Lesson 13, importance of landing configuration

Lesson: 13

23/IV/2010

• Lesson time: 0.8h


• Total time: 10.7h


• Location: EGAD


• Aircraft: G-BNKR (C152)

Another change in instructors. I was booked with David H Today, but someone amended it and I was to fly with Roger. Well, no complaints here. Roger's virtually perfect instructor. And I am not sure about the need to use the word virtually here either. :)

I got in, a bit late, Roger was sitting rather relaxed in front of a laptop. Weather wasn't perfect, so I kind of thought that we won't fly, but he said that everything is absolutely fine.

Great! He wanted me to jump ahead and do external checks, but I had to ask him for a brief. Because I know they all have their own styles of flying and teaching, I knew I could gain something from his. He has always been a great source of knowledge in the field for me, and I was not to be disappointed this time either :)

I sat down in our little room, and he went on to describe how he thinks things should be done. Now, his description wasn't any different from Anthony's, up until the point where we turn on base, and we gotta start configuring aircraft for landing.

He was very detailed there, and couldn't really make it any clearer that this is his thing. He always underlines importance of this. Now, probably because I already flew few circuits , and most of them were rubbish, and landings especially. And because Anthony explained whole thing to me already, I mean everything - pretty much on the same level. And because I know I am rubbish when it comes to approaches ! I was very interested in knowing how to do it precisely.

And I mean, Roger was very very serious when he said - that this is the most important thing when flying circuits. So here is what I do remember (probably not everything in such a detail, and I hope Roger is not reading this :P) , this is for C152 and your millage might vary:

1. pull power to about 1700


2. as soon as you pull the power, aircraft will try to maintain the speed, and nose will drop (if trimmed that is, but I assume I am trimmed most of the time


3. that means, pull the nose, not to loose any height (and he marked it with 2 exclamations here)


4. as soon as speed is on the white arch, first stage of flaps - maintain the height (3 exclamations)


5. second stage (20 deg), maintain that height (3 exclamations again)


6. setup for 65 knots (C152), and trim (3 exclamations)


7. turn finals (you shouldn't be below 600 ft at that stage, ideally)


8. 3rd stage of flaps, aircraft if trimmed should pretty much fly itself 60 knots at that stage


9. do the CRAP checklist (Roger didn't mention all points here, but that's the power of having more than one instructor - you get to learn more :D )


10. use power to maintain the approach , if trimmed well - around 300 ft above ground you shouldn't really need to use any back pressure at all unless obviously you are in a bit of wind


11. 30 ft above ground, flare. pull the power gently, pull the yoke towards yourself, and look ahead - at the end of the runway


12. if it wants to drop pull, hard at first, and than gently so you don't balloon


13. providing that you did all great, the aircraft should kiss the ground itself, basically sink as the speed bleeds off.


14. you haven't landed really until you're in full stop, or 'go' configuration - ready for another one.

I also asked about taking off, and setting for cross wind effectively, and what about the bounce on flare. The first one - is just a matter of practice. The bounce - Roger was very very clear here - that if you bounce off the runway - always go around. Don't fuss around.

And that's about it. Sounds simple. And to be honest, with 10 exclamations from myself, setting up is the shit maaan! I mean really, focusing on that was what I was missing on previous lessons. To be fair, Anthony introduced me to the whole concept. And now I'll just have to practice any bits of it that will not be as good as expected.

So, that was a brief, it took about 40 minutes, but again - Friday, everything was so relaxed, no traffic in circuit. Peace on earth ... :D

I did my preflight, setup some iPhone app to track my flight - but it turned out to be rubbish, it only recorded 10 minutes, and stopped. I'll find better one next time.

I went to my car to grab some water, as I was thirsty as hell (just had a chicken - loads of proteins make you want to drink a lot). Meanwhile Roger was adjusting the 'square', to reflect runway in use change (to 16).

