Best landings when I'm solo

Lachlan

Lachlan

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Lachlan
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Just did an hour of touch and gos. (6, a go around, then a full stop.) Why is it that my best stuff always happens when no one is around to see it? :dunno: I guess I'm more calm, don't feel like I'm being critiqued by anyone other than my own worst critic (me) and I don't have any pressure to "perform" for anyone. Either way, it feels great to grease in a few smooth landings even if I don't have a witness. Actually, it feels great when I'm flying solo and something great happens and I get to keep it all to myself. I'm not learning how to fly for my instructor, just for me. Maybe that's the reason that solo landings are so consistently good? :confused:
 
Sounds like you answered you own questions :) After 2 years of flying and 800+ landings I can say that I am finally starting to get it :)
 
Wanna know the easiest way to screw up a landing?

Have a passenger in the right seat shoot a video.
 
I make my best landings when I close my eyes and just wait for the impact.
 
Without question if the guy in the right seat is a pilot, its going to be a crap landing.
 
From a physical standpoint, a front seat passenger will move the CG forward in most cases potentially making it more difficult to flare. My best landings are usually with one or two people in the rear seats.
 
Try landing at a fly in,sun n fun or a pancake breakfast. You'll be lucky to get it on the runway.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Without question if the guy in the right seat is a pilot, its going to be a crap landing.
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I dunno bout that. You greased it at Dallas Executive with me. I thought you were just gonna fly it right to the ramp. When you opened your door, I was shocked then relieved we were actually stopped.

Only way it coulda been smoother was if you landed on a marshmallow runway.
 
most of us also catch more fish when we are fishing alone. Then we elect to throw many of them back, just because.
 
MAKG1 said:
Wanna know the easiest way to screw up a landing?

Have a passenger in the right seat shoot a video.
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No ****. This is the story of my flying. Nearly every video a buddy of mine has shot with his gopro had been cut from final videos lol

That and Oshkosh. My landing in front of the audience sucked.
 
Last year, our first trip to OSH, I was boasting to everyone that I had only been to OSH once, but landed there three times!

bounce, bounce, bounce,

damnit!
 
EminiTrader said:
Sounds like you answered you own questions :) After 2 years of flying and 800+ landings I can say that I am finally starting to get it :)
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Now is the perfect time to take a one month break and then video the next landing...I got a little PIO going on my last landing. All of it was above the runway but it was still a pretty good wake-up.
 
After you fly enough that you don't worry about anyone judging your landing, the landings with pax start to match the solo ones :wink2:
 
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Lachlan said:
Why is it that my best stuff always happens when no one is around to see it? :dunno:
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Don't feel that way... There is probably someone peeking out the window of the FBO wishing they could grease them like you do...;)
 
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FlySince9 said:
Don't feel that way... There is probably someone peeking out the window of the FBO wishing they could grease them like you do...;)
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Yeah, but it's not grease "them," :goofy: it's grease one once a a great while, but land better overall solo compared to when I'm with my CFI. We did soft field and short field landings today. My first landing of the day was very good. The performance landings were good, too. Not amazing, not godlike, just good. I am by no means the greatest student pilot to ever fly and land, but I'm starting to notice that my landings are getting better. I also give myself a chance to get better, and don't expect miraculous advancements in my abilities. I had a tendency to land a little flat, and now I'm keeping the nose wheel off the runway longer.

Sometimes you progress along a plateau for a while and all of a sudden things improve. There are some things that I have found come easier than others. Or, put another way, different skills have different baselines. Some pilots find that certain skills come easy, some take a lot of work. Flying, overall, is not like trying to balance ****ning plates on sticks. If you don't know what or why you're doing things, then it can seem overwhelming. I think I just reached another level where some things that were causing me more mental work just clicked, or slowed down a little. I'm learning, and I don't expect that will ever end.

We worked on a few performance landings today, then we went out to one of the practice areas and did some instrument ref flying. That was the second time with the hood. It was better than the first time. I was more relaxed and found it easier to get the seat of the pants feel pretty well aligned with the instruments. Long way to go, but I noticed progress.
 
This thread is why i like POA. My landings are consistently safe but, I had a bouncer two weeks ago that was embarassing. Glad to know I am not the only one.

Now if I can only figure out Class B makes me nervous. I know, practice and familiarity just like every other aspect of flying.
 
NoBShere said:
This thread is why i like POA. My landings are consistently safe but, I had a bouncer two weeks ago that was embarassing. Glad to know I am not the only one.
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Far from it!

Now if I can only figure out Class B makes me nervous. I know, practice and familiarity just like every other aspect of flying.
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Just picture the controllers sitting there with no pants.
 
Sac Arrow said:
From a physical standpoint, a front seat passenger will move the CG forward in most cases potentially making it more difficult to flare. My best landings are usually with one or two people in the rear seats.
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:yeahthat:

If you run out of elevator authority in the flare, the landing won't be graceful.
Who doesn't understand this has no place in the left seat, btw. (just MHO)

I confess that my landings have become consistently great after maybe 150 hours. And I have witnesses. One of the greasers is on camera too. :)
 
It used to intimidate me a bit if my passenger was a pilot or if there were people watching, like at a fly-in or another plane awaiting take-off. I finally got over it, but it took several years.

I never like public speaking, either.
 
I told my wife the other day that if every time I went flying I did everything even better than the last time then I would soon be the greatest pilot to ever fly. Can't expect to run a faster race every time, either. It's the effort of working toward being consistently better that counts. Always have a goal. My first landing today was with a crosswind, and I set it down really smoothly on the upwind wheel first, then the other main, and finally the nose wheel, right on center line. My instructor smiled. I was thinking to myself, "Where did *THAT* landing come from?" :) The next couple of landings were ok, but veered off center line a bit. Gotta get my eyes down at the far end of the runway. As soon as he said that on the next final, what do you know? Center line. But is was supposed to be a soft field landing and I didn't keep the nose wheel off long enough. Ugh. Always something.
 
When I'm solo, I'm more likely to setup for different approaches. Sometimes the results are a learning experience.

When with a PAX, I'm by he numbers all the way- won't say they are always the best, but definitely better than average....
 
Experiment with different weights and c.g. placement of that weight.

I know a little weight in the back of mine makes a tremendous difference when you're solo and light.
 
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