Normal Landings

Objectives

• Introduce the traffic pattern, including entry and departure procedures

• Detail the various speeds and aircraft configurations for the type aircraft being used

• Begin with practicing the pattern at altitude

• Once familiarity with the flow of the pattern, exercise in the actual pattern

• Recognize that this is not a single lesson, but will be a series of sessions

Session Details

Start with a white-board discussion of the pattern, sketching out all various components of the pattern. Emphasize why the pattern is structured the way it is, and the benefits of maintaining a very regular and expected flow of traffic.

In flight practice the pattern, including desired speeds and configuration on all the segments, with an artificial "hard floor" above which the student must go around. Continue this exercise until a degree of familiarity is obtained on the part of the student.

Transition to flying the pattern at the airport, and note the differences. The real traffic pattern has attributes not found when play-acting at altitude. It has time demands, positioning demands, and traffic awareness demands. These demands increase the workload (and often stress level) for students.

Critical goals are :

• Execute a correct and stabilized approach

• Insure the aircraft is correctly lined up, and aligned

• Transition from the final descent to the roundout and touchdown

• Maintain directional control once on the ground

Unfortunately none of these elements are optional. The proper use of pitch and power are essential to a good landing, and can never be neglected (though in the heat of the moment students often do neglect one or more of those items).

This work will continue in parallel with the subsequent pre-solo sessions. From this point forward no session will completely be absent landing practice, even if that practice is only a single landing.

NOTE

A word of caution is appropriate here. Learning to land can be challenging, and may well take some time. Until landings are relatively reliable the student can not progress to solo flight (obviously). During the period where landings are still being mastered we may well take breaks and explore other skills. It is at this point where an orderly progression through lessons ceases, and the content of a given session is selected on an as-needed basis.

Resources/References

Lesson Plans

These are individual lesson plans, keyed to the ACS, which discuss the topics included in this flight lesson. Each of the references below will have further references to additional FAA documents which address the individual topics in depth.

• 6.B : Traffic Patterns

• 7.A : Normal and Crosswind Takeoff and Climb

• 7.H : Go Around or Rejected Landing