Skidding after touchdown in crosswind landings

josephades

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Hey guys

I fly a Piper Archer that feels "lighter" than a lot of the archers on the field - 1533 basic empty weight. With regular full flap landings, once touched down, I have to push the nose down for 1-2 seconds and/or retract the flaps to get some traction and gain steering control, and to stop those "mini bounces".

It gets trickier with nasty crosswind landings. The other day I had a crosswind down runway 32. Winds were 280 at 23 gusting 30. Landed with one notch of flaps, touched down very soft with the left wheel first. Once touched down, I had full left aileron deflection, but the plane was skidding in a "crabbed" position for a few seconds until I retracted the flaps and nosed down to get some traction. Even then, I felt some skidding going on, but it happened too quickly and I can't fully recall what else I did, including with the rudder.

Is this normal behavior? Or am I doing something wrong? I know for a fact that once I was touched down, I released pressure from the rudder just to see what the plane was doing and how to react. Do I need to apply opposite rudder once touched down? I feel like at that point, it will just take me off centerline, but then again, I could be wrong. It happens so quickly that I don't get a chance to test it out.

I've also experienced this in a Cessna under similar conditions.

All input is greatly appreciated

Thanks!
 
First, don't use any flaps. Second, hold it off as long as possible. You'll still be fast which will give you better rudder authority, but when the wheels do touch, you'll have the weight to hold them down. The full aileron into the wind is correct.
 
I fly a Piper Archer that feels "lighter" than a lot of the archers on the field - 1533 basic empty weight. With regular full flap landings, once touched down, I have to push the nose down for 1-2 seconds and/or retract the flaps to get some traction and gain steering control, and to stop those "mini bounces".

Before trying to address crosswind landings I am concerned about your normal technique. You shouldn't "have to push the nose down", ever.
 
First, don't use any flaps. Second, hold it off as long as possible. You'll still be fast which will give you better rudder authority, but when the wheels do touch, you'll have the weight to hold them down. The full aileron into the wind is correct.
Use reduced flaps in a crosswind, not any at all.

I also concur that it sounds like you might be touching down too fast. Using proper aileron and rudder control will prevent any crabbing once the mains have touched. Be cautious of this, because you can sideload the landing gear touching down in a crab like this.
 
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My approach speed is generally a few knots faster for "added protection" so yes I am probably coming in too fast. I will work on myself to break that habit.

Question is - what is proper rudder control once touched down? Aileron into the wind. But do I need opposite rudder? I feel like that will drift me away from centerline and possibly cause me to lose control
 
My approach speed is generally a few knots faster for "added protection" so yes I am probably coming in too fast. I will work on myself to break that habit.
l

Try and work on this then report back. Normal approach speeds have "added protection" that's where the 1.3Vso comes in. That's 1.3 × stall speed in the landing configuration.
 
My approach speed is generally a few knots faster for "added protection" so yes I am probably coming in too fast. I will work on myself to break that habit.

Question is - what is proper rudder control once touched down? Aileron into the wind. But do I need opposite rudder? I feel like that will drift me away from centerline and possibly cause me to lose control
No need to fly a higher airspeed unless it's gusty.

Over the numbers and during the round out be sure that you're using good Xwind technique, first and foremost. If the longitudinal axis of the airplane is aligned with the runway when you touch down, then holding your correction in should not put you in a crab. A CFI would be a great addition to help solve your problem.
 
If the wind is coming from your right, you'll need left rudder before touchdown and through roll-out unless you want the airplane to crab.

In a meaningful crosswind, make sure you're touching down with the upwind gear, then roll on the upwind wheel as long as possible to eliminate being pushed downwind. Also, use the rudder to maintain runway direction. Once you don't have enough aileron authority to keep the downwind wheel off of the ground, don't release aileron pressure. Hold it to the stop until you stop, then use the appropriate control movements to taxi in the wind.
 
