I need Help Please :(((( (LANDING)

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Persian_Pilot

Well-Known Member
Hello JCs,
Well I started my flight training a few weeks ago at SLCC. Every things were going perfect till today :( when I am on the final appro I can not maintain the speed ( 63kt ). I either go too fast or too slow. hmm another thing that makes landings hard for me is that as soon as i touch down i apply full brakes. i just wanna see if you guys had the same problem or not. If so is there anything that i can do to make my landings better ? any idea ? hints ? .....anything at all ? ;)
Thanks,
 
Persian_Pilot said:
If so is there anything that i can do to make my landings better ? any idea ? hints ? .....anything at all ? ;)
Thanks,
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Practice, practice, practice....
 
Are you landing on a short field? I find when I do a short field landing (3000 or less) I want to hit the brakes and stop ASAP. Just relax and roll down the runway theres no hurry to stop if you have enough room. There is the occasional time I inadvertinately lock up the brakes trying to stop for a taxiway to avoid a long back taxi. You will become more comfortable with more landings you get under your belt.
 
Persian_Pilot said:
I am trying , but i have this bad habit that i wanna push the pedals ( brakes ) all the way as soon i touch down :(
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Slamming on the breaks at touchdown speeds can be dangerous. But I think everyone new to flying does it as initial response to contact with the runway.

If you have a long runway with no traffic on your six as you slow your speed with bleed off.
 
Persian_Pilot said:
I am trying , but i have this bad habit that i wanna push the pedals ( brakes ) all the way as soon i touch down :(
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Just...don't. I'm not sure of any other way to put it. Unless you're landing with excessive speed, or on a fairly short runway, you probably don't even need any brakes at all.

As for the problem of holding 63 knots on final--at this stage (pre-solo, I assume), who cares? The important thing is to be stabilized and not "fishing" for a particular airspeed, or pitch attitude, or whatever. Chances are good that just about any airspeed between 60 and 70 will get the job done.

So I would say focus less on your airspeed and more on an aiming point on the runway. If the point starts sliding under your nose, pitch down a little and reduce the power a little. If it starts sliding up, pitch up a little, and add a little power.

With practice you should start to feel if you're too fast or too slow. Too slow and the nose will be a little higher than usual and the controls will feel a little mushy. Too fast and you'll feel like you have to push forward and force the plane to come down. When things are "just right" it'll feel fairly effortless and the plane will glide down on its own.
 
jrh said:
Just...don't. I'm not sure of any other way to put it. Unless you're landing with excessive speed, or on a fairly short runway, you probably don't even need any brakes at all.

As for the problem of holding 63 knots on final--at this stage (pre-solo, I assume), who cares? The important thing is to be stabilized and not "fishing" for a particular airspeed, or pitch attitude, or whatever.
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:yeahthat:

Just let the thing roll. Look, I did some of my flying on a 2800 foot runway, with a 200 foot displaced threshold. But you know what, that's still about double what I needed for a C172 to land!

And for the speed, get it stabilized. Once you start to get used to things, you'll hit the magic number without even trying.
 
ajf005 said:
Are you landing on a short field? .
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hmmm now that makes me to think of another question. lol
we were doing touch and go at SLC Int'l Runway 35. I am not really sure how long is the runway but It's diff more then 3000 ft. so my question is if we are doing touch and go, since you don't have the entire runway for landing , would that be a short field or not ?

Thanks bro the response ;)
 
Maximillian_Jenius said:
Slamming on the breaks at touchdown speeds can be dangerous. But I think everyone new to flying does it as initial response to contact with the runway.

If you have a long runway with no traffic on your six as you slow your speed with bleed off.
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That's what my CFI told me ( Slamming on brakes at touchdown is dangerous ) well of course he also screamed sinaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Easyyyyyyyyyy man lol
 
tonyw said:
:yeahthat:


And for the speed, get it stabilized. Once you start to get used to things, you'll hit the magic number without even trying.
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that's my plan for sunday ;) hopefuly i can stabilize my speed and make my CFI's day hella better lol

Thanks bro ;)
 
Keep your heels on the floor board and only let the tips of your toes on the rudders. That way you can't touch the brakes.

If you are really having problems, tell your CFI to work the rudders until you get the rest of it down and then take the rudders back.
 
You could try moving your feet down, lower on the rudder pedals. Use the balls of your feet to push the pedals, keeping your toes below the breaks. That way when you land you wont push the breaks with your toes. Do this till you get comfortable with your landings, then move them back up.
Dont do this if you are landing on a short field, as it could cause more problems than help.

As for your speed on final, you dont have to be exactly at 63kts. Faster is better than slower of course. Just get the airspeed stable and maintain a good stable approach, keeping your speed as close as possible to target. (65kts might be easier to see on the airspeed indicator.) And dont stare at the instruments, keep your eyes outside, and just glance down at your airspeed to make sure you are not getting too slow.

My students always had trouble with the round-out and flare. I taught them to fly through target "windows". Starting abeam the #'s on downwind. Turning base, turning final, and short final. Then an aiming point and a landing point. You had to be configured properly at the right altitude in order to fly through the "window".

Once you make it to your aiming point, begin the round out, level the plane, and look at the far end of the runway to judge your height, let the plane land with a little flare.

I had a very hard time with landings when I was learning, my instructor didn't really have a structured approach to landings. He just said "you'll get it eventually with more practice". Once I figured out this teaching method, my students learned to land faster than I did. :nana2:
 
tonyw said:
And for the speed, get it stabilized. Once you start to get used to things, you'll hit the magic number without even trying.
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63 kts is the perfect speed.

You are nowehere near perfect, yet.

Stabilize somewhere between 60-70 and hold that (67, 65, whatever), good enough is good enough at this stage in the game. I'm sure your CFI will agree.

Relax and take your time. If flying was easy then everybody would do it.
 
Shouldn't he be stablizied prior to turning base? I was taught to do my GUMPS check downwind. When you put out a notch of flaps that nose is going to come up. So I always anticipated it and pitched for 63-65 knts. Turning base I was putting in my 20 degrees of flaps (I flew a 172SP) and on final putting in flaps 30.

The GA runway in TUS is 11R/29L and is 8404 ft. 11R has a 1410 ft. displaced threshold I by way of GUMPS am fully stabilized for the approach and my aiming point is the three arrows on the threshold. Making the arrows my aiming point I can float and land on the numbers.
 
It has already been said, but I will second it, (Or third it.) Keep your heels on the floor until after touch down. The balls of your feet (I just said balls) should be on the bottom of the pedals. That should keep you from using and/ or locking the brakes and putting a flat spot on a wheel, and incurring the associated, sudden uncommanded cursing from your instructor.
As far as the rest goes, just keep plugging away and it will come. When I instructed I found that many of my private students would have a flight where things just came together and the "I finally get it!" light would come on. Give it some time and your body and mind will develop a more natural feel for it.
 
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