Landing Airplanes: The Holy Grail of Flying
Posted by Jeffrey on May 1st, 2011
A whole flight, no matter how perfect it is, seems to always comes down to whether is was a nice, smooth landing or a jumbled mess.
And it seems that pilots, for better or worse, seem more concerned about the landing than anything else. You could say that landing an airplane is the holy grail of flying because a good landing is what we strive for most. To sip from the cup of a sweet landing.
My view of a perfect landing for most general aviation aircraft and jet airplanes is one where the aircraft touches down smoothly on the center line at just above stall speed (general aviation) with the yoke nearly full aft or on center line at Vref within the first 3000 feet of the runway threshold (jet), respectively.
In a general aviation airplane, the pilot then holds the nose wheel off as long as possible, applies crosswind correction, and smoothly lowers the nose as elevator effectiveness is lost.
In a jet, upon touchdown, you smoothly lower the nose wheel, apply thrust reversers, input crosswind control and slow until you can safely make one of the high-speed exits.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? And for the most part it is. But to do it consistently is the challenge.
We have all heard the saying that it is possible to make a bad landing from a good approach—which I do, often— but it is almost impossible to make a good landing from a bad approach. If you don’t make a stabilized approach, chances are you aren’t going to make a good landing.
So let’s start from the beginning.
First, the approach briefing and mental preparation are essential.
A good approach briefing sets you up mentally to arrive in the traffic pattern or to begin the instrument approach. In the CRJ200, I always stop what I’m doing 30 minutes prior to landing and begin reviewing the arrival plates for speed and altitude restrictions. I get the weather and I review the approach I expect to be doing. Once that is done, I review the airport 10-9 plate and discuss possible taxi routes to the gate.
In a lot of ways, flying is a lot like driving a car or riding a motorcycle. You should always be looking ahead. You need to imagine where the airplane is going to be in the next couple seconds, minutes and draw a mental view of it. Don’t focus on where the airplane is or has been. You have to anticipate where the airplane is going to be and fly to that point.
Then, once established on the final approach (however you got there), the airplane should be configured (or in the process of being configured), ON speed and on glide slope. Being above or below the glide slope is NOT acceptable. Being too fast or too slow is equally detrimental. It introduces too many variables. Even if you are following a “heavy” aircraft, you have to resist the urge to fly above the glideslope because in most cases you will now land long which could cause problems for you AND the traffic that is following behind you.
Finally, you have to touch down within the runway touchdown zone. At most airlines, if it seems like you are going to touchdown beyond the 3000 foot markers, you must execute a go-around.
So what is a stabilized approach?
A stabilized approach is one that you maintain the recommended approach speed throughout the approach at a constant rate of descent, in trim and aimed at the touchdown markers that will allow you to flare and touch down at your desired touchdown spot. Having the airplane set up (configured, on speed, and on glide slope) at least gives you a shot at making perfect landing.
If you work your approaches consistently the same way every time, the behavior of the airplane during the flare will be similar almost every time. This gives you a chance to learn how to make that perfect landing and adjust for variances in wind and gusts and runway slope.
If you are consistently off speed or experience a high sink rates or are out of trim, the airplane will behave differently during the flare on every landing so you never get better.
Each airplane we fly has different landing characteristics but the runway site picture is almost always the same so by making a stabilized approach, you get a chance to learn how to adjust the flare and execute power reductions to accommodate those characteristics. You also learn to identify when things are going right or are changing undesirably. Furthermore, unless you experience wind shears or extreme weather, you should only make very small, timely adjustments to power and pitch, always anticipating what is going to happen next.
So practice stabilized approaches and your “perfect” landing scores will improve.
And don’t worry, you will go through weeks of bad landings and weeks of good landings. Just keep doing what you are suppose to do and the rest will work itself out. Also try this little trick, at 1000 feet take a deep breath, relax your shoulders, and picture the landing you want to make…perfect! Mental projection works.
To Your Flying Success,
Jeffrey
