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3Dreaming wrote:we laced a pencil between his fingers so he couldn't squeeze the control without it hurting. He loosened the grip and started making nice landings.
Quite non-traditional... or is that old school tradition?
I don't know about tradition or not, but it did seem to help. I have thought about making a thumb tack studded control stick grip with only enough space for a thumb and a finger.
No death grip allowed.
Thanks, Eddie. That's helpful. Looking down the runway, it was tough to judge height. I think I also need to be relying more on peripheral vision, but that's difficult right now when I'm very intensely focused.
In the racecar, I could keep my sightline trained on corner entry or apex or whatever, and count on peripheral vision to tell me if the guy in my mirror was attempting a pass or if a corner worker was waving a yellow flag. I'm not at the point yet in flying where I have a mental autopilot running, thought.
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---------------- I dream of a world where chickens can cross roads without having their motives questioned.
If a student was erratic in judging height, I'd glance over to see where he was looking in the flare.
In a 150 or 172, I'd often see them craning their neck to look over the rising nose. Once it got high enough to block their view down the runway, that's when things went to heck.
I was known to unfold a sectional and block their view straight ahead, forcing them to look out the side. I was probably not their favorite person at that point, but it usually achieved its objective.
Anyway, that skill will hold you in good stead if later you need to check out in a plane with no view at all over the nose - many taildraggers are like that.
Fast Eddie B.
Sky Arrow 600 E-LSA • N467SA
CFI, CFII, CFIME [email protected]
I have been paying attention to where I'm looking when I land my Sky Arrow, and I am looking over the nose. But NOT at the end of the runway - in the photo below I'd say I'm focusing on the zone between the nose and the first runway stripe:
That's right about at stall speed - the airspeed is on the left and indicating about 40kts.
I'm blessed with fantastic visibility in the Sky Arrow, a major factor in my selecting it. But recently I had a chance to land a 182, and shifting back to the runway edge (the right in my case since I was in the right seat), came back very naturally.
Fast Eddie B.
Sky Arrow 600 E-LSA • N467SA
CFI, CFII, CFIME [email protected]
saxdiva wrote:
Also, if you're doing crosswind landings it's going to take time. You didn't say how many hours you have, but I've got my SP cert, about 150 TT, and I'm *still* another 10-20 hours away from my tailwheel endorsement... in my own airplane, and at least 30 of my hours were logged in it. You'll get there when you get there...beating yourself up won't make it go any faster. I flew to a new airport today and had to do two go-arounds before I could land. Woo, me.
I'm about 20 hours into training. I think I've had 6 or 7 landing lessons now, totaling about 9 hours.
But don't forget that dreams are supposed to come with enjoyable payoffs, and if you drive yourself nuts, you're cheating yourself out of the best part.
-Leanne
Actually, that's probably the best advice I've had so far. Thanks!
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---------------- I dream of a world where chickens can cross roads without having their motives questioned.
