How I teach the approach and landing.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

The following is how I teach and describe the approach and height judgement for the flare and height judgement after the flare.
[b]
First the approach from two hundred feet above the landing to the flare point::[/b]

I use a definable point on the runway as the flare point, usually the first big hash marks and runway numbers. This is the aim point for the flare on final, during the last fifty feet  the aim point will start to grow in size and also appear to spread out in your vision, at about twenty feet the picture will become quite clear that you are about to fly into the runway. It is at this point that I start the flare with most light aircraft.

Note:

Rather than describe to the student what I am seeing I have them memorise what they observe during the approach by what they see as I call out each different height above the surface.

By using this method the student will quickly imprint the picture that she / he is seeing as they get closer and closer to the point they are aiming for.

( The method I use is having them memorise the closing rate and height above the flare point and touch down  as I verbally call the the height they are passing.

Starting at two hundred feet, I verbally say one hundred feet, then fifty feet, then twenty five feet then at twenty feet " start the flare ".

Once established in the flare the height call outs become more frequent - fifteen , ten feet and from that height I call the closure by the foot,,, ten, nine , eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. )

Once the flare is started you then look straight ahead down the runway to the point where apparent movement of the runway markers towards you ceases.

[b]What is................... " Apparent movement of the runway towards you ceases" ..........[/b]

There is a point ahead of the airplane where the apparent movement of the runway markers towards you will cease to move towards you, the closer to your position you look the faster the apparent movement becomes, the further away you look the slower this movement towards you becomes until it stops. This point will change with the speed of the airplane. This is what I describe as " The point at which apparent movement ceases. "

For small training airplanes that approach in the 50 to 70 knot speed envelope the point at which apparent movement of the runway marks towards you ceases will be approximately five hundred feet ahead of the airplane.

That is the distance ahead of the airplane that your centre of sight should be aimed at. This will give you the best picture that will allow you to best judge height looking to far ahead degrades your ability to judge height.

You can see the runway get closer in your peripheral vision as the runway movement close to the airplane changes. Also you can see the far end of the runway in the top of your peripheral vision, which is your attitude guide that allows you to change the attitude as speed and lift decays.

Ideally the airplane should contact the runway in the attitude that the stall occurs. ( Except wheel landings in taildraggers. )

If the nose blocks out your view ahead as you increase the nose up attitude during the hold off all you need do is move your head and sight line to the side and look along the side nose at the runway still using the same distance ahead that gives the picture  you need.

Note as you slow down the runway movement picture moves progressively closer. ( About three to five hundred feet ahead is just about right at touch down.


I am willing to keep answering any and all questions about how I teach height and speed judgement, all I wish to do is make flying safer and easier for those who fly for the love of it.

This system works for me because I have been using it for many decades.  I used to teach crop dusting where if you do not know how to accurately judge height and closure rate with the surface you can die in the crash into the ground.



By the way:::

I used a camcorder for all my advanced flight training, when the student starts to lose the picture during the training it is easy to review it right after the flight by stopping the video recording and asking the student where they nwere looking and what did they see at that exact time.

and explain where it started to go wrong and explain to them how to correct as soon as the picture changes.



((  The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no.  ))
Chuck Ellsworth is offline 

[Chuck Ellsworth]

I really have not spent much time proof reading the above but as of I get comments looking for clarification or reasons for what I wrote I will try and make it more easy to understand.

The written word sometimes does not do justice to teaching flying.

[Colonel]

Probably the biggest problem I've seen, in students learning to land, is
that they PIO in pitch in the flare over the runway.

The aircraft is slowing, which is continually changing the pitch response,
which doesn't make it any easier.

Generally, until he gets some practice, the student is behind the airplane,
so he flares too late, and when he recognizes his error, he pulls back too
much and up we go.

A landing, after all is precision formation in slow flight, with the runway.

Student pilots can't fly formation at 10 hours.  They can't even control the
aircraft in slow flight, because their instructor is afraid to spend any time
there.

No wonder they have trouble landing.

First thing, is to take the student to the practice area, and spend some time
in slow flight.  Don't worry about the altitude.  It's all about controlling the
aircraft at high alpha.

I'm not sure anyone cares what we think, Chuck.  We are 20th Century pilots,
after all.

Pro Tip To Students:  You are approaching too fast.  I don't even need to see
the airspeed indicator to know that.  When I watch students on final, if they
have the nosewheel tucked down, they are approaching too fast.

Learn to safely slow down the aircraft.  Learn to precisely fly any assigned airspeed
on final.  Hint:  don't saw away at the throttle.  Figure out a nominal power setting
for your config (flaps, gear, weight) and use it.

Energy is a function of velocity SQUARED.  So, an excess of 10 or 20 mph on final
which everybody likes, enormously increases the energy you have to dissipate
during the flare and touchdown.  This makes it harder to land.

If you approach slightly slower, you will often have a firmer touchdown - which causes
pilot everywhere to burst into tears - but with a lot less energy, the rollout is over a lot
sooner.

There are some really shitty pilots, by Canadian standards, called Sean Tucker and
Skip Stewart.  They will approach at full throttle and Vne.  On very short final, the
throttle comes all the way back, and the drag from their three-bladed composite
props rapidly decelerates their shitty little biplanes to 120 mph for a wheel landing
on the numbers, with a rollout with the tail 'way up in the air and full forward stick.

Now, all Canadian pilots can fly better than Skip Stewart and Sean Tucker.  I get
the virtue signalling.  But it takes a real pro to approach very fast and get a good
landing out of it.

Dear old Dad, whom TC says is a really shitty pilot, did a no-BLC approach in an F-104
at Cold Lake, which was very fast and very dicey, touching down above the rated
speed of the tires and the chute.  I'm sure you think you're a much better pilot than
he was, but don't do that.  Land slower.

[Colonel]

Here's another no-BLC landing for you:

[img width=500 height=62][/img]

Destroyed, unlike the one Dad landed at Cold Lake, which was not damaged
during the landing, and was soon repaired and flying again.

But Dear Old Dad's a [i]really shitty[/i] pilot compared to a TC Inspector, I am told.

I wish I had a Golden Arm like a TC Inspector.

[Colonel]

Here's a litmus test for stick & rudder skills:

Jump into a Beech 18 solo and check yourself out in it.

I did it, with ease, and I'm a really shitty pilot, so all Canadian pilots
should have no problem with it, because they have virtue.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

[quote]Jump into a Beech 18 solo and check yourself out in it.

I did it, with ease, and I'm a really shitty pilot, so all Canadian pilots
should have no problem with it, because they have virtue.[/quote]

I can remember when you asked me if the rumours about the Beech 18 being a tiger to fly were true.

I told you the Beech 18 was just another airplane designed for pilots with average skills to fly so just read the manual walk around it,  sit in it and get comfortable finding the things you will need to fly it ......and fly it.

I was correct right?

There is so much bull shit flying around by pilots who in some cases should not be flying anything that it is almost impossible to breath the air they expel with their B.S.

[Colonel]

Unlike so many others, I value your advice, Chuck.

The fact that you are still living after so many decades of unusual flying
means that you know some things about how to survive, and boy, are
they ever worth learning.

All my friends are dead.