How I teach landings:

[Cat Driver]

Different people use different visual clues to program their brain to engage the muscle transmitters that result in aircraft control movements that changes the path the airplane is on at the moment.

Teaching landings can be very difficult for some instructors due to the inability to paint a word picture that relates to height above the ground, especially during the latter stage of the landing...the hold off portion.

Once I am assured the student understands the concept of height judgment being the key to good safe landings here is how I teach this exercise.

The last hundred feet is what I concentrate on once the student can fly a decent profile to the intended flare point which for this exercise is usually the runway numbers.

There are three separate stages to a normal landing, the approach, the flare and the hold off stage.

To teach height judgment to the flare I have them use the runway numbers as the center of their aim point and then I count down the height to the flare starting at 100 feet as follows.

100 feet

50 feet.

40 feet

30 feet.

25 feet.

20 feet...start flare now.

15 feet and the airplane should be parallel to the landing surface with height still decaying in ground effect.

10 feet still in after flare attitude and at this point I expect them to raise the nose to the landing attitude.

From here I teach them to be looking straight ahead at the center line where apparent movement ceases. ( in light aircraft about five hundred feet down the runway. )

As speed and lift decays in the landing attitude I continue the count down...........

By 5 feet they must be in the correct landing attitude.

4, 3 , 2, 1, touch down.

Over the decades I have found this method to work just fine and it streamlines the need for trying to paint a visual picture for them as they will learn what the picture looks like by following my verbal call out of height above the runway and changing the attitude at the proper height to the attitude desired for that portion of the landing.

The foregoing method is only my personal way to teach people height judgment and attitude changes to accomplish consistent safe approaches and landings and I have wrote this so those who wish to think about can do so.......not as a definitive correct way to teach this exercise.......however for me it has produced great results over the decades.

[Cat Driver]

I am not sure I should even be trying to explain this stuff at this time as I am still having a lot of difficulty trying to learn to get on with my life since I lost my wife.

However I decided to try if for no other reason than it occupies my time and helps to distract where my mind wanders all the time.

I also use a camcorder for teaching height judgment but I am to tired to go into that at this time.....

.......If I find I have screwed this up I will edit it where and if I see it needs editing as I either do this now or I will probably never do it.

[sky's the limit]

Thanks Cat,

Great post, and of course my deepest condolences. I hope to stop in sometime soon.

stl

[Cat Driver]

Please do STL.

I am not living at home at the present as I found it to be more than I could bear so I bought a new motohome that I have been living in since the first of Dec......but I am almost ready to try going back home soon.

Let me know when you will be in town and I will meet you at my house.

..

[sky's the limit]

For sure. I'm heading back to the middle east next week for a month, but am planning on being on the Island in March.

Take care of yourself.

g

[shitdisturber]

I am not sure I should even be trying to explain this stuff at this time as I am still having a lot of difficulty trying to learn to get on with my life since I lost my wife.

However I decided to try if for no other reason than it occupies my time and helps to distract where my mind wanders all the time.

I also use a camcorder for teaching height judgment but I am to tired to go into that at this time.....

.......If I find I have screwed this up I will edit it where and if I see it needs editing as I either do this now or I will probably never do it.

Go nuts .. If it helps you deal with your loss and helps some instructor who's at his or her wits end trying to teach landings to someone then I figure it's a win win situation.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Different people use different visual clues to program their brain to engage the muscle transmitters that result in aircraft control movements that changes the path the airplane is on at the moment.

Teaching landings can be very difficult for some instructors due to the inability to paint a word picture that relates to height above the ground, especially during the latter stage of the landing...the hold off portion.

Once I am assured the student understands the concept of height judgment being the key to good safe landings here is how I teach this exercise.

The last hundred feet is what I concentrate on once the student can fly a decent profile to the intended flare point which for this exercise is usually the runway numbers.

There are three separate stages to a normal landing, the approach, the flare and the hold off stage.

