IMPROVE YOUR LANDINGS
Tracking On The Ground, Take Off, Basic Trimming Of Your Aircraft,
Trimming The Loop, C of G at 25% (starting point on trainers and general sports aircraft), Motor thrust of 1 to 2 degrees down thrust and 1 to 2 degrees right thrust.
Improving Landings
Now that you are happy with the trim of your aircraft, how does it feel?
Instructors teach various techniques depending on the student and abilities.
The landing technique I call flying the wire.
Other instructors may call it by another name or impart the same information to their students using a different explanation or terminology. All instructors chase the same result to get a student to accurately position their aircraft and land consistently on the runway.
This is the method:
1) Take care before you take off to position your feet and body at 90 degrees to the runway and remain in that position
for the whole flight. (Don’t move your feet around)
This is very simple, however do not underestimate it because it gives your brain a point of reference for orientation to the line of the runway.
2) When practicing landing approaches always give yourself sufficient distance on the downwind leg so as not to cramp
and rush your turns onto base and final.
3) Your turn onto final should be completed 2 to 3 degrees in front of your right shoulder when approaching from the right
and the same when approaching from the left.
4) With your plane at idle, your height and distance at the completion of the turn onto final should be sufficient to get you
home. (If not power up and go round.)
5) Now imagine you had a tight wire from your foot to the nose of your aircraft.
6) Now guide the plane (wings level) straight down the wire as if you were going to hit yourself in the feet.
7) When your peripheral vision, shows you are over the centre of the runway, then make the final small course correction
to take you straight down the centre of the runway. (Wings maintained level)
8) I always teach students to target themselves and stay on target all the way down final.(a laps in targeting yourself all the
way will result in inconsistency of arrival)
9) When about a metre off the ground start to round out and hold just off the ground until the plane settles gently.
10) As with anything new or different we try with our aircraft it always pays to start 2 or 3 mistakes high until we feel
comfortable.
11) When you have got the approach right the plane is locked in and set in its’ approach. ( It looks right)
12) Have you watched full size aircraft on approach? That is the set and look you are after.
13) A high approach with gravity as your engine is always preferable to flying your plane home at a shallow angle.
(especially with war birds) There is much less risk and if your engine quits, gravity will always get you home.
Happy flying
Geoff Pinkerton
Tracking On The Ground, Take Off, Basic Trimming Of Your Aircraft,
Trimming The Loop, C of G at 25% (starting point on trainers and general sports aircraft), Motor thrust of 1 to 2 degrees down thrust and 1 to 2 degrees right thrust.
Improving Landings
Now that you are happy with the trim of your aircraft, how does it feel?
Instructors teach various techniques depending on the student and abilities.
The landing technique I call flying the wire.
Other instructors may call it by another name or impart the same information to their students using a different explanation or terminology. All instructors chase the same result to get a student to accurately position their aircraft and land consistently on the runway.
This is the method:
1) Take care before you take off to position your feet and body at 90 degrees to the runway and remain in that position
for the whole flight. (Don’t move your feet around)
This is very simple, however do not underestimate it because it gives your brain a point of reference for orientation to the line of the runway.
2) When practicing landing approaches always give yourself sufficient distance on the downwind leg so as not to cramp
and rush your turns onto base and final.
3) Your turn onto final should be completed 2 to 3 degrees in front of your right shoulder when approaching from the right
and the same when approaching from the left.
4) With your plane at idle, your height and distance at the completion of the turn onto final should be sufficient to get you
home. (If not power up and go round.)
5) Now imagine you had a tight wire from your foot to the nose of your aircraft.
6) Now guide the plane (wings level) straight down the wire as if you were going to hit yourself in the feet.
7) When your peripheral vision, shows you are over the centre of the runway, then make the final small course correction
to take you straight down the centre of the runway. (Wings maintained level)
8) I always teach students to target themselves and stay on target all the way down final.(a laps in targeting yourself all the
way will result in inconsistency of arrival)
9) When about a metre off the ground start to round out and hold just off the ground until the plane settles gently.
10) As with anything new or different we try with our aircraft it always pays to start 2 or 3 mistakes high until we feel
comfortable.
11) When you have got the approach right the plane is locked in and set in its’ approach. ( It looks right)
12) Have you watched full size aircraft on approach? That is the set and look you are after.
13) A high approach with gravity as your engine is always preferable to flying your plane home at a shallow angle.
(especially with war birds) There is much less risk and if your engine quits, gravity will always get you home.
Happy flying
Geoff Pinkerton
RSS Feed
