About Airport

Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal or aircraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called “landing” as well.

Hitting the ground too hard is prevented by wings (including rotor wings), a parachute or rockets or a vertically directed jet engine, in the case of a balloon the buoyancy is slightly decreased for a soft landing. Aircraft usually land at an airport on a runway or helicopter landing pad.

Landing Technique

The techniques described below apply to single-engine aircraft such as the Cessna 172.

• While it is dangerous to fly a low final, flying a high approach will force the pilot to lose a significant amount of altitude in a short amount of time. It will become more difficult to hold the aircraft off the ground during the flare and a hard landing is more likely. Also, the aircraft could enter what is called a dynamic stall.

• Approach at the correct airspeed. Approaching too fast can result in a ballooned landing, while approaching too slow can result in a stall.

• Do not wait too long to begin holding back pressure on the yoke. Doing so will result in a hard or bounced landing. A good rule of thumb is when the aircraft reaches the runway threshold, power should be set to idle and the pilot should begin holding slight back pressure. The amount of back pressure held should increase as the aircraft loses altitude. At the same time, holding too much back pressure could result in a balloon or early stall.

• When approximately the distance of the wingspan from the ground, ground effect will cause induced drag on the aircraft to decrease, possibly increasing flare distance. If the aircraft balloons in this situation, the pilot should continue holding back pressure and should not allow the aircraft to quickly settle back to the ground.

• At the beginning of the flare, the pilot should look approximately half way down the runway. This is important because a repetitive “landing sight” will help develop continuity.

• Once the main gear touches down, do not push the yoke forward. This could cause the nose wheel to bounce, cause damage to the nose gear, or induce a nose wheel shimmy, in which case the pilot should hold slight back pressure to divert weight from the nose wheel.

• Do not forget to account for wind. A crosswind will require the pilot to crab into the wind. In this instance, one main wheel, the wheel which is into the wind, should touch the ground before the other; this is correct. If the aircraft is crabbed but touches down on both main gear at the same time, skipping may occur. The direction of motion of the aircraft should be parallel to the aircraft’s longitudinal axis (the imaginary line running from front to back).