Wham! Help! Landings stink!

[hawgdriver]

Hawg,

In my 19 years of experience what I said is true. But Im sure that you can land your A10 just fine. Lets see.....2500 hours????huh???

LMFAO
gump

Forest,

Well, I can say my measly 2500 hours are "flown" and not twittling thumbs waiting to turn the next knob!

Just playinwitchya man, no sparring here, I save that for Mark!

 

[mattjenna]

Yeah-don't get into the I've got more hours than you tongue out cr@p. Plenty of incomp. high hour pilots and comp. lower hour pilots.

No doubt you're both high calibre professionals.

 

[gump88]

WxGuy,

One more thought about the "looking at the far end of the runway" theory. The next time you are driving your car, pay attention to the distance you are looking ahead. That is about the right distance you should be looking ahead of the aircraft during landing. Of course your eyes will be constantly scanning and not "starring" at any one point but the majority of your attention should be at the above mentioned distance. Focussing your eyes to the far end of the runway will cause a late flare or no flare at all and possibly a nose first landing----not a good thing. Of course I am assuming that airspeed and configuration are correct and the approach is stable.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

gump

 

[empenage]

WXGuy:

The above posts are very good and you should try them. Remember as you slow down to your approach speed the airflow over the wings will also slow down requiring more control input to keep the aircraft where "you" want it. Don't let the airplane fly you around. It takes allot of concentration to keep the aircraft a foot above the runway so don't let it move around. Keep it where you want it! The 140 will float (that big fat wing in ground effect) a little before it stalls and remember it wont land untill it stalls. Ahh...timing. Stick with it. Don't rush the landing. If you can get consistantly smooth landings you will be able to do the same thing with a Citation.

P.S. Don't forget what your feet are for.

 

[puddlejumper]

Here are a couple things that seem to have helped my students in the past: Once you've got your stabilized approach happening with your aim point staying steady in the windshield and your power set, let go of the yoke. The point here is that if the airplane is not trimmed properly, you'll find that you're constantly fighting with the controls. Trim it out and let the stability and inertia of the airplane help you.

Secondly, keep in mind the grip you have on the yoke. I used to joke with my students that they would be strangling the yoke and the reflection of their white knuckles off the instruments was blinding me. The airplane's feedback to you as the pilot is a very important part of making a nice landing. With proper trimming and a light touch, the flare and touchdown can be a pleasantly consistent thing.

By the way, I've only got a few hours in Citations, but I don't believe that jets are full-stalled at touchdown. I know for sure that King Airs are not. It would be very disconcerting to get a stick-shaker or even pusher when you're about to land. I may be wrong on that though.

Good luck and keep practicing.

 

[ksus]

You 've got a lot of good advice and suggestions. Here is my .02 cents.
If you master slow flight and and power-off stalls in the landing configuration you will make good landings all the time, airspeed control and the correct pitch attitude should be more of your concern.
Next time you going flying practice slow flight and power-off stalls, and then come back for some T&G's you will see a big improvement on your ldgs.
Good Luck !!
Keep us posted

 

[Princess]

Want to know something strange? When I didn't fly for about 3 or 4 weeks due to the 9/11 tragedy and bad weather, I came back and had the BEST landings ever!

 

[bobbysamd]

Not flying and good landings

It's odd, but sometimes you do make your best landings when you haven't flown in a while. Maybe you hit a learning plateau. I think it has to do with your mind's subconscious assimilating and understanding new concepts. Learning how to land is new for you. Sometimes the harder and more determined you are at learning something the poorer you do. If you take a time out and relax, sometimes, all of a sudden, what you're trying to do makes sense.

I haven't flown an airplane in eight years. I guess that if I would start again all my flying will be to better than ATP standards and I'll nail each landing.

 

[mattjenna]

Ahh the Zen of flying..........

Now for the sound of a greaser:

 

[TurboS7]

A10

Hey guys I would give all my hours to have the priveledge of being a hog driver. The military boys may not have the "hours" but believe me for every hour "military" they have it is worth 5.0 hours civilian of stick time. When my "military" time came the averge guy in Vietnam was coming back in a body bag. I did everything I could(with the exeption of going to Canada) to keep from going to the military. Over 75% of all the guys I fly with are all ex-military, most special ops guys, all I can do is lustfully listen to their stories. Happy flying. You get those landings down yet?

 

[dayshift]

I use the full stall method when landing small aircraft, which requires looking to the left as the nose is raised, and the view over the nose becomes blocked. Some aircraft like the C-182, that have a wide CG range, and when landing with a forward CG require that you have the yoke all the way back to the stop or the nose wheel will contact the runway first. Also if you use the full stall method your touch down speed may be lower so you have less wear and tear on the aircraft, and use less runway. Transitioning to taildraggers will be easier due to most landings are the full stall type, looking out the left side. At night I look to the left using the runway lights for heighth reference. If you have a engine failure, or are landing on a really tight strip you maybe better prepared if you parctice full stall, yoke all the way back landings even on long runways. Remember approach speed is based on your weight, when flying solo use the low end of the approach range from the manual, and if heavy use the mid to upper range. Also I like to keep the float part of the landing to about 3-4 seconds, when doing touch and goes adjust your final approach speed to adjust your float (Foot or less above the runway).