23G30, you are really wanting some excitement. I will take a 25 kt direct xw over those gusty ones anyday. Especially with winds coming in over hills and trees. We had some fun the other day. I follow all of the good techniques mentioned above plus try to keep tanks as full as possible. Sometimes I need to react quick and very aggressive when slow, opposite of what I am used to. Good luck, get a CFI if you need too.
 
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Im not an expert. But, is it possible you're touching down a little fast?

It sure sounds like it to me too. I'd bet there might be a neutralizing of the controls as well, or a relaxing of the pilot thinking the flying is over, leading to the skidding/loss of directional control as well. Airplanes really need to be flown all the way to their parking spot. Some types just require more pilot interaction to get them there than others.

Use reduced flaps in a crosswind, not any at all.

On a Cherokee, I use full flaps for all landings. I haven't found them to be effective enough to warrant using reduced flaps in strong or gusty winds.
 
A couple of thoughts... first, I am not a CFI and not terribly experienced, these are my learnings:

1. Be sure you have fully removed the power. I have a tendency to leave a smidge of power in, and it will make landing much more difficult.

2. Don't combine the roundout with the flare. There's a good Finer Points podcast on this one.

3. Get stabilized at the beginning of final. In the archer I aim for 70kias with 2 notches flaps depending on xw. Once I'm stabilized, I'm done with the gauges, I hold pitch attitude and make power corrections only based on runway movement. Well, I try to anyway.

4. Don't touch the flaps until you are clear of the active and do the post landing checklist. I'm wondering if you're giving up on the landing before the plane has? Remember, as you slow down you lose aileron effectiveness so you need more deflection.

5. Get some tailwheel time... made the Cherokee feel like leisure flying ;)
 
My approach speed is generally a few knots faster for "added protection" so yes I am probably coming in too fast. I will work on myself to break that habit.

Question is - what is proper rudder control once touched down? Aileron into the wind. But do I need opposite rudder? I feel like that will drift me away from centerline and possibly cause me to lose control

Well you should have opposite rudder input already to make sure you are aligned with the runway. Usually my experience is you don't need opposite rudder if you've touched down with wheels aligned down the runway. If you've landed in the crab( which we all do so don't worry) than the plane will appear to be skidding and the wheels will align themselves once the plane has slowed down, or you use differential braking-- something I would not do until the plane has slowed down to a crawl.
 
Question is - what is proper rudder control once touched down? Aileron into the wind. But do I need opposite rudder? I feel like that will drift me away from centerline and possibly cause me to lose control

As is so often the case, the answer is, "Whatever it takes".

In the air, it helps the artificially separate aileron and rudder. Aileron moves you laterally to stay on the center line. Rudder keeps the nose pointed down the runway. Of course, the need for one affects the need for the other, but I find it helps students to try to keep the two functions separate*.

On the ground, the rudder pedals just steer. In the Archer, it does so through the nosewheel linkage along with the rudder itself. On many newer aircraft, the nosewheel is free castering, so it's all rudder. And in extreme cases the pilot must be ready with differential braking. In any case, just use whatever rudder is necessary to stay on the centerline.

Hope that helps.


*I find doing a "sideslip drill" without landing can help get the hang of that. Here's what it looks like in my Sky Arrow:

 
When crosswinds are in play I try to use a greater rate of descent and a steeper final approach to minimize the transition from airborne to ground vehicle. That doesn't favor faster speeds.
 
My approach speed is generally a few knots faster for "added protection" so yes I am probably coming in too fast. I will work on myself to break that habit.

Question is - what is proper rudder control once touched down? Aileron into the wind. But do I need opposite rudder? I feel like that will drift me away from centerline and possibly cause me to lose control


For added protection?? You're skidding lol

First, don't use any flaps. Second, hold it off as long as possible. You'll still be fast which will give you better rudder authority, but when the wheels do touch, you'll have the weight to hold them down. The full aileron into the wind is correct.

So touch down fast and with no flaps... why?

I prefer touching down as slow as possible, easier on the airframe and on the nerves.







For one, you're coming in too fast, unless you're full gross the book numbers are even too fast.

For two as far as what to do with your controls, FLY THE PLANE.

