Starting to get the hang of rudder, now landings

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rtbayne01072

Filing Flight Plan
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flyboy72
I posted about a month ago a thread about me not being really good with the rudders on taxing and landing/takeoff. Mainly I rode the breaks during taxi and landing. I was I took some of ya'll advice and "nailed my heels to the floor" and it worked pretty well for me. I learned to trust the airplane more and I pulled back some power during taxing which helped me stay off the breaks alot.
Doing touch and gos helped a lot too with building my confidence with the rudder pedals on take off and landing.

My only thing that I need to figure out now is on my landing is when/how long to apply back pressure right before touchdown. I felt like my instructor had to correct me every time on this :mad2: He kept saying aim the nose straight down at the runway then at the last min before touch down he would say "pull back" and I either wouldn't do it quick enough, or I would pull back on the yoke and wouldn't hold it long enough.

Just an update on how I'm doing. Like always I appreciate the thoughts or advice.
 
Ask him if you can do some fly overs about 50 above the runway without touching down. It would let you get the first part of the flare down just to bring the plane from a nose down attitude to a level one.

I did this with my CFI on Crosswind landings and it helped me put everything together without worrying about touching the runway too crabbed or too fast.
 
OkieAviator said:
Ask him if you can do some fly overs about 50 above the runway without touching down. It would let you get the first part of the flare down just to bring the plane from a nose down attitude to a level one.

I did this with my CFI on Crosswind landings and it helped me put everything together without worrying about touching the runway too crabbed or too fast.
Click to expand...
+1. Ask for low approaches. Get everything set up and hover as close to the ground as you can without touching down.
 
I really hate the description of the flare as just pulling back on the yoke.

What you really do is fly level just over the ground. To do this, you will need to pull back more on the yoke as you slow down. If you just yank it whenever, you'll either land on the nose gear (and probably bounce) or balloon. I suspect the former is happening, and that's why your instructor is freaking out.

I found it really helps my flying to think in terms of outputs, not inputs. It's not that you add right rudder, it's that you keep the nose straight (which happens to require more right rudder). That obviates all the "how much" and "when" questions.
 
Eventually it will be something you sense
As the plane settles, the yoke gradually comes back

If the plane settles, it keeps coming back.
If the plane stops settling, the yoke stops until it starts to settle again

The nose will begin pitching up but just pay attention to the settling using your peripheral vision if you need reference.


The good news is this is perfectly normal and in 30 more hours, you will just have it down.

The bad news is you have to go through this part of kicking yourself and getting frustrated to get there.
 
And as for the "hold it long enough" thing, you keep pulling back until you're turning off the runway at taxi speed. Then, you position it according to winds (dive into headwinds, climb away from tailwinds on a tricycle), as it often reverses on the taxiway.
 
Hold it Off

Caveat emptor: Couldn't tell if you are in a taildragger or not. Below is for tri-gear.

I was taught to pull power over the numbers (some say "when you have the runway made" or "when ability to land is assured") and then fly it down to just above the runway and "hold it off" - meaning don't let the wheels touch down - keep them just above the pavement. To do this you'll have to add more and more back pressure.

By doing this, you're slowing down (trading your airspeed to maintain your altitude one inch above the pavement). When the airplane is ready to land it will land in a stalled condition and you continue to hold back pressure (and aileron if you just did a xwind landing).
 
Re: Hold it Off

petrolero said:
Caveat emptor: Couldn't tell if you are in a taildragger or not. Below is for tri-gear.

I was taught to pull power over the numbers (some say "when you have the runway made" or "when ability to land is assured") and then fly it down to just above the runway and "hold it off" - meaning don't let the wheels touch down - keep them just above the pavement. To do this you'll have to add more and more back pressure.

By doing this, you're slowing down (trading your airspeed to maintain your altitude one inch above the pavement). When the airplane is ready to land it will land in a stalled condition and you continue to hold back pressure (and aileron if you just did a xwind landing).
Click to expand...

It is the same for a taildragger (three point). at about 10 to 30 feet depending on your decent rate start rounding out so the airplane is about a level attitude about 3-4 feet above the runway then just slowly keep raising the nose until you are at about your takeoff attitude maintaining about 1-4 feet above the runway. Once at the take off attitude just wait for it to settle onto the runway. If it drops quickly raise the nose some more as it drops.

Brian
 
Thank you all for the Replies!!

I'm going up again tomorrow morning I'll definitely take these things into account when practicing my landings.
 
When I'm landing, I focus on having the correct height above the runway and keeping the nose straight. I'm not "trying to land" per se. I'm flying the plane level just above the runway until it slows and settles the mains down.

Having my airspeed on target over the threshold is critical. Then, it's just keeping height and nose pointed where it should be until my airspeed bleeds off.

My first instructor says he'll think to himself "Don't land, don't land, don't land...."
 
Second the "fly right over the runway to get the sight picture right" another thing that has helped me (especially on a runway I am unfamiliar with) is lining up right on centerline and taking a good look of what it looks like when I'm sitting on the ground, particularly the peripherals, and that'll also help give you a good idea of what it looks like when you're mere inches above the runway.

For me landings just kind of clicked, one day I had them and the day before I didn't. With all that being said, I flew 114 hours last month and had 240 landings. I still have some real clankers more often than I'd like to admit. They'll come, it just takes time, and practice.

And more practice.
 
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