Landings: A Fickle Mistress

[dirtydog1006]

While I like tricky IFR stuff in the dead of rainy nights (not saying I'm good at it) I am at heart a touch&go, bounce&blow, crash&dash sort of guy. Most of my simming is geared to as many T&G as I can get into the time I have. A good landing makes me happy for hours! I take her up only so I can bring her back down (well, not always, but often).

Starting three weeks ago, I had a week where I was a magician about landings. No idea why, but I could not do anything wrong: on center line, near the numbers, gentle kiss on the pavement. First turnout? No problem. Now that seems like a gift from Santa, because for the past two weeks I SUCK at landings! I HAVE NO IDEA WHY!!!!!! I am setting up the ship the same way, into the same airports, everything seems the same, except the result. I am floating and/or off the center line andor making dents in the airports.

I apologize to every Southwest crew I have ever ridden with.

YARGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG!
Thanks, I just had to complain.

DD

[pterodactyl (George)]

Too much turkey over the holidays? I know turkey does slow the reaction time of the average male. Just watch what happens after a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. All the men go snooze on the sofa.

[Tom Goodrick]

I suspect George is onto something. Blame it on the turkey. There are several steps you can take to keep landings within a small range of variation. You are aware of most but I'll mention them:

1) Stick to one aircraft for a while.
2) Stabilize airspeed and attitude well before the end of final.
3) Use consistent visual cues if possible.
4) Practice on runways of different length and width (with same aircraft).

Try logging each landing: aircraft, airport/runway, airspeed, rate, weight, CG, flight time, wind, visibility, etc. Have a little piece of a spreadsheet you can pull up to record the values directly.

But if you get a case of rocky landings, just forget about it for awhile - if not a crash, it's a good landing!

[Tom Goodrick]

Here are some examples from my landing logs. You will note that I do not work very hard for a smooth landing. As a matter of fact, my worst landing, in the T-33, came because I held off too long trying for a "good" landing!

Latest several flights on my desktop computer:

DATE AIRCRAFT APT KIAS FPM WT CG% FLAP FTIME
5/3/10 Cessna 182RG KBHM 64.87 -165 2984 23.86 4 16.28
5/4/10 Beech 350 KHSV 97.72 -165 13952 33 3
6/5/10 DHC-6 KHSV 65.66 -448 12269 28.4 4
6/15/10 DHC-6 KHSV 77.4 -214 12039 23.99 2
6/16/10 DHC-6 KHSV 78.01 -88 12183 24.01 2 22.29
6/16/10 DHC-6 KHSV 78.77 -185 14831 27.19 3
6/16/10 DHC-6 KHSV 53.74 -196 10611 25.77 4 17.16
6/17/10 DHC-6 KHSV 78.59 -164 12276 23.9 2 21.69
6/17/10 DHC-6 KHSV 68.11 -144 12342 23.82 4 14.33
6/18/10 DHC-6 8A1 69.14 -293 12298 23.87 3
6/18/10 DHC-6 8A1 74.34 -159 12138 24.06 2 6.57
7/8/10 B747 KHSV 190.8 -735 655902 24.12 6
7/8/10 A380 KHSV 114.3 -271 915500 25.3 4
7/9/10 DHC6 KHSV 58.17 -549 12263 22.06 4 17.82
7/12/10 BC90GT KHSV 109.6 -118 9785 27.78 2 22.07
7/12/10 BC90GT KHSV 101.7 -130 9600 27.09 4 28.93
7/12/10 BC90GT KHSV 94.38 -149 9523 26.79 4 11.67
11/6/10 T-33A KHSV 104.4 -987 11355 24.97 4 10.88
11/22/10 Apache KHSV 65.53 -148 3292 28 24 36.58

Average touchdown rate was -279.4 fpm.

In my case, when you see several landings of the same plane, they may not be consistent because I am changing things in the FD files between landings.

I'll have more from my laptop computer. The ergonomics are best with the desktop computer. With the laptop, the joystick is on an end table next to my reclined loveseat. Performing the flare is a little constricted. Most of my flying is without use of the joystick (except for the pitch trim button).

