttle and continue to hold the aircraft just above the ground until it sits down on the main gear (and tailwheel, if appropriate) ... but you knew this because it's how your instructor ought to have taught you (hopefully :eek:).

HFD

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Excellent posts HFD....

There are as many variations of landing techniques as there are pilots, the secret is getting comfortable with how " The airplane you are flying " reacts to control inputs.....

......I have found that teaching them to close the throttle/s at two hundred feet above the landing surface and then learning to flare....hold off and touch down smoothly ( or safely ) with the airplane aligned with the landing path and zero sideways drift works best for me.

I do tail wheel training as a part time sort of hobby and find that they quickly learn to burn the attitudes and speeds into their craniums in short order by doing left and right circuits alternately in around one and a half minutes from touch and go to touch and go. That gets them sorted out in short order.

We spend anywhere from thirty minutes to one hour running up and down the runway with the tail in the air to learn how to control yaw before we actually fly.

This of course must be done at an airport with no traffic usually around dawn will be O.K. at most airports.

So basically they get around 150 touch and goes and one hour of ground handling with the tail in the air in five hours.

[mixture]

I've viewed several airline DVD's, and I noticed that they do not retard the throttles until the very last moment before touchdown, and on a 737 video I watched, not fully at all until after touchdown.


Don't try to apply "heavy" to "light" ..... aerodynamics, different power plants and more .... :rolleyes:

Yes there is the basic flying theory that applies across the board, but how you achieve it from type to type varies ......

Which brings me onto the my next point, unless I've missed it, I don't believe anyone has asked the poster what type he is flying, as that will have an effect.

Like with a lot of things in flying, flare technique is best not taught to perfection, but practised to perfection. You have to get used to the type and how it handles, get to know how it feels, how it reacts .... it's only then you will be able to achieve consistent greasers.

As someone wiser than me once said ... a true pilot straps the plane onto himself/herself .... you don't strap yourself into it.

[RMarvin86]

Thank you all for your replies. I read a lot of very good advices :ok:

I think that a good landing is not only when it's smooth and nice but it depends on so many factors like wind, runway conditions, approach conditions like height and speed and of course the type of aircraft that you're flying so how you work on the controls is never the same, what matters is that you know what and why you're doing something. Then the next time you're flying the same approach try to do it better even if it looked good enough.

Happy landings.