Why do I want a nice landing

Jaybird180 said:
Why do pilots constantly talk about good landings? Why is it considered the measure of flying prowess? Even the US Navy does it!

Look: you brought the plane back to Earth and you can use it again and nobody got hurt and no property was damaged!

Why the obsession? It's psychotic!
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Well, for me, a good landing means being gentle on the airplane. Which is particularly important if it's an airplane you own. It's nice to take care of things that are expensive to maintain.

And, if you are gentle to the airplane, then the occupants are also not put at risk.
 
Perfection is certainly not necessary, but if you are aiming at perfection, you're less likely to hurt anybody or damage anything.
That being said, there's nothing wrong with not beating yourself up over a sloppy landing. I get mad, but I get over it pretty quickly. :D
 
Because to accept anything less is to accept defeat and become a passenger in your own ship
 
RotorAndWing said:
So you are in the group of "just plop it on the ground'? I work with some pilots that think whatever position the airplane is in at 50 feet just hold it until impact. I can attest to the strength of the oleo struts on an Airbus and the abuse some put it through.

I try to make every landing as smooth as possible. The airplane appreciates it, the mechanics appreciate it and the passengers feel more confident with a smooth landing.


Do you take the same attitude towards the rest of your flying? Altitude off by 150 feet? "Ah, so what!" Off course by 5 miles? "Big deal!" :rolleyes2:
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Feeling mighty superior today?

Have you ever read ANYTHING I've posted here in about....the last 3 years?!?!

Thanks for your attempt to suck the fun out of the thread. Good day to you.
 
Because a perfect landing gives a small rush just like a perfectly hit golf ball or swished three-pointer in basketball. It just feels so good you want to experience it every time.
 
After a particularly firm landing on Southwest the flight attendant came on the intercom:

"Folks, about that landing....I asked the Captain if it was his fault, but he said it wasn't. So I asked the co-pilot if it was his fault. He said it wasn't. So, I guess it was just the ASSphault!"
 
As a student, I used to get the wheels on the ground and kind of let the plane go where it wanted to. Now it's a matter of pride to hit the numbers on the centerline and make the first exit without touching the brakes.
I flew ICELANDAIR 757 out of Boston to Reykjavik and Glasgow. Those landings seemed more like my student landings than that of a seasoned pilot. The return trip was a direct flight and... a squeeker. It was amazing how much he improved in just three weeks!
I also remember a trip in an L1011 where the landing was so hard some of the overheads popped open.
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
Night Landing. POA. Fast forward to 11:30

(Stall Horn Sounds)

Kimberly: (laughs / screams) "Not so good but . . . . "

Tango Whiskey: "We survived. It is good."

Kimberly: "You forgive me. It is alright."

Tango Whiskey : "I thought you did fine. I didn't grab anything, right?"

Kimberly: "And you didn't say a bad word."

Tango Whiskey: "No I didn't do that either!"
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Nice video! I thought me learning to fly by the gulf was beautiful till I saw that.
 
silver-eagle said:
As a student, I used to get the wheels on the ground and kind of let the plane go where it wanted to. Now it's a matter of pride to hit the numbers on the centerline and make the first exit without touching the brakes.
I flew ICELANDAIR 757 out of Boston to Reykjavik and Glasgow. Those landings seemed more like my student landings than that of a seasoned pilot. The return trip was a direct flight and... a squeeker. It was amazing how much he improved in just three weeks!
I also remember a trip in an L1011 where the landing was so hard some of the overheads popped open.
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I remember reading about a landing with South West where one of the passengers asked if it was a landing, or were they shot down.
 
Jaybird180 said:
Then measure something that is quantitative like, tolerances to ETA, heading or altitude
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Honestly this is your list?? Inaccuracies in heading and altitude can be easily corrected, bad landing rather not. As to ETA that would be pretty silly to use it as a yardstick of airmanship - ETA may be constantly changing due to unknown factors like winds. By the way landing can also be quantified - amount of g-forces recorded.
 
jdennis1989 said:
Nice video! I thought me learning to fly by the gulf was beautiful till I saw that.
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Between Tomales bay, S.F., San Pablo bay, Pacific coastline and Napa/Sonoma we've got some purdy nice skies out here :)
 
Dr. O said:
Kim, glad to see you posting. Been awhile.
As far as the stall horn. If you had not had it go off I would have been on your back about landing fast.
Night time of course, makes us all tend to flare a bit high.
I noted the plane down there low and tight to the Golden Gate.

Was that SQL you flew out of?
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No, I fly out of O69. At night I tend to have a steeper angle (the whites don't change to red until later) and carry a bit of power / tiny bit more speed. All this is based on learning from others.
 
I try to land as smoothly as possible for three reasons...

