Landing Technique

[FastEddieB]

Sorry...we're in FL until Sunday or Monday.

[FlyingForFun]

Delete

[drseti]

I have 2 of them in every plane I fly. They are my eyes.

Knowing the distance between my eyes, and using triangulation and the speed of light, I can calculate my height above a spot on the runway. Then, I repeat this process thousands of times per second, subtracting each result from the previous, I am able to determine the sink rate.

In fact, what you are really doing is solving thousands of simultaneous differential equations in your head on every landing. I'll bet you didn't know you were that good at calculus, but you are!

[CharlieTango]

I use 3 sink rates

1) on approach, minimum sink plus a bit
2) after round out, low roundout i want zero, higher round out i might sink slowly from there
3) at contact, I want a low number very close to zero = greaser.

[FlyingForFun]

Delete

[drseti]

I know what you mean. VisiCalc made the elite lazy, Lotus made the nerds lazy, and Excel made the masses lazy.

[FrankR]

You forgot about Multiplan...

[CTLSi]

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[CharlieTango]

Oh, the VSI is used 3 feet off the ground, how novel.

Your the one that asked, and everyone told you that eyes need to be outside at 3'.

[CharlieTango]

...If you think about landing like a rock dropping from the air, then you will never figure out how to touchdown consistently without thumping, bouncing, or worse, nose-gear first...

Are you serious?

How many pilots here do you think advocated landing like a rock dropping from the air. That's quite a straw man to argue against.

[CharlieTango]

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If you try to stall or get near stall at the 3 foot magic level, you will be in the repair shop with costly gear repair, and passengers, if they are unlucky enough to be there when you do it, not willing to go up with you again...

At 3' that is precisely what I am trying to do. I have done so in a light sport roughly 2,000 times, but no costly repairs, no unhappy passengers.

How does getting near stall at 3' cause all of this damage and unhappy passengers?

Here is a video of me touching down at 39kts indicated, at ~3' I slow to stall speed, full aft stick and my CT settles on its mains due to its inability to produce enough lift at that speed to remain airborne. Your statement above is clearly not true yet you preach it over and over and over.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... aavZiimqTE

[CharlieTango]

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The better flying schools that instruct in a FD CTLS use 62kts on approach with throttle @3k to idle, then when you level for the flare over the runway threshold, pull back on the stick gently and steadily, and at about 3 feet above runway fly the aircraft gently onto the runway...

Please provide a list of these better schools that you keep referring to.

That's confusing, 1st you are actively moving your stick aft and when you descend through 3' you then fly onto the runway? What does that mean? Are you abandoning the aft stick to avoid your dreaded stall? Are you then using forward stick?

Instead of 'flying gently onto the runway' I would say something like control your vertical speed for a soft contact. You could do that by continuing the aft stick travel that you advocated and if you need more than that you could add throttle.

[drseti]

Here is a video of me touching down at 39kts indicated

Nice video. Thanks for posting.

[drseti]

Please provide a list of these better schools that you keep referring to.

I like to believe that mine is one of them. I teach landings in the SportStar pretty much the same way as it's done in the CT, except that our magic number is 60 KIAS. Airspeed stabilized on downwind, in slow flight (~4000 RPM, flaps 15). Gliding (power off) from abeam the numbers, with a tight pattern (downwind just 1/4 mile from runway), descent is managed with flaps alone. Flaps 30 on base, and hold 60 KIAS. Turning final, still holding 60 KIAS, one can go to flaps 50 (or not) once the runway is made. A few feet above the runway, start a round-out by easing the stick back to level glide, then just a bit of nose up pitch. Ignore the ASI and watch the pitch angle. Hold it constant by increasing back pressure as the plane slows down and the down-lift of the tail decreases. When the mains touch, continue easing the stick back to hold the same slight nose-up pitch angle. Once the stick is all the way back, the nosewheel will come down gently, and now you have nosewheel steering. (But remember to keep the stick back, just as you would in a taildragger.)

[CTLSi]

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