Once you touch down keep trying to fly the plane down the runway to the infinity point, whatever that requires alieron or rudder wise.

Three, DONT FLARE, that's some paint by numbers crap folks teach, lock your aim point in the windshield, once you have it made back the power out, once you're nice and low, like a few feet" with the power out just try to hold the plane 4" off the runway for as long as you can, once the wheels touch KEEP FLYING THE PLANE.


Once you pull back on the yoke, pretend there is a ratchet and you can't put it back forwards, if you start to sink a little, burp in a little power, like power in, power out.

If it's really windy, once you touch town dump the flaps and kill that extra lift, if you're shooting the CORRECT speeds, killing those flaps will keep you on the deck better and give you better brakes if needed.

UNTIL YOU TURN ONTO A TAXIWAY, KEEP YOUR EYES ON THAT INFINITY POINT


When crosswinds are in play I try to use a greater rate of descent and a steeper final approach to minimize the transition from airborne to ground vehicle. That doesn't favor faster speeds.

Same here, also for gusty conditions.
 
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Perhaps lower your personal max crosswind? Then slowly raise it as you get better. Work with a CFI if you're not getting it. The numbers you gave if both magnetic would be a crosswind component of 15-19kt. Isn't the max demonstrated listed at 17kt? Its possible you're running out of rudder to keep alignment. More likely something in your technique as others have stated here, too much speed. When you get more skilled you may be able to handle higher than the book number, but it sounds like you're not there yet. Good luck, set some reasonable limits on yourself and work to improve.
 
Bear in mind that Piper has a direct linkage between the nosewheel and the rudder so when you're pushing the nose down (still not clear why this is necessary) if you're still holding a rudder correction when you touch down with the nosewheel it will pull you in the direction of your rudder input.
 
Did you learn in a Cessna? The nose wheel in a Cessna has a soft link (bungee cord) to the rudder pedals so it will align itself with the direction that the plane is travelling when it touches down. The Piper nose wheel has a hard link to the rudder pedal so it will reflect rudder position when it touches down and will not self align. If you are landing in a cross wind, you will be carrying a significant rudder input and have to expect to get rid of it as the nose wheel grips pavement. Also, if you are holding up elevator because of the flair, get rid of it after touchdown. You want to minimize the angle of attack of the wing to get rid of lift and get weight on the wheels.
 
My approach speed is generally a few knots faster for "added protection" so yes I am probably coming in too fast. I will work on myself to break that habit.

Question is - what is proper rudder control once touched down? Aileron into the wind. But do I need opposite rudder? I feel like that will drift me away from centerline and possibly cause me to lose control

Good landings are slow landings. Think energy management.

Bob Gardner
 
Try and work on this then report back. Normal approach speeds have "added protection" that's where the 1.3Vso comes in. That's 1.3 × stall speed in the landing configuration.

Also, please remember that stall speed decreases with lower weight. If you are at Max Gross Weight, use 1.3 Vso. If you are several hundred pounds under max gross weight, you need to recalculate Vso! This can make a large difference in your landings...
 
Perhaps lower your personal max crosswind? Then slowly raise it as you get better. Work with a CFI if you're not getting it. The numbers you gave if both magnetic would be a crosswind component of 15-19kt. Isn't the max demonstrated listed at 17kt? Its possible you're running out of rudder to keep alignment. More likely something in your technique as others have stated here, too much speed. When you get more skilled you may be able to handle higher than the book number, but it sounds like you're not there yet. Good luck, set some reasonable limits on yourself and work to improve.

Don't think it's the wind, think it's a problem in fundamentals.
 
I may be overly cautious but what is the demonstrated crosswind of your airplane... a 30kt gust is a 19kt crosswind...you a test pilot?
 
I may be overly cautious but what is the demonstrated crosswind of your airplane... a 30kt gust is a 19kt crosswind...you a test pilot?

Huh?

Max demo isn't a limitation,

if simply being able to land a GA single in a 19kt x-wind puts me in the land of a test pilot, maybe I should brush up my resume and send some applications out ;)
 
Huh?

