31-7-2014 - Flight Training Search SHORT FIELD APPROACHES AND LANDING 15 On your checkride you want to land short and land well By Dav e Wilkerson When students gather to discuss a designated pilot exam iner's testing habits, short-field landings often m onopolize the discussion—and for good reason. Priv ate pilot applicants hav e not y et dev eloped the experience to draw on when an exam iner points to the runway and say s, "Assum e this runway is 9 00 feet long. Show m e how y ou will land." Advertisement You, like others, can draw only on y our training. Today , student pilots often fly from pav ed runway s that are m any thousands of feet long. Exam iners, especially if they are older and hav e been fly ing for som e tim e, rem em ber tire-worn grass runway s that m easure only hundreds of tree-edged feet. These airstrips still exist, so ev ery pilot needs good short-field landing techniques. On y our checkride y ou want to land short, and land well. Students tend to fly their approaches with excess speed. Exam iners attribute this to tricy cle landing gear (which do not dem and as m uch control and concentration as a tailwheel configuration), flaps (often m isused as air brakes to lose airspeed), long runway s, good brakes, and fear of an inadv ertent stall/spin. The priv ate pilot practical test standards (PTS) don't exactly encourage precise speed control on approach because it say s it's acceptable to fly within a speed range from 1 0 knots ov er to 5 knots below the target airspeed. The acceptable speed range is one of 1 2 objectiv es in PTS Area of Operation IV, Task F. Exam iners judge shortfield approach and landing perform ance on how well y ou m eet these objectiv es. Coming to AirVenture? Come see us! The old PTS allowed an applicant to m ake a long, low approach slightly abov e stall speed and control the glide path with power. Crossing the threshold, y ou close the throttle and drop the aircraft, at stall speed, onto the touchdown point with little forward m om entum . Exam iners still see this technique occasionally , and their reaction is an FAA Notice of Disapprov al. The current PTS, in objectiv es 4 and 5, insists that y ou establish the recom m ended approach and landing configuration and the recom m ended approach airspeed. If the airplane flight m anual (AFM) or pilot operating handbook (POH) doesn't recom m end a speed, fly no faster than 1 .3 VSO. In either case, y ou factor wind gusts into y our approach speed and adjust pitch and power as required. Flat, power-on approaches just abov e stall speed don't account for obstacle clearance, and if the engine fails, y ou hav e no options. Exam iners observ e how an applicant uses his (or her) options. Your first option is deciding to fly the short-field approach. Objectiv e 3 requires y ou to consider wind conditions, landing surface, and obstructions and to select the m ost suitable touchdown point. A wet or icy runway should m ake y ou pause. A well-planned and executed short-field approach, coupled with a touchdown approxim ately at stalling speed, m axim izes y our av ailable stopping distance. Exam iners appreciate pilots who know that a wet or icy runway increases stopping distance regardless of the effect of the use of full flaps. When y ou extend the flaps tells the exam iner about y our understanding of the actions needed to perform a good short-field approach and landing. Som e applicants m echanically apply one stage of flaps near the end of the downwind leg, add another after rolling out on base, and—ev en though the runway is out of the airplane's power-off reach—extend full flaps im m ediately after turning wings lev el on the final approach. This technique isn't likely to im press an exam iner. It's adv isable to sit down with y our instructor before the checkride and explore the answers to two questions: Why use flaps on a short-field landing? How do y ou know when to add flaps during a short-field landing? A short-field approach and landing calls for intense concentration and control—which is why som e exam iners like to test y our m ettle by introducing distractions such as talking to y ou. Because Federal Av iation Regulation 6 1 .4 7 m akes y ou the pilot in com m and during a checkride, y ou hav e ev ery right to ask a http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/maneuvers/skills/shortapproach.html 1/2 31-7-2014 - Flight Training talkativ e exam iner to hold the questions until after the landing. It would be wise to inv oke this authority . It's only natural for an applicant who m akes a hard touchdown to try to m inim ize the effect. "I norm ally land softer than that!" they say . The truth is, try ing for a soft touchdown on a short-field landing wastes precious runway . Exam iners care m ore for safety than softness. When the runway resem bles a postage stam p, proper short-field landing technique is all that m atters. PTS objectiv e six is the transition between a short-field landing's airborne and groundborne portions. By sm oothly alighting on the runway centerline at the approxim ate stalling speed and within 2 00 feet of a specified touchdown point, y ou show y our exam iner that y ou are indeed m aster of y our aircraft. The distinction between "sm ooth" and "soft" is im portant when ev aluating short-field landings. The dictionary defines "sm oothness" as an ev en, uninterrupted m ov em ent or flow. "Soft" is the attribute of being gentle or m ild, producing agreeable sensations. You (and the exam iner) want sm ooth, and if y ou get soft, consider it a bonus, not a necessity . Most trainers hav e landing flaps that can be raised during the landing roll to shorten stopping distance. Howev er, the PTS doesn't discuss any flap actions during rollout. The PTS does require the applicant to "Apply the brakes, as necessary , to stop in the shortest distance consistent with safety ." An airplane's POH/AFM m ay recom m end flap retraction after landing to increase the brakes' effectiv eness. This recom m endation requires a ticklish div ision of the pilot's attention. Many exam iners subdiv ide a shortfield landing into three segm ents—closing the throttle, raising the flaps after touchdown, and apply ing the brakes. These actions happen so rapidly it's unlikely an exam iner can observ e them indiv idually . Instead, the exam iner judges y our prom pt, safe dissipation of kinetic energy . If flap retraction is part of the recom m ended short-field after-touchdown procedure for the airplane y ou fly , the exam iner m ay take the opportunity to test y our knowledge with a question such as "Why do y ou raise the flaps after touchdown?" The exam iner is probing y our understanding of the concept that full flaps produce lift along with drag. During a short-field rollout, y ou want the m axim um am ount of weight on the wheels to increase the effectiv eness of the brakes. Retracting the flaps decreases lift, which increases the weight on the wheels. Your answers to these and other questions, coupled with y our handling of the airplane, dem onstrate to the exam iner that y ou understand and can perform short-field approaches and landings. Congratulations— another checkride task successfully com pleted. Dave Wilkerson is a designated pilot examiner, writer/photographer, and historian. He has been a certificated flight instructor for more than 23 years and is a single- and multiengine commercial-rated pilot. 15 Advertisement Follow us on Twitter STUDENTS Pre-Solo Solo Maneuvers Cross Country Flight Test Prep Free Subscription CFIS Enroll Your Students Publications, Forms & Endorsements Lesson Plans Certificate Renewal CAREERS Career Pilot Career Advisor Aviation Colleges Financing Your Pilot Training Free Subscription RESOURCES Search the Flight School Directory Search the Flight Instructor Directory Search the Aviation College Directory Help from AOPA CFI’s Free Subscription AOPA Aviation Job Board Be a fan on Facebook MAGAZINE Flight Training Archives About Free Subscription PRINT: AOPA Pilot / Flight Training ONLINE: AOPA Online / LetsGoFlying.com / ePilot & ePilot Flight Training Edition eNewsletters / AOPA Internet Flight Planner / AOPA Airports / AOPA Live EVENTS: AOPA Aviation Summit © Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association | 421 Aviation Way Frederick, MD 21701 | Privacy Policy http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/maneuvers/skills/shortapproach.html 2/2
