[musical introduction]

Man: [0:31] We’re back for yet another episode of “Aviator90″ from Angle
of Attack. This time we’ll be learning how to flare. Now I can’t
promise you’ll get a nice and smooth landing every time. But I can
promise that if you are an inexperienced virtual aviator, you’re
about to get some great tips on how to smooth out that final part
of the landing, the flare and touchdown.
[0:55] Now last episode we talked a little bit about how a stable
approach is essential to a good landing. Why, you ask? Well if
you’re going too fast on the approach, you’re really going to float
in the flare, missing your touchdown point and just screwing up
your overall flying mojo. Stay on speed during the approach.

[1:18] You can pick a target on the runway. This line here works
great. If you’re at an airport where their runway doesn’t look like
this, just work it out. Just promise me you won’t clip any fences
or take anyone’s head off!

[1:32] So this is your target. It’s always great to have a target
when landing. In fact, it’s very important. Because the flare
requires a bit of floating, even if you did keep your speed
perfect; I’ve even heard of aviators aiming a bit before their
touchdown point. For instance, you can aim here and the plane would
actually touch down here. The key is to simply compensate for now
and give yourself a little buffer. As you get more experienced
it’ll come natural.

[2:04] Now let’s talk about the final evolution of the approach
through the flare and touchdown. When you are right here over the
runway threshold you are more than welcome to pull out the power,
as long as you are on track with your touchdown point. So do it
smoothly. Don’t just cut it out. It’ll make the transition a bit
too aggressive. So if you do it smoothly it’ll be a nice transition
that you’ll be able to control. You want to do it quickly but just
don’t yank the power.

[2:35] Now going into the cockpit we start to ease the nose up to
bleed off the final bit of airspeed. The thing is, we want it to
bleed off right over the runway not at 10 or 15 feet. We’re talking
about three to five feet. The tendency for you here is going to be
to pull up because the runway’s coming at you. Even I still have to
fight this temptation, so don’t be scared. The only thing to be
scared of at this point is starting the flare too high, as I
mentioned before. That’s a sure way to slam the plane into the
runway and break the landing gear.

[3:13] The way to do this is to use your peripheral vision, out the
side of your sight. While looking down the runway, smoothly bring
down your airspeed and slowly and ever so gently let it descend.
This will take a very light touch on the controls, but you may also
have to really command the controls as well. Just be ready.

[3:35] So remember, keep your airspeed in check on the final
approach, pull the power when needed, and hit your mark. Use your
side vision by looking down the runway to gauge how smooth your
flare is. Other than that, all I can say is “practice, practice,
practice.” Try different things, see what works for you, and hit
your mark.

[3:56] If you aren’t getting a perfectly smooth landing every time,
don’t worry about it. Just do your best and try to improve. For
some odd reason a perfectly smooth landing became the ultimate sign
of a good pilot. Well, what happens if you never make it to your
destination because you did something stupid like plan the fuel
wrong and you had to make a forced landing? Well, between the pilot
that makes a perfectly smooth landing or an aviator that makes
great decisions, who would you rather trust your life with? That’s
just a thought.

[4:31] Anyway, you’re doing awesome so far, so keep it up! We’ll
see you next time when we discuss straight and level flight. Now
that sounds a bit boring, but we’re going to talk about the
altimeter and some other things, so make sure you tune in. Until
then, throttle on.

Transcription by CastingWords