  1. I'm part owner of the airplane, and I don't want to break it.
  2. Passengers notice when you plop it down like a hash house burrito.
  3. I know if I screw it up, there will be someone watching.
OK, maybe a fourth reason: It's an indication that I've done things right, and makes me feel like I know what I'm doing.
 
jdennis1989 said:
Nice video! I thought me learning to fly by the gulf was beautiful till I saw that.
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You can thank Troy for the video. Honestly the best gift I've ever received from a passenger. I will keep it forever and now I have something to show passengers who ask "where will we go on our flight"?

I think there was a joke on POA or Facebook where everyone who is native to CA always calls it "Paradise" and wants everyone to move here. Well, I can certainly say that flying around here is not boring! Both for me and for my passengers.
 
I imagine the smooth landing is probably regarded as one of the biggest measures of success because other than taxiing it's the last part of the flight, and the final few moments tend to stick in the memory the best.

When I'm done with a day of flying and I come in for a full stop and my landing is kind of ugly, the first thing I wanna to is go up and make a lap in the pattern so I can stick a nice greaser.

It's like when I'm playing with my band and we're at the last measure of the last song, a tasty little intricate fill with all of us landing back on the tonic for the last "big bang" note and somebody is a little off. You'd give anything for there to be another song in the setlist so you could have that triumphant finish!
 
Speaking of landings, I FINALLY got to use that old joke.

Speaking to a group of after school children (day care) about growing up to be pilots, the rocket scientist teaching, or at least babysitting the kids asked what she thought were leading questions to get the kids talking and asking their own questions.

Bless her hear, she asked how many takeoffs I had done, right after I described how often I go up to practice and keep sharp. I told her it numbered in the thousands and without blinking, she asked, "...and how landings have you performed?"

I loved it. A beat of silence, then... "the same number. We've never left one up there, yet."

It felt so good! I have wanted to se that line for decades.
 
Florida Cracker said:
Speaking of landings, I FINALLY got to use that old joke.

Speaking to a group of after school children (day care) about growing up to be pilots, the rocket scientist teaching, or at least babysitting the kids asked what she thought were leading questions to get the kids talking and asking their own questions.

Bless her hear, she asked how many takeoffs I had done, right after I described how often I go up to practice and keep sharp. I told her it numbered in the thousands and without blinking, she asked, "...and how landings have you performed?"

I loved it. A beat of silence, then... "the same number. We've never left one up there, yet."

It felt so good! I have wanted to se that line for decades.
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And I'm trying to think when, if ever (besides the above mentioned scenario) I would get to use that line!

Great story.
 
Passengers seldom remember the take off, the climb, the time at cruise altitude, or even the approach. Most of them remember the last couple minutes of the flight and that is the landing and taxi to parking. I do my best to fly perfectly on altitude, they don't care or even notice. I try to make all my turns well coordinated, they haven't a clue what that means. You can fly a flight that would make the harshest DPE smile and land with a firm arrival and they are scared to go up next time! :mad2:
 
Skyscraper said:
I imagine the smooth landing is probably regarded as one of the biggest measures of success because other than taxiing it's the last part of the flight, and the final few moments tend to stick in the memory the best.

When I'm done with a day of flying and I come in for a full stop and my landing is kind of ugly, the first thing I wanna to is go up and make a lap in the pattern so I can stick a nice greaser.

It's like when I'm playing with my band and we're at the last measure of the last song, a tasty little intricate fill with all of us landing back on the tonic for the last "big bang" note and somebody is a little off. You'd give anything for there to be another song in the setlist so you could have that triumphant finish!
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I hear you....

When you play the finale with a big dramatic conclusion, and the curtain closes to uprorious applause, it's a big deal. I'm in the middle of a show. Can you tell? We close Saturday night.

With the show, I haven't been doing much flying. Fatigue is a very important factor. And it's BAD especially just as the show opens.

The last flight I took was a proficiency flight in moderately windy conditions, solo (on a Tuesday afternoon so I could actually get a full night's sleep). With the windsock moving around, showing a firm 15 knots in variable directions, I managed to land each of the three wheels in sequence (upwind, downwind, nose) softly, right on center. Yup, that felt REAL good.
 
MAKG1 said:
I hear you....

When you play the finale with a big dramatic conclusion, and the curtain closes to uprorious applause, it's a big deal. I'm in the middle of a show. Can you tell? We close Saturday night.
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Do we have an actor among us?
 
Skyscraper said:
Do we have an actor among us?
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No. Pit musician.

I can't dance worth a ****, but I can play a mean trombone.

I've only been on stage once -- believe it or not, as a trombonist in a production of Much Ado About Nothing with these guys: http://www.shadyshakes.org. There are a lot of really weird Shakespeare productions around here....
 
MAKG1 said:
No. Pit musician.

I can't dance worth a ****, but I can play a mean trombone.

