Another Crap Landing

[facthunter]

Every landing is different in some way. You are not on rails. Without wishing to be too hard I suggest you give it the attention it deserves. If you are doing it sort of by numbers try to break out of that a bit by nothing radical but try to increase your situational awareness. Sink rate and height judgement related to airspeed decay. A "fair" but controlled arrival is better than fluked squeekers. Everyone has a hit the wall period I've heard, but I can't quite work out why that happens . Confidence ... you need some as it can't be much of an idea if you think you can't do it from the start, so think "I can do it" and work at it. Nev

 

 

[biggles]

Good landing in Singapore last night , barely felt touchdown . We'll done JQ 7 boys ! ........ Bob

 

 

[kaz3g]

Lol. Yeah tell me about it. Though with a high performance taildragger packing a radial engine, I can't really see what my landing is going to turn out like until after I hit the ground anyway!

Hi Dutch

 

I took an instructor friend for her first ride in the Auster a few years ago. She got her TW endorsement in a Decathlon and really enjoyed taking the controls and bringing it in to land until the moment she flared:

 

"Where's the runway gone?" (rising inflexion very apparent).

 

Kaz

 

 

[dutchroll]

Hi Dutch"Where's the runway gone?" (rising inflexion very apparent).

Kaz

Lol.

Yeah it's funny the emphasis we pilots put on our landings. Even more so with passengers judging the landings. In fact, it's virtually all they judge. The entire flight can be one giant screw-up where you wish you hadn't even got out of bed that day, but you pull off a smooth touchdown and they all walk off saying "hey wow that was great!"

 

There are so many confounding factors in executing a smooth approach and landing - easily the most difficult phase of flight is the last few hundred feet and it's where you have to force yourself out of your daydream or sightseeing and just do your level best to concentrate on the task at hand (there is no one-size-fits-all method of doing this). The B767 could be a bastard to land. You could do absolutely everything by the book and then the thing would just dump itself on the runway for some random reason, leaving both of you sitting there with quizzical looks, shrugging your shoulders. The non-flying pilot would often turn and say "don't ask me mate - it all looked perfect up to the actual touchdown!" It was considered the height of foolishness to criticise a pilot for his landing, because you could be next.

 

I think people should go easy on criticising their actual touchdown, and just make sure they get the correct techniques sorted out. A good stable approach, the right speed, account for the wind, get the right crosswind technique happening, the right flare technique going, and most importantly, keep flying the plane until it has actually stopped. They're the secret ingredients to concentrate on and the good touchdowns will eventually follow (unless you're flying a B767).

 

After a three hour cross-country on Monday I was on mental autopilot when landing. Lost directional control in a crosswind and was heading for the grass beside the runway so put power on and went around. No problems with the second landing, I was fully alert.

That was an excellent decision to go around. In my opinion that simple split second decision suggests you weren't as un-alert as you may have thought. You should give yourself more credit.

 

 

[Birdseye]

Inability to concentrate is a classic symptom of dehydration, as has already been suggested. I'm guessing you didn't cross too many time zones and you were operating in daylight, so other fatigue issues can probably be discarded.

 

The critical point is that you were sufficiently alert to put on the throttle and go around.

 

How to increase alertness, apart from simple steps like good hydration is a hard one, but a stretch and a mental trigger to sharpen up is a good start. I always used to focus when it was time for FREDA i.e. airfield approach. When I was cricket umpiring hydration was also extremely critical, but a wriggle of the toes and a conscious effort to be alert as the bowler closed in on his run up helped me.

 

Unlike your average Hyundai operator and the road safety fools, driving and flying should be considered skills that can always be improved. You have always to be ahead of the aircraft or you may die. Develop habits or other control measures that will assist you to focus on being just that bit ahead of the aircraft, and ensure your body can pay the cheques that your brain writes.

 

 

[cooperplace]

when I fly commercial, if they do a good landing -very often the case- I always leave a compliment with the crew member at the exit. They are always pleased to have a compliment.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

For those who haven't come across Noel Kruz, or who have lost the link, this is an excellent source of good flying ideas.

 

I especially like his landing approach methods.

 

http://www.flybetter.com.au/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Flybetterbooktwo2ndedition.pdf

 

 

[dazza 38]

For those who haven't come across Noel Kruz, or who have lost the link, this is an excellent source of good flying ideas.I especially like his landing approach methods.

http://www.flybetter.com.au/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/Flybetterbooktwo2ndedition.pdf

He is on Facebook

 

 

[Birdseye]

when I fly commercial, if they do a good landing -very often the case- I always leave a compliment with the crew member at the exit. They are always pleased to have a compliment.

Not sure about the compliments. When I left the aeroplane yesterday I said to the hostie, "nice rack". Well, if looks could kill.

 

 

[Jabiru7252]

On a commercial flight, in a small commuter turbo prop, I asked why such a crap landing and the pilot said "We ran out of aileron". There was a pretty strong wind blowing.

 

 

[facthunter]

That's possible. With differential spoilers you are really in control. Nev

 

 

[Tomo]

Sit up in the seat, take a few deep breaths, wiggle the controls, as someone else already mentioned. (mind you depends on the aircraft!!) If your approach isn't working, the landing won't either - just another way to tell if you're awake.

 

 

[ayavner]

Not sure about the compliments. When I left the aeroplane yesterday I said to the hostie, "nice rack". Well, if looks could kill.

He probably wondered what you were on about...

 

 

 

[Bennyboy320]

If you get fatigued during a 3 hour Navex reduce it to a 2 hours, start the flight a bit later in the day etc, RAA flying should be for FUN in good weather, KISS.