Max demo isn't a limitation,

if simply being able to land a GA single in a 19kt x-wind puts me in the land of a test pilot, maybe I should brush my my resume and send some applications out ;)

I know its not a limitation... That wasn't the point...

Let me know if you get any bites...You may have a whole new career path ahead of you...
 
I know its not a limitation... That wasn't the point...

Let me know if you get any bites...You may have a whole new career path ahead of you...
I know you mean well but maybe spend a little time flying out west. If we worried about a little wind we wouldn't fly much. I'm not being macho, I'm just saying that with practice you will learn what the aircraft can do. I understand that in many areas it is not necessary to learn about some of the aircraft's limits. In other areas it is very necessary. Perhaps the best guidance I've seen is to use about 60% of stall speed as a wind limit. After that if I can hold it on centerline with a slip on final then I'm good for the landing. That said, I've seen some experienced guys operate in higher winds when work demanded it...and there was one airliner in Denver that did find a little too much x-wind so sometimes even the pros bite off more than they should...
 
I know all about Archers that are a little light....

First, work on your crosswind technique- I wasn't there but my guess is you didn't touch down in a perfectly stabilized straight down the runway attitude. In gusty/windy conditions like that you are probably going to have to be correcting all the way to touchdown.

Airspeeds that work for me in my Archer are to be below 100.. preferably around 90 on the downwind, then when I get abeam the numbers and reduce power I hold the nose level to decelerate just below 80kts and then get a clear decent going before making the base turn. Maintain around 75 through the base turn, should be around 75 and 500' above when you turn final. Then with full flaps let the speed decay down to where you're ideally around 65kts over the fence and slowing. Power off when runway is made- once you're above pavement and close to touchdown just hold it level and let it settle down through the ground effect as it slows... a subtle flare is all that is required, just enough that you don't risk touching nosewheel first.

Another trick you can use if you have a long runway available is to use minimal flaps... either put the first notch in abeam the numbers and no more OR don't go beyond the second notch. You will have to make a bigger reduction in power than normal- possibly pulling it all the way to idle to descend and get close to a correct airspeed to do this. You'll touch down faster and eat more runway but the airplane should also be easier to control in the gusty winds. I wouldn't rely on this technique as a normal crosswind procedure but I'd advocate learning it with a CFI as an option to have if you're having problems getting on the ground safely.
 
I thought I was doing myself a favor coming in slightly faster - especially on gusty days where I have a gain/loss on short final, but now I understand why I should stick to the POH approach speed. I'll give that a try.

Just to clarify - by the time I touch down, I am in a slip configuration. I do not land crabbed. The upwind wheel hits the ground first. My main issue is regaining control of the aircraft once it touches the ground.

I put in the full aileron deflection. For next time- I will ensure to slow down my approach speed.

If anyone can clarify what to do with the rudder, that would be great. As far as I understand it, once you are on the ground, the rudder should be used for steering and to try to gain control. I should not be applying opposite rudder once I touched down. Otherwise I will steer in the same direction that the wind is pushing me, I will get off centerline, and possibly lose control. If I am wrong, please correct me.
 
I'm confused, when you touch down are you aligned with the runway or are you still crabbed? The plane should be aligned with runway when you touch down and you should be moving sideways with respect to the runway when you land.
 
Huh?

Max demo isn't a limitation,

if simply being able to land a GA single in a 19kt x-wind puts me in the land of a test pilot, maybe I should brush up my resume and send some applications out ;)
I rather not try to push the performance envelope. If max demo is 15kts and the current condition puts me at 19kts, than that makes me a test pilot.
 
I'm confused, when you touch down are you aligned with the runway or are you still crabbed? The plane should be aligned with runway when you touch down and you should be moving sideways with respect to the runway when you land.

When I touch down, I am fully aligned with the runway. The issue I am having is trying to maintain control after the landing. Improper speed management on my end was cited. Proper use aileron deflection was established. Now I need to clarify the proper use of the rudder once on the ground.

I rather not try to push the performance envelope. If max demo is 15kts and the current condition puts me at 19kts, than that makes me a test pilot.