One thing I have been doing in the last few months is to make short flights between near-by airports rather than always flying circuits at the home base (KHSV for me). KBHM is Birminigham, 8A1 is Guntersville. You have to move the tower to study the landing at an airport other than where you took off. But you can set up flights like this.

[Tom Goodrick]

Here are landings from my log for the laptop:

DATE A/C APT KIAS FPM WT CG% FLAP FTIME
12/19/10 Cit 550 HSV 110.6 -349 12579 4.53 44 28.62
12/19/10 Cit 550 HSV 102.5 -144 10309 23.04 45 35
12/20/10 Cit 510 HSV 107 -78 7561 34.23 40 30.09
12/21/10 Cit 510 HSV 99.04 -157 7934 34.98 40 9.92
12/21/10 Cit 510 HSV 106.6 -181 7625 30.97 40 34.39
12/21/10 Cit 510 HSV 115.5 -273 8287 31.79 40 8
12/23/10 Cit 510 HSV 114.7 -213 7994 31.33 26 27
12/23/10 Cit 510 HSV 110.8 -333 7477 30.76 26 59.42
12/24/10 Cit 510 8A1 105.2 -265 7887 31.31 40 5.61
12/24/10 Cit 510 8A1 105.9 -451 7499 30.79 40 20
12/25/10 B 707 HSV 85.31 -466 247188 17.47 40 81.41
12/26/10 Cit 550 HSV 103 -174 11376 22.05 40 63.28
12/26/10 C 414 HSV 98.32 -226 6705 18.85 45 34.06
12/27/10 WW2 HSV 127.4 -106 20516 18.61 40 97.49
12/28/10 SHRIKE HSV 72.54 -184 6690 24.78 40 28.86
12/28/10 B 787 HSV 95.43 -344 488140 24.82 29 30.35
12/29/10 SHRIKE HSV 70.79 -107 5987 23.97 30 69.59
12/29/10 EMB 100 HSV 109.4 -55 9657 13.18 36 42.18
12/29/10 FALC900 HSV 99.75 -295 38239 17.98 40 43.67
12/30/10 FALC2000 HSV 91.16 -222 29736 25.32 40 25.9
12/30/10 Blimp HSV grass 11.3 -58
12/30/10 Blimp HSV grass 9.93 -34
12/30/10 T-38 HSV 126.6 -313 12341 22.41 40 7.27
12/31/10 T-6AII HSV 80.36 -283 5796 20.88 40
12/31/10 T-28A HSV 86.4 -155 40 8.27
01/01/11 G100 HSV 120.4 -355 23014 27.12 39 16.88
01/01/11 G100 HSV 103.3 -291 22532 26.66 40 17.09
01/01/11 G100 HSV 122.6 -241 22847 26.89 40 30.19
01/02/11 G100 HSV 124.7 -135 19566 23.23 40 18.18
01/03/11 G IV HSV 99.93 -121 54337 21.96 35 37.38
01/03/11 H800 HSV 140.6 -93 21954 29.83 39
01/03/11 H800 HSV 122 -286 21337 29.67 39
01/03/11 Cit 680 HSV 96.74 -80 24335 20.9 36 25
01/04/11 Dash 8 HSV 109.7 -261 32997 7.96 39 29.38
01/04/11 Dash 8 HSV 107.5 -213 32467 6.92 29 30.25
01/05/11 Aztec BHB 74.96 -197 4653 22.91 40 54.59
01/06/11 Aztec PVC 77.96 -135 4618 22.7 40 80.45
01/07/11 Cit 550 HSV 102.8 -152 10425 23.13 45
01/08/11 T-33 HSV 131.3 -273 12151 24.95 22 8.75

AVERAGE (205-243): -212.79

I had moved the T-33 to the laptop along with the other military trainers but had not recorded a landing. The average looked better than on the desktop unit so I thought I'd better do a landing in the T-33. Aircraft you might not recognize are the WW2 - Westwind 2, the B787 is the Boeing Dreamliner; the G100 is the Gulfstream G100 version of the IAI Astra SPX that Allen Peterson fixed up after I abandoned it for excessive oscillation abobe 35,000 ft. All others have my FD. Note the Goodyear Blimp makes soft landings.