instrument-training private pilots

TangoSix

TangoSix

Well-Known Member
does it seem to you that you make better landings without your instructor?

i just got done with an instrument lesson and i bounced a landing and it severely pissed me off. but i started to think back to my previous flights alone/with friends and remembered having almost perfect landings. to me it seems like there's some type of undue pressure on me to make it perfect, idk. i make better landings without a superior present.


maybe its just a personal thing.
 
I noticed during my instrument training that after 3 hours under the hood shooting approaches, my landings would just about always suck.

But on a VFR flight, they were still just fine.
 
tlewis95 said:
I noticed during my instrument training that after 3 hours under the hood shooting approaches, my landings would just about always suck.

But on a VFR flight, they were still just fine.
Click to expand...
eh i somewhat seem the opposite. when i come out of the hood, usu 300-500 feet agl, i seem to make better landings. but getting in the pattern and all that hoop lah, i seem to think about it more. and as the old saying goes, think long, think wrong.
 
When I started learning instruments my landings were terrible, not they were great to begin with, but the field elevation is a few inches lower now. Staring at the panel with a hood on for an hour or so then transitioning to outside was a tough transition at first.
 
This applied to my VFR flying, but opposite.

I got where I could land smooooooth with a passenger. Solo, I'd bounce, float, whatever. Never pretty.

I think I actually need the weight in the right seat, and it's right at 190lbs. If my pax weighs at least that much, I can usually land nicely. Put a girl in the right seat or someone lighter and I'm back to my solo-type landings.

(the above is mostly tongue-in-cheek with a dash of anecdotal truth)
 
killbilly said:
This applied to my VFR flying, but opposite.

I got where I could land smooooooth with a passenger. Solo, I'd bounce, float, whatever. Never pretty.

I think I actually need the weight in the right seat, and it's right at 190lbs. If my pax weighs at least that much, I can usually land nicely. Put a girl in the right seat or someone lighter and I'm back to my solo-type landings.

(the above is mostly tongue-in-cheek with a dash of anecdotal truth)
Click to expand...

I can relate to that as well, especially when im flying the Cub.

Solo, or with the girls up front, it lands just beautifully, but with a little bit of weight, I can't get my round out to a 3-point landing right at all and pretty much always do that lazy 3-bounce sequence as it runs out of energy.
 
tlewis95 said:
I can relate to that as well, especially when im flying the Cub.

Solo, or with the girls up front, it lands just beautifully, but with a little bit of weight, I can't get my round out to a 3-point landing right at all and pretty much always do that lazy 3-bounce sequence as it runs out of energy.
Click to expand...

My TW instructor pulled a fast one on me to teach that. He didn't tell me we were landing. He said "I want you to fly it one foot off the ground for the length of the runway as slow as you can."

Voila. Naturally perfect 3-pointer. Sneaky bastard he was.
 
My landings got pretty bad during instrument training.....During private I practiced landings non-stop, but in instrument I was much more focused on doing a nice approach than a nice landing.

Wasnt until commercial that I learned how to put a nice approach with a nice landing :D
 
Most students have a hard time landing during instrument training. It takes a little bit of time for your eyes to transition from the hood to looking outside.
 
I had a friend that begged me to safety pilot for him before his instrument check ride back in the day. He made the same claim "I land better when my CFII is not in the plane." He landed, it was fine. The next time we landed, for funnies, I asked him to land on the numbers. We were in a DA20 so this is normal for people who haven't practiced landings in them for a while...we floated probably > 2,000'. Landed fine when using 4,000' of a 5,000' runway, but...
 
Out of the 9-10 landings I did this past Sunday, the worst one I made was one right after I came out from under the hood. There's something about making a long straight in approach that throws off my landings for some reason. I fly a normal pattern and I can make a pretty repeatable approach and landing every time.
 
I do the opposite... I land really well with my instructor but awful by myself or with a buddy...
 
Almost every instrument student I've flown with started the course by taking a huge leap backward in their landing capabilities. I think it has something to do with switching from such an intense eyes-on-panel focus to eyes outside, feeling, and sound. This change happens fairly quick (especially when popping out from under the hood) and I think when people are new to it the transition messes them up.
 
TangoSix said:
eh i somewhat seem the opposite. when i come out of the hood, usu 300-500 feet agl, i seem to make better landings. but getting in the pattern and all that hoop lah, i seem to think about it more. and as the old saying goes, think long, think wrong.
Click to expand...

Here's my guess without knowing any more than what I read in your posts: An instrument approach is the best stabilized approach you can manage under a given set of conditions. When you raise your hood at 200 ft the airplane is in its best position to land. Simple.

Now that you're focusing on instrument training, how's your ability to fly the traffic pattern? I'd be willing to bet your pattern is getting sloppy and that's what is causing you trouble. I always tell my students that the landing starts on the downwind. Passeners judge a landing based on how hard or soft the wheels contact the ground, but as a pilot you have to judge the whole traffic pattern as part of the landing. If your downwind isn't on the exact airspeed, altitude and distance abeam it should be, then fix it! Accepting mediocre performance on the downwind leads to a mediocre base, final and touchdown. What standard are you holding yourself to? Tighten up your standards and your landing trouble will disappear.
 
I threaten my students when they are under the hood on the approach, you better not mess up this landing, or you getting a swift kick to the head. After a few kicks, they land silky smooth every-time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top