You are not a test pilot. Some planes have a maximum x-wind component, where if you do exceed it, you can cause damage. The key here is maximum demonstrated x-wind. It simply means that this is what Piper tested when they wrote the POH. Nothing wrong with exceeding this number if you can do it safely and are comfortable with it.
 
I suspect your plane will sit still just fine in a 30mph wind. If you skid during landing its because the plane's weight is being supported by the wings and that's a factor of speed. Slow it down and there's more weight on the tires. At that point you're just taxiing.
 
I thought I was doing myself a favor coming in slightly faster - especially on gusty days where I have a gain/loss on short final, but now I understand why I should stick to the POH approach speed. I'll give that a try.

Just to clarify - by the time I touch down, I am in a slip configuration. I do not land crabbed. The upwind wheel hits the ground first. My main issue is regaining control of the aircraft once it touches the ground.

I put in the full aileron deflection. For next time- I will ensure to slow down my approach speed.

If anyone can clarify what to do with the rudder, that would be great. As far as I understand it, once you are on the ground, the rudder should be used for steering and to try to gain control. I should not be applying opposite rudder once I touched down. Otherwise I will steer in the same direction that the wind is pushing me, I will get off centerline, and possibly lose control. If I am wrong, please correct me.

I had several wheelchair students back in the day. Left hand on the yoke, right hand on the hand control...which moved fore and aft for throttle changes and left/right for rudder control. When they did crosswind landings they pretty much let go of everything as soon as the upwind wheel touched down. Newton's Law of Motion says (paraphrased) that a body in motion will follow a direct path unless diverted by an outside force. In airplane terms, that means that if the airplane is moving parallel to the centerline at touchdown it will continue parallel to the centerline. Whatever aileron and rudder inputs you have at touchdown should be maintained as the airplane slows, although it will take more upwind aileron (resulting in full control deflection) as it slows. As to the rudder, that depends on the airplane. Some have a direct connection between the rudder pedals and the nosewheel and others do not. In most cases, the nosewheel goes in the direction of motion as soon as it touches the surface.

Bottom line: Fuselage parallel to the centerline, aircraft motion parallel to the centerline. On touchdown let Newton's Law take over and keep your feet off of the rudder pedals.

Bob Gardner
 
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You are not a test pilot. Some planes have a maximum x-wind component, where if you do exceed it, you can cause damage. The key here is maximum demonstrated x-wind. It simply means that this is what Piper tested when they wrote the POH. Nothing wrong with exceeding this number if you can do it safely and are comfortable with it.
Correct, however I view both of them the same. If a professional test pilot could only get a 15kt demo component when the airplane was manufactured, I sure don't want to be the one that tries to perform it under a 19kt component. If you would like to attempt it, more power to you.
 
I found that nearly all of the issues I had with landings were the result of trying to force the airplane to land when it wasn't done flying yet. Flare too high, drop it in from a couple of feet up, too fast, balloon and go around, pretty much all of it was the result of trying to make the plane land instead of letting it land.

I finally figured out I just needed to get away from the "roundout" and "flare" and "landing" mentality. From short final I just arrest the rate of descent (a little back stick) and put the airplane a couple of feet over the runway, throttle fully closed. That's the roundout. Now just try to keep it from landing, and let it fail gracefully. It's going to take more and more back pressure, and the nose will get higher as you slow down. There's your flare. Once you get slow enough it will finally settle onto the runway and touch down when it's not able to fly any more.

I used to think I had to plop it down on the numbers, since that's what I was taught. There's thousands of feet of runway, I only need a few hundred of them. The runway in the middle works just as well as the runway on the near end. I have an aim point and an idea of where I want to put it, but if that doesn't work out -- hey, and extra ten or fifty or hundred yards isn't going to cause any problems. Let the plane fly if it's not done yet. And try to judge the speed and angle a little better next time, in case you need to do a short field landing.

If it's a really gusty day I had been using half flaps, but I'm trying to break that habit as well. This weekend I made a couple of pretty decent landings with gusting crosswinds and full flaps. I made a steeper approach and carried a little more speed on final, but still slowed it down under 50 knots over the threshold.

