Landing on hotter day

[rotorspeed]

On landing on a hotter day like yesterday where it was 80f in 172 is there more ground effect when over the runway. It seemed more sensitive to input or is that not true

[FlyingMonkey]

Hi Rotorspeed,

Changes in temperature will not give you more or less ground effect. What you will experience on hotter days that will affect your aircrafts landing performance is an increase in true airspeed. This will result in longer landing distances and in some cases on very hot days, noticeably faster landing speeds while indicated airspeed remains the same.

[rotorspeed]

Ok it just seemed when I was coming in at correct speed,65knots, the plane was reacting more to input

[FlyingMonkey]

We’re you lighter that day than usual?

[LifeAt90Kts]

You’re confusing indicated (IAS) and true (TAS)airspeed. Your true airspeed for a given indicated airspeed will vary with temperature and pressure, like, for example, on a hot day

[rotorspeed]

Maybe a bit lighter from fuel but not drastically

[Boreas]

What runway surface?

Relatively dark pavement on a hot, sunny day will heat up more than the areas surround it. When transitioning over this pavement from say the pre-threshold grass, you might experience slightly more lift, which can give off the impression of "more ground effect".