Training for more back pressure during flare

A good way to ingrain the correct sight picture, which may well be out the side window or corner of the windshield, is to practice slow flight down the runway at 3-6 feet altitude. Landing then becomes as simple as closing the throttle. That's what my instructor did with me. Works in any plane.

Hopefully, the OP is flying an appropriate approach speed with neutral trim, otherwise it all becomes a whole lot harder.

I once rode shotgun with a ham-handed pilot who managed to use 3999 feet to stop a wheelbarrowing C-172. (A looooong story.) That takes true skill. Adding an extra 20 knots on final, among other things, will kinda do that.
 
dmspilot said:
Why isn't it "look at the far end until you can't see it anymore"? That's what I do.
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That's perfectly fine, and recommended. The question was where to look during the flare. As the nose comes up transitioning to looking closer to the plane and to the side works quite well. Its recommended by the FAA, Bill Kershner...and me. It may be that some are wired to be able to use peripheral vision to determine height better than others. Henning used to say that in the back seat of a tandem taildragger he would continue to stare "through" the back of the front seat and use peripheral vision for determining height. That would not work for me, and kind of goes against what I know about how peripheral vision works. But for those that it works for, go for it! Instructors should be aware, however, that such a recommendation may not work across the board.
 
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Domenick said:
Landing may seem a passive activity to students and new pilots, but it is a very active phase of flight.
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This is a good point. I compare it to juggling three balls.

The first ball is keeping the nose of the plane aligned with the runway, using the rudder.

The second ball is keeping the plane centered on the runway using aileron.

The third ball is gradually bleeding off speed while increasing pitch so as to arrive at or near stall speed as close to the ground as possible.

Each of those three in isolation should be pretty straightforward and easy to teach. But the “active” - or dynamic - nature of the landing process means changing any one factor affects the other two. Easy once you get the hang of it, but sometimes devilishly difficult for students to “get”.

Now, throw in adding power in the flare, to be added if and when the plane is “settling”, and I think you’ve just tossed them a fourth ball while they’re still struggling with the other three. As such I do believe landings should be taught power off. And I’m not convinced I’m in a minority for believing so.
 
FastEddieB said:
A good exercise to cement the dynamics between the first two "balls".

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This is a great exercise; my CFI has taken me through it a number of times and it helped me a lot. I'm a little confused why you recommend it, with its obvious need for good throttle control throughout the exercise in addition to careful rudder, aileron, and elevator control, but are so opposed to adding a bit of power during the flare as a training tool? If anything, the "ball juggling" done in your side slip exercise is much more demanding. Just asking.
 
MuseChaser said:
I'm a little confused why you recommend it, with its obvious need for good throttle control throughout the exercise in addition to careful rudder, aileron, and elevator control, but are so opposed to adding a bit of power during the flare as a training tool?
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In that exercise with a student, I handle the power. Even in my video, the power got set to some adequate amount and then left pretty much alone. Very different from jockeying with the power while flaring, which I think complicates matters for a student. Since so many pilots manage to pull the power back to idle prior to the roundout and flare and manage to make consistent and safe landings, I just don’t see why power applied routinely during the flare is in any way necessary or beneficial.
 
FastEddieB said:
In that exercise with a student, I handle the power. Even in my video, the power got set to some adequate amount and then left pretty much alone. Very different from jockeying with the power while flaring, which I think complicates matters for a student. Since so many pilots manage to pull the power back to idle prior to the roundout and flare and manage to make consistent and safe landings, I just don’t see why power applied routinely during the flare is in any way necessary or beneficial.
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Fair enough, although it was pretty easy to hear you make power adjustments during the video. Just for clarity, I'm not advocating for routinely adding power during the flare, I'm just suggesting that it could be a good teaching tool in cases where a student would like a bit more time to get a feel for the flare and touchdown. No one would advocate for routinely slipping from one side of the runway to another either, but that too is an excellent teaching tool. That's all. I understand your point.
 
gdwindowpane said:
Isn't adding a slight bit of power part of the procedure for a soft field landing?
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Yes, it is. As a side benefit, if applied on the “backside of the power curve”, it actually allows the plane to land more slowly. But that’s different from routinely adding power any time the plane “settles”, allegedly because it’s “just that simple”.
 
MuseChaser said:
Fair enough, although it was pretty easy to hear you make power adjustments during the video. Just for clarity, I'm not advocating for routinely adding power during the flare, I'm just suggesting that it could be a good teaching tool in cases where a student would like a bit more time to get a feel for the flare and touchdown. No one would advocate for routinely slipping from one side of the runway to another either, but that too is an excellent teaching tool. That's all. I understand your point.
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And I understand yours. But we have to deal with the Law of Primacy, and teaching routine use of power while flaring could easily lead to that habit carrying forward.
 
The discussion on power seems like a red herring. It has uses but I doubt would help OP with his particular problem. In a 172 would probably make it worse.
 
FastEddieB said:
That's perfectly fine, and recommended. The question was where to look during the flare. As the nose comes up transitioning to looking closer to the plane and to the side works quite well. Its recommended by the FAA, Bill Kershner...and me. It may be that some are wired to be able to use peripheral vision to determine height better than others. Henning used to say that in the back seat of a tandem taildragger he would continue to stare "through" the back of the front seat and use peripheral vision for determining height. That would not work for me, and kind of goes against what I know about how peripheral vision works. But for those that it works for, go for it! Instructors should be aware, however, that such a recommendation may not work across the board.
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I took what Bill Kershner said and added using the wings as an additional reference point in another thread and was told I was insane and I was teaching bad habits and blah blah blah... My point was and is that staring straight ahead into an instrument panel in the landing attitude is useless. I guess "Use the force, Luke..." is a thing now.
 
I am curious what the results of the prop strike tear down were and what the total cost ended up. A prop strike is my nightmare!
 
Jeff767 said:
I am curious what the results of the prop strike tear down were and what the total cost ended up. A prop strike is my nightmare!
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Do you have insurance?
 
I have good insurance. After you have a prop strike however you can expect your insurance to double or triple. My aircraft is already expensive to insure because of the type.
 
Jeff767 said:
I have good insurance. After you have a prop strike however you can expect your insurance to double or triple. My aircraft is already expensive to insure because of the type.
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Then it doesn’t much matter what the total cost is, eh?
 
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