Get some practice at a comfortable altitude. Throttle at idle, full flaps and trim for your final approach speed. Let it sink, like you're on final approach. Now pick an altitude, don't touch the throttle and maintain that altitude with no power as you slow down. Get a feel for just how slow you're going when it finally stalls, and pay attention to how long that stall warning is blaring at you. Get used to it, that's what you should hear before you touch down.

It takes practice to learn to slow down and allow the airplane to stall just as the wheels touch, but once you get the hang of it your landings get much better and it feels great. I am not by any means saying I don't still make an occasional less than graceful landing, but my percentage of "greasers" has gone up significantly.
 
Hey guys

I fly a Piper Archer that feels "lighter" than a lot of the archers on the field - 1533 basic empty weight. With regular full flap landings, once touched down, I have to push the nose down for 1-2 seconds and/or retract the flaps to get some traction and gain steering control, and to stop those "mini bounces".

Not landing slow enough. You shouldn't be "mini-bouncing" or pushing the nose down at landing. It doesn't matter if the airplane weighs ten pounds or 70,000 lbs. Your job is to alight with the surface when there is no lift left to go back up.

It gets trickier with nasty crosswind landings. The other day I had a crosswind down runway 32. Winds were 280 at 23 gusting 30. Landed with one notch of flaps, touched down very soft with the left wheel first. Once touched down, I had full left aileron deflection, but the plane was skidding in a "crabbed" position for a few seconds until I retracted the flaps and nosed down to get some traction. Even then, I felt some skidding going on, but it happened too quickly and I can't fully recall what else I did, including with the rudder.

If you've run completely out of aileron at touchdown and you couldn't get the nose aligned with the runway with rudder, you've started hitting the limits of the aircraft. But I suspect you still had rudder available and weren't being nearly aggressive enough with it.

If you're feeling out of control on a runway and sliding, you're pushing it for becoming the most common accident statistic: Loss of directional control during takeoff or landing.

Is this normal behavior? Or am I doing something wrong? I know for a fact that once I was touched down, I released pressure from the rudder just to see what the plane was doing and how to react. Do I need to apply opposite rudder once touched down? I feel like at that point, it will just take me off centerline, but then again, I could be wrong. It happens so quickly that I don't get a chance to test it out.

To line up with the runway in a heavy crosswind, you should have already had plenty of opposite rudder in long before touchdown. How long beforehand is a matter of technique when switching from a crab (which should have NO control inputs at all, you're just flying crabbed into the prevailing wind) to a slip that includes the upwind wing down and enough rudder to align the aircraft with the runway.

I've also experienced this in a Cessna under similar conditions.

All input is greatly appreciated

Thanks!

I think you need to grab a CFI and work on both airspeed control on final in reasonable winds and also pick a crosswind day or runway and work on crosswind technique.

Someone else mentioned the "don't land" drill. You go out with a CFI and instead of landing out of an approach to a runway in a stiff crosswind, you add power and fly the length of the runway at about three feet off the ground in the proper cross-controlled state to land out of. This would be an excellent time for you to "play" with the rudder if you are the sort who'd like to get a feel for "how much works" vs "how much doesn't work".

But let me share with you something an old CFI taught me when I wanted to play those "let me get a feel for it" games. He said, "It doesn't matter. Use whatever it takes and make the airplane stay exactly where you want it. Don't let it drift left or right and don't let the nose start moving left or right. Put whatever control input is necessary to stop it from moving RIGHT NOW and if you over did it, immediately reverse it, RIGHT NOW.

I suspect you're doing what I did a few hundred hours ago and sometimes fall back into the trap of. You're along for the ride when things go weird instead of MAKING the airplane go where you want it, because you allow the mental questions of "how much" get in the way of just DOING it.

And remember any time you change one you'll have to change the other. Add aileron you're also adding adverse yaw. Add rudder and you may affect your sideslip and descent rate because you just changed (slightly) the amount of drag.

