LEARNING FROM THE PROS .....
Acknowledgements: Thomas P. Turner (Mastery Flight Training Inc.)
A video was posted this week, taken at London Heathrow Airport, of a British Airways Airbus A321 landing in strong winds. The big jet looked smooth and stable on final approach under clear skies. But as it neared the ground you can see the Pilot Flying (PF) was working hard, easing the right wing down, feeling for the runway with the right landing gear.
Next it hit hard on both main trucks, the struts flexing as the airplane pitched up into a high angle of attack. It then reared up dangerously onto the left mains, wing very low to the ground, and the pilot hauled back raising the pitch up so high the tail very nearly struck the runway. The large jet then climbed at a steep deck angle — I can feel the angle of attack as I watch the video.
The right tyres smoked when they bounced off the pavement and the airplane lifted into ground effect, the PF levelling the wings. You can see the wings wobble as the jet climbed in a go-around. But if you watch closely, you’ll see the nose push down — the PF lowered angle of attack into a normal climb attitude.
It’s generally assumed that a stabilised approach results in a good landing. What is meant by “stabilised” may not be what we often think stabilised means (we’ve addressed this many times). The FAA considers an approach stabilised if it follows a constant angle of descent on final approach to the point where the landing flare begins. Airspeed, angle of attack, power, rate of descent and even airplane configuration may or may not remain constant. You might have to make small changes to one or more of these variables to execute a stabilised, constant angle approach.
To make a good landing I emphasise this constant angle descent as part of being “in the zone” for landing. The zone is the result of observing the airplane’s current state (on the desired target, above it or below) and trend (maintaining state, trending toward target or trending away from it). You’re checking for the state and trend of several variables. On short final, say, from 400 to 500 feet Above Ground Level (AGL), check that all the following apply — the airplane is:
· Properly configured. This means the power is set as normal or expected, the flaps are in the planned landing position and retractable landing gear, as applicable, is down.
· On speed. At the proper landing attitude, the airspeed is at your final approach speed as recommended by the Pilot’s Operating Handbook, +5/-0 knots and including any added speed for a gust factor or if landing with partial or no flaps.
· On glide path. This may be from an ILS or derived by GPS, or a visual glide path following a VASI, PAPI or similar guidance, or simply a stationary aim point on the runway that is within the touchdown zone. The touchdown zone should be +/-100 feet of an identified spot, approximately 1000 feet from the runway threshold, or one-third of the total runway length from the threshold, whichever is shorter.
· Aligned with the runway centreline, and you are having no trouble maintaining alignment.
Don’t wait for the flare to decide whether to land. Begin checking your airplane’s state and its trend toward the landing zone as soon as you enter final approach. If the state and trend are not correct on final approach, begin your go-around at once … before you’re smoking tyres or hitting hard!
If you’ve trimmed the airplane on final approach — and you should, to guide and not fight the airplane — applying power will cause it to pitch up … perhaps enough to trend it into a stall, especially in nose-heavy airplanes like typical twins and/or anything with a turbo-charger, or modified with a heavier-than-standard engine or propeller. In these airplanes you may have to be like the PF in that British Airways Airbus, and push the controls forward as aggressively as needed to hold but not exceed the go-around attitude and angle of attack while trimming off the pressure to establish a climb.
FLY SAFE!