Student pilots learn faster and develop better landing techniques by doing slow flight over the runway than when taught in the traditional 'watch me and do what I do' method. This article introduces runway alignment techniques and slow flight over the runway techniques that have proven very effective.
How many touch-and-goes can a pilot do in an hour? I can only do at most one every 6 or 7 minutes. That means that, if every thing works out just right, I might get 10 touch-and-goes in an hour.
Now suppose I told you that you could get ten times as much practice with each pass down the runway? You probably wouldn't believe me. I know how you feel. So my challenge is to convince you in the next 600 or so words.
You need to do two things before you try this.
First go to your favorite practice area and practice the Slow Dutch Roll (SDR). Find a spot on the horizon - a landmark. Point your airplane exactly at that spot. Slowly bank first one way then the other. But keep the nose pointed exactly at that spot. When I say 'slowly' I really mean slowly. Push this maneuver to its extremes. Increase bank until you either cannot move your aileron control further or you cannot move your rudder control further. Practice this at constant altitude, in glides, and at various airspeeds. Practice it in the landing configuration until you slow to a stall.
Second, find a flight instructor who has both the self-confidence and skill to practice these maneuvers with you.
All good landings happen after the pilot has successfully flown the airplane in slow flight just above the runway. This is what you are going to do.
All good landings have another attribute. The airplane's main wheels are always pointed in the direction the airplane is traveling before touch down. This means only side-slipping, no crabbing allowed. This is what you will be doing too.
With a competent instructor in the right seat, after having talked this over with the tower and received their concurrence, approach the runway as for a normal landing. As you flare to land, have your instructor slowly add power as you keep the airplane off the runway. Don't let it land. You've got the plane in a nose-high attitude; the stall warning is screaming away. Check your alignment. Be certain that you've got it over the runway center stripe and the nose is pointed right down the center stripe to the far end. Don't let the airplane go too fast or you will not be learning much at all. Now you're ready.
You have several maneuvers you can execute. I recommend that you practice them all. Make sure that your airspeed has stabilized first.
Maneuver 1. Very slowly ease the airplane to the ground without actually landing. Just touch with your upwind main gear. Then pick it up; hold it there for a few seconds - maybe a count of five; then touch again. Repeat several times. There should be no sensation other than sound: no bounce, not thud. This is a very effective way of learning exactly how far you are off the runway - an essential skill for making landings you would want to show your friends.
Maneuver 2. Have your instructor reduce power slightly, forcing you to increase your pitch attitude. Since you are now, or soon will be, on the 'back side of the power curve,' your instructor shares the responsibility with you for keeping off the runway. He or she may have to increase the power setting after you have slowed to a higher setting than before you slowed. You keep going slower and slower but not landing. A fellow instructor and I were able to slow a Cessna 152 (without landing) to less than 40 KIAS and at more than 2100RPM. This shows you just how high the pitch attitude can be in a full stall landing.
Maneuver 3. Slowly slide the airplane from side to side across the runway while keeping it pointed at the far end. Combine this with exercise 1, if you like. Don't be moving laterally when you touch. But when you touch, be particularly aware of the lateral forces. If the airplane gets jerked to the side, it wasn't properly aligned before touching. This maneuver prepares you very thoroughly for crosswind landings.
Once these maneuvers were shown to me and I started teaching them, my students were ready to solo in less then half the time in the pattern than when I used traditional methods. More importantly, they were much better at landing than my earlier students.
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