ATTACK the crosswind. Be ridiculously focused on "if the airplane moves from centerline, put it back" get aggressive about it and stop over-thinking it. Stomp the pedal to the floor fast if that's what you need. Rack the aileron to the stop fast if that's what is needed.

And finally... if you can't hold it where you want it three feet in the air, you won't hold it on the runway. Go around. Go around. Go around. Don't ever accept sliding sideways on a runway.*

*Advanced technique, and the folks who've had to fly for a living in insane crosswinds will tell you, they've HAD to slide an airplane but it wasn't a "I don't know why this is happening" moment, it was a "I'm going to have to risk this" moment under complete control throughout.

Tailwheel and/or to a lesser degree, glider time will help with this if you have the opportunity.

Definitely go try the fly-down-the-runway drill with an instructor. Shoot for zero sideslip and zero yaw angle as the goal on a nice long runway with a stiff crosswind.

Once you have that, next step is simply pulling the power off and continue to track while pulling the nose UP. Power reduction will remove some left turning tendencies so you'll have to relax the right rudder or add a little left. Which will mess up the crab. Catch it EARLY because you know it will happen and it'll sit right down.

Also as you slow all of the flight controls will become less effective. You'll need more than you think.

Now hold centerline with whatever rudder is needed and get that aileron all the way to the stop. As you add it you feet will need to be involved again because you'll add adverse yaw.

This "game" doesn't stop because the wheels touched the ground. Doing it right is a workout. Work at it. Use every bit of control surface as control input that you need but don't let it get sideways.

That help? None of us is perfect at it. But don't accept the sliding. Make the airplane go where you want it.
 
I found that nearly all of the issues I had with landings were the result of trying to force the airplane to land when it wasn't done flying yet. Flare too high, drop it in from a couple of feet up, too fast, balloon and go around, pretty much all of it was the result of trying to make the plane land instead of letting it land.

I finally figured out I just needed to get away from the "roundout" and "flare" and "landing" mentality. From short final I just arrest the rate of descent (a little back stick) and put the airplane a couple of feet over the runway, throttle fully closed. That's the roundout. Now just try to keep it from landing, and let it fail gracefully. It's going to take more and more back pressure, and the nose will get higher as you slow down. There's your flare. Once you get slow enough it will finally settle onto the runway and touch down when it's not able to fly any more.

I used to think I had to plop it down on the numbers, since that's what I was taught. There's thousands of feet of runway, I only need a few hundred of them. The runway in the middle works just as well as the runway on the near end. I have an aim point and an idea of where I want to put it, but if that doesn't work out -- hey, and extra ten or fifty or hundred yards isn't going to cause any problems. Let the plane fly if it's not done yet. And try to judge the speed and angle a little better next time, in case you need to do a short field landing.

If it's a really gusty day I had been using half flaps, but I'm trying to break that habit as well. This weekend I made a couple of pretty decent landings with gusting crosswinds and full flaps. I made a steeper approach and carried a little more speed on final, but still slowed it down under 50 knots over the threshold.

Get some practice at a comfortable altitude. Throttle at idle, full flaps and trim for your final approach speed. Let it sink, like you're on final approach. Now pick an altitude, don't touch the throttle and maintain that altitude with no power as you slow down. Get a feel for just how slow you're going when it finally stalls, and pay attention to how long that stall warning is blaring at you. Get used to it, that's what you should hear before you touch down.

It takes practice to learn to slow down and allow the airplane to stall just as the wheels touch, but once you get the hang of it your landings get much better and it feels great. I am not by any means saying I don't still make an occasional less than graceful landing, but my percentage of "greasers" has gone up significantly.

Nice timing. The ACS gurus at FAA HQ are cogitating about changing the "Slow Flight and Stalls" section of the ACS to add a MCA in addition to Maneuvering During Slow Flight. IMHO instructors do not place enough emphasis on operations close to stall speed, where the coefficient of lift is greatest. This leads to fear of getting too slow and ignoring 1.3 VSo and 1.2 VSo.

Bob Gardner
 
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