ORIGINAL: RCKen
ORIGINAL: MinnFlyer
Second: As you turn to final, glance at the surroundings. Notice where your plane is in reference to a landmark. Like, "ok, I'm just over that tree on the horizon". If you come in across the runway toward you, next time try turning just PAST that tree on the horizon.
Minn,
We had a small tree about 150 yards out from the end of our runway that I did just what you say. I used it as a landmard for my approaches. Then on a field maintenance day one guy got a wild hair and cut the tree down. For almost 3 months after that I had a terrible time landing because I didn't have my reference anymore!!!!
Ken
Simple fix, grab the guy that cut the tree down and whenever you fly, make him stand where the tree was.
All great advice. The best thing I can say is have an experinced pilot fly your plane with you standing there. Ask him to explain everything he is looking at while on approach. He'll probably surprise himself when he explains it because he will probably have not thought about it in a long time. Once this is done then ask to him get you on a buddy box and talk you through the whole process. You'll be surprised.
A few onnths ago, someone post a question here about what you look for at certain times during a flight and the results made for some pretty cool reading. I'll try to find the thread and post a link to it in a few minutes.