Flight Training - August 2023 - 6

ALWAYS LEARNING BY SARAH DEENER
Editor SARAH DEENER has learned
far more about landings since
earning her private pilot certificate
than she did in primary training.
sarah.deener@aopa.org
When the touchdown goes wrong, it's
easy to focus on the touchdown. But the
tires kissing the runway is the final touch,
not the essence of a good landing. And
model-specific details like the 182's heavy
nose matter, but they're secondary to the
basic principles of landing.
WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES
IN A FUNK, IT HELPS TO GO
BACK TO THE BASICS.
SECRETS TO GOOD
LANDINGS
My landings were fine, and then they weren't. After months of
routine touchdowns, one day I flared too high, and the airplane
dropped firmly onto the runway. No worries; ungraceful landings
happen sometimes. But the next flight, I didn't pull back far
enough on the yoke and planted the airplane on the pavement in
a flat attitude. The next flight, more of the same. I was in a rut.
I posed my dilemma to some pilot friends. The Cessna 182 is notoriously noseheavy
on landing, so their suggestions zeroed in on increasing elevator authority
and raising the nose in those final seconds. There were as many strategies as there
were pilots: Carry power into the flare. Use the electric trim to add nose-up trim.
Set full nose-up trim, using the trim wheel only. Use two hands on the yoke to
increase the back-pressure.
I tried one, and then another. Still, the wheels touched down with a thud.
So, I took the airplane out one morning just to practice landings, and this time I
focused on fundamentals. The first time around the pattern, I was too high turning
onto final approach. I pulled back the power to increase the descent rate but
overcorrected, and then I needed to add power on short final. That meant I arrived
over the threshold with excess power for the roundout and flare and...thud.
It wasn't about the last few seconds, or the peculiarities of the nose-heavy 182.
My problem was basic energy management on approach. The next time around, I
made smaller power corrections and focused on keeping the aim point steady in the
windscreen throughout final approach, giving me less to manage in the flare. The
main wheels touched down just before the nosewheel-still a bit flat, but better. My
third landing was gloriously routine.
6
FLIGHT TRAINING AUGUST 2023
Switching between the 182 and an
airplane with a better glide ratio had
contributed to my initial overcorrection
on final approach-I had subconsciously
anticipated needing a larger power
reduction to descend to the glide path,
based on recent experience in the Van's
Aircraft RV-12. But the 182 requires no
special technique for staying on glide
path, just a commitment to observe and
adapt. And tips like how and when to
roll in trim can be helpful, but many
amount to personal preference. The
most important elements of a landing are
consistent no matter what we fly. When
we find ourselves in a funk, it helps to
go back to the basics. Then, we can move
on to finesse.
As a student, I resented the concept
of " finessing " a landing. It felt as if I
were supposed to wake up one morning
and just know what it should feel like to
flare. But many elements come together
for a good landing: an approach that is
on glide path and on speed, smooth and
timely pitch and power corrections, wind
within your limits, good depth perception
and attitude control within the flare.
Finesse isn't a mystical talent, just the
culmination of these skills.
In a dramatic scene from Kung Fu
Panda-bear with me, I have little kids-
the title character's father reveals the
secret ingredient in the family's famous
" secret ingredient soup. " Spoiler alert:
It's nothing. Our lovable panda already
has what he needs to take on the snow
leopard terrorizing the valley. He just
needs to believe in himself.
So, I'll take the lesson from a cartoon
goose. There's no secret ingredient to
a good landing. Just the principles I've
known all along. FT
Flight Training - August 2023

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