I've only been on stage once -- believe it or not, as a trombonist in a production of Much Ado About Nothing with these guys: http://www.shadyshakes.org. There are a lot of really weird Shakespeare productions around here....
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< THREADJACK ALERT >

If you are a theater fan, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival has an absolutely brilliant production of Streetcar Named Desire running this season. Worth the trip.

< END THREADJACK ALERT >
 
MassPilot said:
Because that's how your non-pilot passengers are going to judge your flying skills. They don't have much else to go on.
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This is the correct answer. passengers don't care about coordinated turns, on course, on altitude. But they know what a smooth landing is supposed to feel like. I know it isn't right. you spend hours in route on a flight and a few seconds on a smooth touchdown. But that is why pilots try to make a good landings.
 
MAKG1 said:
No. Pit musician.

I can't dance worth a ****, but I can play a mean trombone.

I've only been on stage once -- believe it or not, as a trombonist in a production of Much Ado About Nothing with these guys: http://www.shadyshakes.org. There are a lot of really weird Shakespeare productions around here....
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Nice! I'm also a pit musician, but playing some form of heavy metal it's a different kind of pit :D

Alright, awesome, high five.

Sorry for the thread derail. Landings and stuff...
 
kimberlyanne546 said:
You can thank Troy for the video. Honestly the best gift I've ever received from a passenger. I will keep it forever and now I have something to show passengers who ask "where will we go on our flight"?

I think there was a joke on POA or Facebook where everyone who is native to CA always calls it "Paradise" and wants everyone to move here. Well, I can certainly say that flying around here is not boring! Both for me and for my passengers.
Click to expand...

I have never been to CA, but that is certainly on my list once I get my PPL. Always wanted to tour all 50 states before I die, what better way than by plane.
 
Florida Cracker said:
...

Bless her hear, she asked how many takeoffs I had done, right after I described how often I go up to practice and keep sharp. I told her it numbered in the thousands and without blinking, she asked, "...and how landings have you performed?"

I loved it. A beat of silence, then... "the same number. We've never left one up there, yet."
Click to expand...

Why does that sound like such an absurd question? Not everyone has performed an equal number of takeoffs and landings. For example, how about that recent airline captain that got locked out of the cockpit mid flight and the co-pilot performed the landing?
 
And that video of the guy in a Piper demonstrating a PIO? I presume one takeoff, but I counted eight landings.... :)
 
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Jaybird180 said:
Why do pilots constantly talk about good landings? Why is it considered the measure of flying prowess? Even the US Navy does it!

Look: you brought the plane back to Earth and you can use it again and nobody got hurt and no property was damaged!

Why the obsession? It's psychotic!
Click to expand...

If you can make a good landing when things are normal, maybe you'll be able to pull off one you can walk away from when everything is against you.
 
turbofan said:
Carrier landings are definitely quantifiable. Every pass is graded. Navy guys even have their boat GPA on their FITREPs. What you perceive in the cockpit doesn't matter. Paddles is always right. Even when he isn't, "Thanks paddles".
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Never heard of or seen a guy include their boat GPA on a FITREP. I guess you could throw it into the "god's gift to aviation" bullet, but there should be plenty of other quals to talk about that people actually care about. Then again, my squadron doesn't even have a greenie board, and nobody says a bad word if you simply get a fair every day but don't break any jets. Some squadrons certainly get more worked up about things. But yes, paddles is always right :)
 
MAKG1 said:
Shortly after I took my checkride, I flew a Southwest 737 out to KBUR on business. The pilot PLANTED that thing, real flat. I'm sure he was avoiding an overrun -- that runway isn't all that long. But you can bet that's what all the passengers were talking about.
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At an airport like BUR, I'd much rather see someone plant it on the 1000' markers firmly than try to grease it on and end up in a gas station parking lot.
 
The public judges the landing from row 25.
You can do a Terrific OEI approach under the toughest conditions, and then crow hop the landing....and you're sauce.


"Enlisted man or officer?"
"Make the stitches BIG!"
....Hawkeye Pierce
 
Because we have been led to believe nothing is more gratifying than a smooth landing especially if you have passengers aboard.
 
it's kinda like giving your girl a massive orgasm...........you're gonna tell all your friends about it.....you'll high-five some people at work over it......sheeeit, you might even get it on film.........but any way you look at it, it's gonna leave a smile on yer face. :)
 
It all the matter of how you judge yourself.

Flying with two new student pilots today I found my landings to be HORRIBLE in front of them. So feeling annoyed, as all get out, at my self I asked one of my CFI friends to go up with me. After the first landing he look at me and said it was a good landing.

I realized I was being too hard on myself and that no one does perfect landings everytime.

We got 10 landings in two different aircraft in 1.1 of total HOBBS time. I feel like tonight was a successful evening of flying!
 
eman1200 said:
it's kinda like giving your girl a massive orgasm...........you're gonna tell all your friends about it.....you'll high-five some people at work over it
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No, that is over sharing in the extreme...just smile and move on...
 
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