Getting Ready for Check Ride Forgotten How to Land

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pipergal47

Filing Flight Plan
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pipergal47
I have about 50 hours of recent training and getting ready for my check ride. Has anyone else forgotten how to land at this point? Nerves are defiantly kicking in after take off.
 
I've found that my performance tends to have a dip immediately before a checking event, but the event itself goes very well. Remember, your instructor won't sign you off unless (s)he thinks you're ready.

Now take a deep breath, and go kick some ass! :)
 
By the end if my instrument training I was landing as badly as when I only had 10 hrs total in my log.
 
I passed my checkride not too long ago. I couldn't consistently perform a soft field landing until a week before my checkride. It took a ride with another instructor to fill in a couple of small details.

My suggestions, back to basics and don't try so hard. Work on nailing the same airspeed and angle of descent the same time. That way the runway will look pretty much the same at roundout and flair. Keep the centerline pointed between your legs on final and focus towards the end of the runway after you round out. Consistency is your friend.

I found that after 3 landings with serious self-critique, I would generally start trying too hard and go down hill. If you're the same, do three and then go do some ground-reference maneuvers before doing some more.
 
Old Geek
You have made some very good points. I am doing exactly what you are. Nit picking everything apart and getting worse with each landing. I will defiantly take your 3 landing advice tomorrow.

Appreciate the advice.
 
Good luck. Your examiner won't care as long as you don't slam it down or PIO. Landing a bit firm, long or a bounce (on the mains) is fair game. Just stay in control and you will be fine.
 
Relax ,think about how you made good landings,then do it. Your over thinking the check ride. Good luck
 
Take deep breath.. Keep in mind that the check ride is only as stressful as you make it on yourself. In my case I was way stressed out and didn't need to be. Try to relax and just do your best! :)
 
If you're flying a Piper it'll make you look good. Relax and have a good ride.
 
I'm about two weeks away PiperGal and I'm right there with ya. I can nail a short field and then float the next one, and I'm not gonna mention that my "soft fields" are often NOT. We both need to relax, take the advice above, and realize that we're probably better than we think we are - stress is just playin' with us at times. Hopefully by next month we will both be refining our first drafts of "My Checkride Write-up"...

Study, Practice, Deep Breath, Relax....Repeat.
 
good luck and enjoy the (wild and crazy) ride!
 
Everyone is a little different. Through training I developed a routine of "check points" that helped produce consistent, if not 'zactly smooth, landings. The "check points" forced me to be in particular configurations (flaps, throttle) and airspeeds at certain points in the pattern. Basically it was a step-by-step procedure to land. Build the "check points," use the "check points," and you can't "forget" how to land.

I suspect that the more intuitive pilots forgo the procedural approach described above. Those of us that are truck drivers have to learn to land by the numbers 'cause we don't "feel" it. In the end, consistent procedures nearly always help operating any piece of equipment no matter how we initially learned.
 
I was almost ready back in Oct and a combination of weather and human factors kept me from finishing. Then winter hit and blocked my hangar door with ice... the past couple of months have felt almost like starting over. Good in a way- I'm finding all my weak spots and fixing a lot of bad habits but man is it frustrating to have been "almost there" for so long.
 
The secret to a good landing is ... don't land.

Hold it off when you flare as long as you can. Try to fly it all the way down the runway with no power. Try to break the stall horn...

Set your sightline to the end of the runway. Don't worry about right in front of you ...
 
I forgot how to land about 15 hours ago. It happens. In my case I found I was flaring too high, causing some "carrier-style" drop in landings. I started holding my descent to round out a little longer and the problem corrected itself.

It's usually something simple like that, go back to basics.
 
The examiner expects you to be safe, not perfect.

Bob Gardner
 
txflyer said:
The secret to a good landing is ... don't land.

Hold it off when you flare as long as you can. Try to fly it all the way down the runway with no power. Try to break the stall horn...

Set your sightline to the end of the runway. Don't worry about right in front of you ...
Click to expand...

This is true of some airplanes, but NOT true of all. Do that in an SR20, for example, and you'll have a tail strike, well before the side yoke is all the way back.
 
spiderweb said:
This is true of some airplanes, but NOT true of all. Do that in an SR20, for example, and you'll have a tail strike, well before the side yoke is all the way back.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I've been draggin' my tail too long ... :redface:

Better advice would have been to get some instruction from someone familiar in type.
 
txflyer said:
Yeah, I've been draggin' my tail too long ... :redface:

Better advice would have been to get some instruction from someone familiar in type.
Click to expand...

I'll agree with this. I also agree with your original statement as it applies to Skyhawks, for example.

Furthermore, don't drop that damn nose the second the mains touch down, unless the winds are howling. Every other Cessna seems to have a nosewheel shimmy problem. :mad:
 
spiderweb said:
I'll agree with this. I also agree with your original statement as it applies to Skyhawks, for example.

Furthermore, don't drop that damn nose the second the mains touch down, unless the winds are howling. Every other Cessna seems to have a nosewheel shimmy problem. :mad:
Click to expand...


Some tail wheel time can't hurt any pilot imo.

At the very least, it will hone their rudder awareness.

I've flown with a few pilots in their nose wheel crafts that when the mains touch, they quit flying and let inertia do the rest. :rolleyes:
 
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