{"id":2955,"date":"2011-06-10T13:57:10","date_gmt":"2011-06-10T17:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=2955"},"modified":"2018-06-29T12:03:10","modified_gmt":"2018-06-29T16:03:10","slug":"learning-how-to-land","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=2955","title":{"rendered":"Learning How to Land"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This one is for all the students trying to master the technique of bringing an airplane<br \/>\nback to earth.&nbsp; This is from the notes I kept when I was trying to learn how to land.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Now, how does one learn to land an airplane?&nbsp; Let me tell ya\u2014through lots of trial and error and practice.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Landing a Piper Cub Special well\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_aOrKlcCyKM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n(Found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_aOrKlcCyKM\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_aOrKlcCyKM<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>In the parlance of flight instruction and general educational terminology, there are certain elements of the maneuver a student pilot must master.&nbsp; An experienced pilot lands an aircraft without even thinking about what he or she is doing.&nbsp; A student on the other hand, not only thinks about all those elements, he worries and frets and considers each one\u2014almost to the point of forgetting to fly the airplane.&nbsp; This is normal for student pilots and that is why God protects little children and drunks\u2014and student pilots.<\/p>\n<p>Something else a student must keep in mind is controlling the aircraft on the centerline of the runway, or in our case at Charlie&#8217;s, keeping it in the center of the grass landing area.&nbsp; Maintaining the airplane on the centerline is the first problem.&nbsp; Coupled with this is controlling the speed properly.&nbsp; Another consideration is the wind.&nbsp; Wind affects both centerline control and airspeed control.&nbsp; Oh, and let&#8217;s not forget about coordination: the student has to control the stick, the rudders, and the throttle all correctly and in concert to affect the landing and control all the elements just mentioned.<\/p>\n<p>There is a very time proven and traditional method used in learning how to land an<br \/>\nairplane.&nbsp; The instructor takes the student out and teaches him the basics\u2014\u00adsomething known as the &#8220;four fundamentals.&#8221;&nbsp; The four fundamentals include flying the aircraft in straight and level flight; flying the airplane in a climb; in descents; and finally in turning flight.&nbsp; The student then learns how to fly the airplane in slow flight and recover from referred to as a &#8220;stalled&#8221; condition.&nbsp; (The word, stall, in this case, means the pilot is flying the wing at too high an angle of attack; it has nothing to do with the engine quitting or failing.)&nbsp; After the student masters these basics, the instructor &#8220;demonstrates&#8221; a landing or two and then tells the student to do it.<\/p>\n<p>Yea, . . .&nbsp; Right!<\/p>\n<p>During the instructor demonstrations, the airplane comes down to the landing area very obediently, perfectly staying where the instructor bids.&nbsp; It will track straight and true down the middle of the runway.&nbsp; It will touch down right on a predetermined spot on the runway.&nbsp; Finally, it will roll out in a straight line along the runway.&nbsp; That is what happens when the instructor demonstrates.&nbsp; Then the student tries it.&nbsp; Suddenly the airplane develops a mind of its own!<\/p>\n<p>When the student starts practicing landings, the airplane will change from a docile, lazy sleepy housecat, into a cantankerous, moody, and highly unpredictable lion or tiger.&nbsp; What\u2019s more, it seems to be prone to turning around and taking off the student&#8217;s head.&nbsp; Just for the fun of it.<\/p>\n<p>Every now and then, just to keep the huge beast in line, the instructor reaches out with his training whip and pistol and puts the big cat in its place.&nbsp; Then he looks at the student and says something like, &#8220;See?&nbsp; Nothing to it.&nbsp; What&#8217;s your problem?&#8221;&nbsp; The student then thinks to himself, &#8220;Yea, sure!&nbsp; When you do it.&#8221;&nbsp; Then the instructor says something about keeping the nose straight with the rudder pedals and stopping the drift with ailerons.&nbsp; Simple, he says.<\/p>\n<p>Yea, . . .&nbsp; Right!<\/p>\n<p>I quickly learned the key to learning how to land was simple\u2014never give up.&nbsp; Just keep on working it.&nbsp; It&nbsp;takes a while, but eventually, you will master landings.<\/p>\n<p>Even if it seems impossible at times&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>-30-<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a9 2011 J. Clark<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This one is for all the students trying to master the technique of bringing an airplane back to earth.&nbsp; This is from the notes I kept when I was trying to learn how to land. &#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211; Now, how does one &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/?p=2955\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5,6,9],"tags":[329,339,363,1157,1422,1447,1468,1950,2055,2155,2355,3396,3439,4023],"class_list":["post-2955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-flight-instructing","category-flying-2","category-personal","tag-airplanes","tag-airspeed","tag-altitude","tag-discipline","tag-first-solo","tag-flight-training","tag-flying","tag-inexperienced-pilots","tag-judgment","tag-learning-to-fly","tag-memories","tag-student-pilots","tag-taildraggers","tag-training-aircraft"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2955"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5781,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2955\/revisions\/5781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joeclarksblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}