Why do many pilots suck at landing?

[Troposphere]

Thanks!

[Chuck Ellsworth]

A perfect landing is touching down on main gear first, on the first 1/3 of the rwy, on the center line, with the min. vertical speed possible.

Why the first third of the runway?

[2550]

Cause hitting the first quarter would be asking way too much?

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Well maybe if the runway was only 100 feet long hitting the first quarter might be a bit to challenging for a student pilot.

However the instructor should be able to do it.

[dr.aero]

A "perfect" landing is touching down within the first third of the runway? Geez...

[dr.aero]

Tropo...

I teach my students #according to the SOP# to do the circuits in gliding distance from the rwy.

That must mean you are flying power off approaches? I really hope you're not teaching students to do that...

[Old Dog Flying]

Tropo...

I teach my students #according to the SOP# to do the circuits in gliding distance from the rwy.

That must mean you are flying power off approaches? I really hope you're not teaching students to do that...

Why not power off approaches? Are they against the law? Are they dangerous? Will your insurance be voided? They are perfectly acceptable and need to be taught right from the start.

And as for being able to do a landing in the first third of the runway..just read the post about the instructor who accepted any landing ...then give your head a shake. After instructing for nearly 40 years none of my students ever went off the end of the runway because they were unable to judge their touch down point...or for any other reason for that matter.

All too often the "that's good enough" crowd just have to throw darts .

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Hows it goin Old dog?

You and I are from the stone age and learned everything the wrong way I guess.

If a pilot is not profficient doing power off approaches they have not been trained properly.

Just imagine what we would have said if someone walked up to us fifty years ago when we first started teaching flying and asked us what our SOP's were?

[photofly]

Lets have a thread on powered vs unpowered approaches and which are better. The "new anus" factor has got too low recently.

[akoch]

Tropo...

I teach my students #according to the SOP# to do the circuits in gliding distance from the rwy.

That must mean you are flying power off approaches? I really hope you're not teaching students to do that...

From day one I was taught to reduce power to near idle at the end of downwind, and it goes power off mid base. The rest of the base and final was always power off... I've been doing just that so far. The flight examiner did not have a problem with that. With strong headwind I sometimes screw up and have to add some power to stay on the glide path. Attempt to fix it on the next circuit.

So why would it not be a good idea? Seems logical to me to be able to make the numbers from anywhere in the circuit should something happen...