I got back, did all check from the lists. And pretty nicely taxied us to 16/34 hold, where I did my power checks. Meanwhile Ian was just coming back from cross country, and passed me by whilst I was doing my checks. Nice backtrack on 16, snake trail of course ;) but I am getting better at it. Basic hint from Roger was - add bit more power, and the prop wash will make rudder more effective. It works that way. He obviously made it very very clear, to only turn around at the very end of the rwy. Pretty much kissing the grass.

I turned around, and because of the sea wall at the end of it, I knew that this is just very short. When you line up on 22, you have miles ahead of you. Here. you can tell, that every feet of that runway matters. Hence why turning so tight at the end of the runway was very important.

Very quick 1-2-3, power in, 55 kts, rotate, Vy (best rate of climb) - 65knts, and off we went for the first one.

I asked Roger to prompt me along the way. He virtually did nothing, but just sat there, obviously helped with controls, but would tell me what to do next when I hesitated. In essence, I did checks, radio calls, and flying more or less myself. That really felt nice :)

First circuit was obviously just a warm up, and wasn't that good. But wasn't that bad either. Roger was covering up speedo (ASI), to see whether I could feel the 65 knots instead of looking at it. And to my surprise, after trimming - I pretty much made it fly at 68 knots. I was seriously shocked.

Again, prompted very much along the way, we managed to do touch and go. Again, I did the radio, and flying. It is really doable, as long as things are done promptly, and Roger was helping me out here, by reminding me rather quick what's next. It is also funny how everything really slows down once you are flying the approach speeds. All of the sudden you have a lot of time.

That was the first one, second time around, I pretty much did everything up to down-wind leg without any prompting from Roger. Again, really pleased with myself. Configured for the approach, and fscked up flare... Seriously, I tried to be gentle with controls, and failed to pull it promptly. It sinked, bounced off ... Aaaargh.

I had so much in my trousers, the runway is short, we already wasted a bit by bouncing off. But Roger set us up for go-around. He was describing what was happening as we went along. But it was scary. Pretty much, you jam in the power, loose carb heat, and get it to fly above runway. When that happens, raise flaps to 20 deg, make sure you have speed, a bit of positive climb rate (very important), and only than another stage of flaps up, etc. it is very important to not loose it, and fly steady just above runway initially, otherwise bad shit may happen.

I didn't intended it to be that way, but that way I was shown how to rescue myself in case I'll get that bounce. Also, another mental note, if anyone ever will be brave enough to fly with me - tell them to sit far away from control column. Not that they will start playing with it, but if I ever will have need to pull it, I need enough space.

Anyway, went on for another two rounds, pretty uneventful - smooth and relaxed. On my final finals, with full stop, I could see some guy lining up on the grass runway (parallel to 16). He probably only noticed me, when I made the finals radio call. I remember asking Roger about what should I do, there's an aircraft there. He just said, 'let him know where you are'. It was just nice, to notice radio calls in the works. I know it seems trivial, and you probably think I am mad for mentioning it here, but that really felt good, just to hear the other guy telling you that he will wait for you to land first. Even tho it was obvious.

This is one of the things with Roger, he always tells you if you improved, and patiently prompts you what to do if you failed. But you don't feel any anger there. Just patience, buckets of it. That really helps. After all, you need to be relaxed when flying. And also that makes you learn quicker. I noticed I make a lot of progress with him. Probably would resolve to only fly with Roger, if it wasn't for the fact that I do like to get input from different angles, and even if it costs more money (and time), I hope that pays off in the future. After all, if you want to save money, you really shouldn't be learning to fly in the first place. Seriously.

And that was my Friday pretty much. Thought went through my head, to ask him if I could come back later on Today and do some more :) If it wasn't for the fact that I have work, and they really don't like it when I take too much half-days off, I would only fly during week. It is much more relaxed, and enjoyable.

• Route: RWY 16, round and round


• Milestones: landing configuration recognised


• Exercises covered: 12/13


• Weather: bit misty, strange gust blows in certain areas (thermals?) over the city of ards