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Old 04-10-2011 | 02:38 PM
  #67  
Top_Gunn
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Joined: Jun 2005
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From: Granger, IN
Default RE: Am i ready to fly?

It's hard to give you advice about landing without having watched you do it, but here are a couple of thoughts:

Before trying landings on your own, be sure you're comfortable flying the plane toward yourself from both sides of the field. Landing is hard enough without having to take time out to think about which way to turn to move the plane one way or the other.

The biggest mistake most beginners make with landing is trying to use the elevator to control altitude. The elevator controls speed. On your final approach, use the throttle to control altitude. If you are too high, throttle back (and if you're too high to do that, go around and try again). If you are too low, add throttle. Keep the fuselage level or just a little nose up until you flare for the touch-down.

Good shorthand advice: at the very end of your approach, when you are just an inch or so above ground, hold it off with up elevator as long as you can. (Some say, "Try not to land.") If your plane has tricycle gear, you want the main gear wheels to touch the ground first. If the nose gear touches first, you will bounce.