How to land an airplane
1/18/12
Final
How to land an Airplane Landing an airplane is one of the most challenging parts of flying. There are many ways to land an airplane and in all sorts of configurations depending on the conditions of the weather or the runway. There are no set rules to landing, but in order to learn the pilot must first learn a process in calm weather with a dry runway in order to have the set basic skills to land in rougher weather. Let’s say the pilot is already approaching the airport. If at a tower controlled airport the controller should tell the pilot instructions on where to go. The controller tells the pilot to enter a left downwind at a forty five degree angle to set up to land. The traffic pattern is a so called “highway in the sky” and can vary from airport to airport but the same basic rules apply to all airports. The traffic pattern consists of departure, crosswind, downwind, base, and final leg which are the main legs to focus on for a good landing. In a left traffic pattern the pilot should be able to look out to the side and see the “captain’s bars” or the aiming point directly across the wing, this is called being abeam the runway. At this time he or she should set up for a normal landing. First, still on the downwind leg, the pilot will turn on the carburetor heat for any possible icing, pull the power back, and bleed off any extra speed with pitch by pulling the control wheel or the yoke back. After the pilot checks airspeed he or she has to make sure the airplane is in the flap operating range and get the first ten degrees of flaps in.
Next is the base leg to the runway, which will be at a ninety degree angle from the downwind leg. The pilot will lift up the wing and check for any possible traffic and go ahead and get the next ten degrees of flaps in to steepen his or her approach. As soon as all of this is done the pilot should recheck airspeed to be sure that the airplane is at the required approach speed stated by the pilots
Final
How to land an Airplane Landing an airplane is one of the most challenging parts of flying. There are many ways to land an airplane and in all sorts of configurations depending on the conditions of the weather or the runway. There are no set rules to landing, but in order to learn the pilot must first learn a process in calm weather with a dry runway in order to have the set basic skills to land in rougher weather. Let’s say the pilot is already approaching the airport. If at a tower controlled airport the controller should tell the pilot instructions on where to go. The controller tells the pilot to enter a left downwind at a forty five degree angle to set up to land. The traffic pattern is a so called “highway in the sky” and can vary from airport to airport but the same basic rules apply to all airports. The traffic pattern consists of departure, crosswind, downwind, base, and final leg which are the main legs to focus on for a good landing. In a left traffic pattern the pilot should be able to look out to the side and see the “captain’s bars” or the aiming point directly across the wing, this is called being abeam the runway. At this time he or she should set up for a normal landing. First, still on the downwind leg, the pilot will turn on the carburetor heat for any possible icing, pull the power back, and bleed off any extra speed with pitch by pulling the control wheel or the yoke back. After the pilot checks airspeed he or she has to make sure the airplane is in the flap operating range and get the first ten degrees of flaps in.
Next is the base leg to the runway, which will be at a ninety degree angle from the downwind leg. The pilot will lift up the wing and check for any possible traffic and go ahead and get the next ten degrees of flaps in to steepen his or her approach. As soon as all of this is done the pilot should recheck airspeed to be sure that the airplane is at the required approach speed stated by the pilots