Landing technique

[hprass]

I've been landing the Archer and the 310 by trimming the plane so that the descent path requires a slight forward stick pressure. The flare then becomes a matter of releasing the pressure and/or pulling back slightly on the stick.
This technique produces smooth as silk touchdowns and seems to eliminate last minute stalls.
Is this a "flight sim" only procedure or is it also a legit "real aviation" technique?

HP

[RiddlePilot]

Personally, I like to hold a little back pressure all the way through the final approach. I just feel a little more in control of the flare having kept a slight amount of back pressure at all times. If I start from a neutral trim, I find that I tend to yank the yoke back in search of that inital stick force/resistance for the flare.
Remember, if you ask 100 pilots you'll get 100 different answers. So as long as you land it on the mains first, on the centerline, with plenty of runway to spare and not too much speed...your technique is the right one.

[Nels_Anderson]

Seems like a flightsim technique to me. It's certainly not how I fly the real Archer!

"Smooth as silk" landings in light planes are not really the norm. In the real world you're always dealing with wind and turbulance that the sims do not accurately recreate. To deal with this you need to fly the plane right down to the runway and make constant little adjustments. Trim is of course used to remove control pressure but the technique you suggest could only work under ideal conditions.

Techniques like this do tend to work better as planes get larger and heavier of course.

[flyinggriffin]

When it comes to light planes this will only work in a sim. I would say that one out of a hundred real life landings come close to the idea conditions you get in the sim.

In a real airplane if you were to go around with the trim set like that it would be very interesting. Even when you are trimmed for a normal glide, and you give it power it requires quick trimming or you will be fighting a trim stall. Remember that when you go to full power that the prop wash will push the tail down and the nose will pop up.

[KathyPilot]

I've never tried that in RW mainly because it is not, IMHO, a good technique.

Trim with pitch and power for the glide path (the best you can for the conditions - wind and turb) and make constant pressure adjustment with the yoke (power too if necessary) to maintain. You will be busy enough with other things - trying to maintain just the right amount of pressure on the yoke is just added distraction. Funny, I had to think about that because after a while it is second nature. I personnally have a bad habit, especially in IFR, to ride the slope a bit high - mostly near the IM and about a half dot, so being out of trim would just cause me more problems.

I also recommend landing the aircraft. Meaning, make firm contact with the runway and get the lift out of the wings as soon as possible - especially with any cross winds. All this "grease this one" talk is kinda silly if you ask me. I can still hear my Dad yelling "Plant the DA## aircraft on the runway will ya girl" (thanks for making me think of him BTW).

Good Luck
Kathy

[lnuss]

Some very good advice above. I'd be very uncomfortable with a technique or procedure that would potentially put me in a stall if my attention were diverted, especially after adding power for a go-around -- the propwash makes the nose go up more than it would otherwise -- and I'd be just as reluctant to do the opposite and have the nose drop when near the ground if my attention were diverted.

Keep in mind that, in addition to the fine comments above about turbulence, firm landings, etc., that control pressures in a real aircraft are nothing like those on the sim, and the sim also doesn't completely behave as a real aircraft would, especially in slow flight (which you are doing on final approach), even in perfectly smooth air (which is rare). In real life, you're going to be constantly making small corrections, even with the aircraft properly trimmed. You also have a LOT better visual cues in real life, not to mention the "feel" of things that is not present in the sim.

So if you're thinking of your technique in terms of helping you when you someday go for a real world license, I'd suggest you change now to keep the aircraft trimmed for hand off on approach, then learn where to look when flaring for the landing -- way down the runway, not near the nose. If you can't see the far end of the runway during the flare in the sim, then either use the virtual cockpit or "raise your seat" (SHIFT ENTER/BACKSPACE/etc.) so that you CAN see.

[chasw]

In defence of the technique, let's mention that the control throw in FS is considerably less in joystick motion than it is in real birds - the fulcrum point is about a foot and a half shorter for a start. I find that, particularly with a FF stick, the absence of force from the force feedback and the sloppiness at neutral stick position makes it very hard to `feel` your way onto the runway in the sim. The use of either nose up or nose down trim so that force CAN be felt, whether it be push or pull, by making the controller move into its range of motion, helps make small control adjustments in the final stages of landing easier.
In most GA in the sim I carry a little power right through final, so that with power taken off in the last foot or so, the sim aircraft settles pretty realistically onto the runway if close to stall. Not a classical `greaser` but good technique as you always have the option to reduce or increase power, whereas if you shut the throttle you ONLY have the option to increase, reducing the options.

Chas

[saabpilot98]

In my opinion, that's a bad habit. I agree with LNUSS, you are setting yourself up for a potential catastrophe in the event you get a last second "go around". You'll be fighting the airplane to keep the nose down while doing other stuff to get the airplane climbing. The students I fly with, I'm more impressed by consistant stabilized approaches then rolling the airplane on. I suggest you keep practicing and break that habit, eventually the flaring technique will be second nature.

Capt. Bob

[flyinggriffin]

The Skylane RG is normally flown on with a bit of power. This is to help keep the nose from dropping. The nosewheel assembly is a bit fragile compared to the rest of the plane.

[Captain_Slarty]

Kathy.. doodess... ;-)

thanks for also reminding me of 'daddy'...

Do ya know, not a week goes by that I dont think of ringing him for advice.. :-(


ya kinda miss whats gone....

I too was taught to plant it (admirably - the British way - lol).. but get it down, and NOT flying.. is the way you walk to the teas store lol....


Joe :-)