To teach height judgment to the flare I have them use the runway numbers as the center of their aim point and then I count down the height to the flare starting at 100 feet as follows.

100 feet

50 feet.

40 feet

30 feet.

25 feet.

20 feet...start flare now.

15 feet and the airplane should be parallel to the landing surface with height still decaying in ground effect.

10 feet still in after flare attitude and at this point I expect them to raise the nose to the landing attitude.

From here I teach them to be looking straight ahead at the center line where apparent movement ceases. ( in light aircraft about five hundred feet down the runway. )

As speed and lift decays in the landing attitude I continue the count down...........

By 5 feet they must be in the correct landing attitude.

4, 3 , 2, 1, touch down.

Over the decades I have found this method to work just fine and it streamlines the need for trying to paint a visual picture for them as they will learn what the picture looks like by following my verbal call out of height above the runway and changing the attitude at the proper height to the attitude desired for that portion of the landing.

The foregoing method is only my personal way to teach people height judgment and attitude changes to accomplish consistent safe approaches and landings and I have wrote this so those who wish to think about can do so.......not as a definitive correct way to teach this exercise.......however for me it has produced great results over the decades.

+ 1 to the advice . has given. The only thing I would add is to reinforce the importance of accurate flying during the final approach. If the nose is nodding up and down on final approach as the students chases the airspeed indicator they will have great difficulty in judging the flare. At the beginning I want the last 500 feet of the final approach to always look the same and will provide the necessary coaching to get them to the right spot. My home airport has the luxury of long runways so I start with the thousand foot markers as the aim point, moving back to the numbers as they gain skill. But at the of the day it is landing at the intended point on the runway , wherever that is, that is the important skill to be demonstrated.

[bandaid]

Might be there next weekend . and the coffee is on me. No promises yet but I will keep you in the loop. wifey is feeling a tug on her ambilicle cord. Anything you need?

[cdnpilot77]

How then do you progress to short field landings? Im not an instructor but find this topic interesting.

[Cat Driver]

How then do you progress to short field landings? Im not an instructor but find this topic interesting.

Once you are competent in energy conservation ( attitude and airspeed ) and you can judge closing rate and height down to a few inches a short field landing is just another landing.

The best type of flying I ever did was aerial application and after a few years you get so good at flying at one or two feet all day long it becomes second nature.

I am building a Cub for maybe doing some training and have a real high quality AOA in it and then airspeed becomes secondary.

[Cat Driver]

Anything you need?

Only time will fill my needs Bandaid.

Be my pleasure to see you again.

[cgartly]

Thanks for posting the above ., and my condolences also.

I am a 225 hr PPL who can land the plane every time but am still struggling to make EVERY landing a really good landing. Some are firmer than I would like them to be.

There are some on this forum that I would love the privilege to have provide me with some instruction but I don't know where any of you are!

[shitdisturber]

Thanks for posting the above ., and my condolences also.

I am a 225 hr PPL who can land the plane every time but am still struggling to make EVERY landing a really good landing. Some are firmer than I would like them to be.

There are some on this forum that I would love the privilege to have provide me with some instruction but I don't know where any of you are!

.'s in Nanaimo, Shiney and I are in the Cowgary area; beyond that, I can't help you.

[Cat Driver]

I am a 225 hr PPL who can land the plane every time but am still struggling to make EVERY landing a really good landing. Some are firmer than I would like them to be.

There are some on this forum that I would love the privilege to have provide me with some instruction but I don't know where any of you are!

When I am feeling well enough again to finish building my Cub my long term plan is to do some training on it.

We have a couple of airports close enough to Nanaimo that have little or no traffic where we can do short circuits.

To get started in being comfortable with handling the airplane we do a half hour of alternating left and right hand circuits that do not exceed one minute from touch down to touch down.

From there we move on to more demanding stuff.

[Shiny Side Up]

Thanks for posting the above ., and my condolences also.

