Landing Technique....Not that old chestnut!!
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Landing Technique....Not that old chestnut!!
This topic has been done to death on this forum but not for atleast 3 months, so I thought Id stir the pot.
Im interested how people teach the landing. My employer has us teach the following:
On final airspeed is controlled by power and flightpath is controlled by elevator. As the aircraft passes the threshold, where the TCH is 25' power is reduced to idle over 3 seconds and the nose attitude gently raised to what is defined as the "landing attitude". In this attitude your eyes are looking at the end of the runway- typically.
Other employers teach power=airspeed, elevator=path, however the flare is commenced when a pre-conceived point on the runway is overtaken by the glareshield ie obscured by the glare shield. At this point the aimpoint changes to points progressively further along the runway. When the final aim point does not move up or down in the windscreen, the landing attitude is selected.
Does anyone have a different idea as to how they land? Id be particularly interested in what the jet guys have to say.
Im interested how people teach the landing. My employer has us teach the following:
On final airspeed is controlled by power and flightpath is controlled by elevator. As the aircraft passes the threshold, where the TCH is 25' power is reduced to idle over 3 seconds and the nose attitude gently raised to what is defined as the "landing attitude". In this attitude your eyes are looking at the end of the runway- typically.
Other employers teach power=airspeed, elevator=path, however the flare is commenced when a pre-conceived point on the runway is overtaken by the glareshield ie obscured by the glare shield. At this point the aimpoint changes to points progressively further along the runway. When the final aim point does not move up or down in the windscreen, the landing attitude is selected.
Does anyone have a different idea as to how they land? Id be particularly interested in what the jet guys have to say.
Airspeed is controlled by attitude and flightpath by power. Just get in a Piper Arrow and chop the power completely at 100 feet on final and you will find out. It glides like a brick with power off.
Those superior jet pilots apparently do the reverse.
Those superior jet pilots apparently do the reverse.
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Power for IAS/attitude for aimpoint is (generally speaking) taught by the military.
Attitude for IAS/power for aimpoint is (generally speaking) taught by the civvies.
Guess what........BOTH techniques work just fine if correctly flown.
Chop the power in ANY aircraft at 100FT and it's called a glide (or power off) landing. In that case the ONLY way to control IAS is with attitude.
Attitude for IAS/power for aimpoint is (generally speaking) taught by the civvies.
Guess what........BOTH techniques work just fine if correctly flown.
Just get in a Piper Arrow and chop the power completely at 100 feet on final and you will find out
This topic got a big run a couple of months ago, thread called something like 'power controls airspeed, attitude controls aimpoint' or something, could have been the other way round, but was a lively debate for sure!
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Airspeed is controlled by attitude and flightpath by power. Just get in a Piper Arrow and chop the power completely at 100 feet on final and you will find out. It glides like a brick with power off.
The only way that IAS would be controlled by attitude is if power is fixed ie, in a glide descent or a full power climb.
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Power + Atiitude = Performance. You are actully manipulating both the attitude and power to achieve a desired outcome. For teaching it is best to tell the student that on base they are controlling the rate of descent with power and airspeed with elevator, so that they arrive turning finals at 600'. On finals the aim point is kept constant and speed controlled with power.
If you try to teach a student (ab initio) on base that power is controlling the speed and elevator the flight path, there will be a few senarious that they wont understand, firstly high and slow, they will apply power. Another classic is fast and low, they will decrease power, and end up even lower.
If you try to teach a student (ab initio) on base that power is controlling the speed and elevator the flight path, there will be a few senarious that they wont understand, firstly high and slow, they will apply power. Another classic is fast and low, they will decrease power, and end up even lower.
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If you try to teach a student (ab initio) on base that power is controlling the speed and elevator the flight path, there will be a few senarious that they wont understand, firstly high and slow, they will apply power. Another classic is fast and low, they will decrease power, and end up even lower.
For low n fast, raise nose for approach profile, adjust power for speed (speed will decrease anyway)
Attitude only controls airspeed when power is fixed
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If you really want to test if the elevator controls the airspeed then next time you taxi into position for a take-off sit there and start furiously pumping the yoke and see how fast you go. 
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Power for speed , attitude for speed they both work. As for flare height, just wait until you see out of the corner of you eye, the Instructor flinch, swear or dive for the controls, smoothly reduce power while raising the nose to the hold off attitude. From here you have 2 options. Option 1, as the wheels kiss the tarmac, turn to your instructor and say "Did I do it right sir?", or, Option 2, apply full power and recover from the balloon the instructor has put the aircraft into.
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Speed with elevators, ROD with power - Blarrrr....
Get the attitude right. Focus on the numbers, don't let them move on the screen, (they just get bigger) leave the elevators (attitude) alone, and just keep it there on that glideslope with power. Reduce the power over the numbers and flare, then close the throttle and stop the thing landing as long as you can by progressively putting in back pressure. (Not sure this is actually all my idea. Some guy called Jacobson publicised something a bit like this a few years ago - Or have I not done him justice? Anyway, it works and its easy to learn, especially when progressing to something a bit heavier than a 152.)
Anyone wanna broaden this? Maybe good ideas for tailwheels? - or night landings?
Get the attitude right. Focus on the numbers, don't let them move on the screen, (they just get bigger) leave the elevators (attitude) alone, and just keep it there on that glideslope with power. Reduce the power over the numbers and flare, then close the throttle and stop the thing landing as long as you can by progressively putting in back pressure. (Not sure this is actually all my idea. Some guy called Jacobson publicised something a bit like this a few years ago - Or have I not done him justice? Anyway, it works and its easy to learn, especially when progressing to something a bit heavier than a 152.)
Anyone wanna broaden this? Maybe good ideas for tailwheels? - or night landings?
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Point it somewhere near the start of the runway, and pray. I keep managing to walk away from them.
GApilut got it in one - you are using both power and attitude to control both glideslope and airspeed. As far as teaching a new student goes, deffinately Power controls glidepath. Think of it in terms of energy - if IAS is constant, the only means you have to control the rate you loose gravitational potential energy, is to change the amount of chemical potential you convert (ie, want more height, add more coal).
Keep in mind that you're dealing with secondary efffects here, not just the initial change - obviousely if you pull back on the stick you will arrest your ROD, but the secondary effect is a loss of IAS and for a sustained adjustment you require a power change.
GApilut got it in one - you are using both power and attitude to control both glideslope and airspeed. As far as teaching a new student goes, deffinately Power controls glidepath. Think of it in terms of energy - if IAS is constant, the only means you have to control the rate you loose gravitational potential energy, is to change the amount of chemical potential you convert (ie, want more height, add more coal).
Keep in mind that you're dealing with secondary efffects here, not just the initial change - obviousely if you pull back on the stick you will arrest your ROD, but the secondary effect is a loss of IAS and for a sustained adjustment you require a power change.
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Instructor Captain pull yoke back Houses get small .... Instructor Captain pull yoke more back.... houses get bigger again , student pilot need new undies ...
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dont know if this helps---when landing a Cessna 207 when the airport disappears its time to clost the throttle and wait for the elusive squeal of the gear (and/or pax)---mmm nice...on the A4 Skyhawks we used to spool the trusty J52 up to 75% power and fly the thing on at around 2000 fpm down and 120 knts---mind you the gear could take it...does this help?