I am a 225 hr PPL who can land the plane every time but am still struggling to make EVERY landing a really good landing. Some are firmer than I would like them to be.

There are some on this forum that I would love the privilege to have provide me with some instruction but I don't know where any of you are!

.'s in Nanaimo, Shiney and I are in the Cowgary area; beyond that, I can't help you.

Sounds like you're wanting to get back into flight training. I can only assume that you're starting to suffer from cabin fever.

[Hedley]

Here's a great trick I've learned, when you have a student experiencing difficulty with landings.

Tell him:

-- cut --

Today, we are not going to try landing. Instead, today we are going to have
some fun and do some low flying. Now, I know that low flying is evil, but it's ok, we're
going to do some anyways.

We're going to do a circuit, and set the airplane up as you normally do. But instead of
trying to land, I want you to fly as low as you can, over the runway, without touching
down.

-- cut --

The student is probably pretty frustrated with his difficulty at landings, and this is
great fun for him. Initially, use enough power to keep him just airborne, so he
spends some time in ground effect and gets used to the sight picture at a height
of around 2 or 3 feet. Make sure you don't run out of runway. After he gets
the hang of it, pull the power on him and tell him to get as low as he can, but
to try to keep the aircraft airborne.

He will make a beautiful landing, because you don't land a light aircraft - you
put it 6 inches above the ground, reduce the power to idle, and try to keep
it flying, as the airspeed decreases.

If you are flying a nosewheel trainer (blech) remember the prime directive,
which is to protect the nosewheel. No wheelbarrowing or porpoising!

[cessnafloatflyer]

Similar to what i do for students having trouble judging heights. I call it the hover drill. We fly over the water in the landing configuration (calm day) at about 5-10 feet over the water in the flare attitude. Height is maintained by power changes. If we go up, power comes back and if we touch the water power comes on but hte purpose is to see for extended periods of time what it looks like to be at 10 feet and ready to come down and how power changes can get you there.

[shitdisturber]

Thanks for posting the above ., and my condolences also.

I am a 225 hr PPL who can land the plane every time but am still struggling to make EVERY landing a really good landing. Some are firmer than I would like them to be.

There are some on this forum that I would love the privilege to have provide me with some instruction but I don't know where any of you are!

.'s in Nanaimo, Shiney and I are in the Cowgary area; beyond that, I can't help you.

Sounds like you're wanting to get back into flight training. I can only assume that you're starting to suffer from cabin fever.

It's been minus twenty something for a week, the cabin's just fine thanks!

[Cat Driver]

Last week I posted this to see if any new instructors would try this method of teaching height judgment:::::

Different people use different visual clues to program their brain to engage the muscle transmitters that result in aircraft control movements that changes the path the airplane is on at the moment.

Teaching landings can be very difficult for some instructors due to the inability to paint a word picture that relates to height above the ground, especially during the latter stage of the landing...the hold off portion.

Once I am assured the student understands the concept of height judgment being the key to good safe landings here is how I teach this exercise.

The last hundred feet is what I concentrate on once the student can fly a decent profile to the intended flare point which for this exercise is usually the runway numbers.

There are three separate stages to a normal landing, the approach, the flare and the hold off stage.

To teach height judgment to the flare I have them use the runway numbers as the center of their aim point and then I count down the height to the flare starting at 100 feet as follows.

100 feet

50 feet.

40 feet

30 feet.

25 feet.

20 feet...start flare now.

15 feet and the airplane should be parallel to the landing surface with height still decaying in ground effect.

10 feet still in after flare attitude and at this point I expect them to raise the nose to the landing attitude.

From here I teach them to be looking straight ahead at the center line where apparent movement ceases. ( in light aircraft about five hundred feet down the runway. )

As speed and lift decays in the landing attitude I continue the count down...........

By 5 feet they must be in the correct landing attitude.

4, 3 , 2, 1, touch down.

Over the decades I have found this method to work just fine and it streamlines the need for trying to paint a visual picture for them as they will learn what the picture looks like by following my verbal call out of height above the runway and changing the attitude at the proper height to the attitude desired for that portion of the landing.

The foregoing method is only my personal way to teach people height judgment and attitude changes to accomplish consistent safe approaches and landings and I have wrote this so those who wish to think about can do so.......not as a definitive correct way to teach this exercise.......however for me it has produced great results over the decades

.

So far only the regular high time people have commented, is there any low time instructors who tried it yet?

[Shiny Side Up]

..

[gaamin]

I'm one of them low time instructors. I was a glider pilot back in France, I'm an advocate of better stick and rudder skills, I still have a lot to learn on how to instill the "aim for excellence" attitude into the variety of students I teach. Or perhaps I'm just naive that it is possible.

Coming here on avcanada, I indeed feel a bit intimidated by the cumulative experience of many people who post more often.
What I read from such people as you Cat, MichaelP, Hedley, ODF, BPF, SSU, STL, etc... makes me think about how I instruct, makes me tweak my instruction based on your contributions.
Arguments where someone wants to have the last word and prove someone else wrong remind me too much of France.

I like a challenge, I learn a lot, I have little to share that would add to what was written in this thread because I haven't gone far enough in my instruction apprenticeship.

To reach a better attitude for the landing :
- engine off, student at the controls, elevator up, I push the tail all the way down till the tie-down hook touches the ground; usually it helps the student stop fearing a tailstrike, and hints towards more nose-up for people who tend to land too flat
- high-speed taxi on inactive runway

Multiple touch-and-goes on a 10000ft runway, using about 1500ft for each : the very small time between each repetition seems to help tweak details.

Before we even get to the landing part, some of my students (especially the 60+ ones) have trouble getting a stable approach. Either altitude or speed goes out of control. For them :
- more power-off approaches. Side effects : glide judgement and control is better when comes the time for a forced approach from altitude, exposure to illusions created by drift is better, sideslip practice is a regular occurence
- more hidden panel; even if they had it a lot from me in their first lessons, some are still surprised an aircraft can fly S+L, land, take-off, without seeing the instruments; it's never too late to develop a feel for the airplane, or else what will happen the day the pitot or static is blocked?

[Pirate Pilot]

O.K. ., I get what you wrote. All good....when you get to the 5,4,3,2,1 touch down do you want the stall horn to just wake up a little bit at about 3 or 2??? Not the big sound, just a little blleeaaat?? Just wondering? I get my best and smoothess landings when I do that?
P.S. Is smoothess a word?

[Finnegan]

My last stint at instructing was an off-season gig (not much aerial app in the prairies in the winter!!) back in the 80's. That's an interesting approach (no pun intended) .; probably could have used it way back then. I'm just up the road from you in Qualicum (unfortunately off-season only and still spraying after 36 years).
I used to let my students bounce a few good ones to keep them on their toes - they almost always had that period after a few good landings where they took a few steps back. Don't know if that was the right approach or not, but it seemed to get their attention.
When I was checking guys out that were really rusty or had marginal skills, I'd concentrate on actual landings by getting them to set up a smooth approach way back so that they weren't making large adjustments at the last minute and I would stress small changes in attitude, power.... Some of them would watch our tight approaches in the Cats or AT's and try to emulate, resulting in sensory overload and ensuing panic when things went sideways. What they didn't realize was that some of us had 20-30,000 landings behind us, mostly on gravel or dirt roads.

A good stiff crosswind still keeps it interesting.

[Cat Driver]

I'm one of them low time instructors. I was a glider pilot back in France, I'm an advocate of better stick and rudder skills, I still have a lot to learn on how to instill the "aim for excellence" attitude into the variety of students I teach.

I worked in France for a few years gaamin, in fact I was employed by " The French Flying Legends " where I got my start in airshow flying in Europe.

One thing I don't miss is commuting to Europe.

[tkdowell]

4, 3 , 2, 1, touch down.

I tried this today, worked quite well.