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10 Answers

PROBLEMS AFTER TOUCHDOWN

Asked by: 3869 views Student Pilot

HI 

IT TOOK ME 55 HOURS OF DUAL TO ACCEPT THE FACT OF FLYING SOLO BUT I STILL HAVE 1 MAJOR PROBLEM THATS MAKING ME AFRAID TO FLY SOLO AND ITS THAT AFTER TOUCHDOWN  SOMETIMES THE AIRCRAFT MOVES EITHER TO THE LEFT OR RIGHT AS IF ITS ROLLING ON 1 MAIN GEAR AND NOSE GEAR AS IF ITS GOING TO FLIP OVER AND THEN SETTLES DOWN BY ITSELF ,1. THERE IS NO CROSSWIND WIND LESS THAT 5KNOTS ,I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW WHAT IM DOING WRONG EVEN THOUGH MY TOUCH DOWN ON THE MAIN GEARS ARE VER SMOOTH AND I ALWAYS LAND WITH FULL FLAPS ,AND IF THIS SITUATION OCCURS WHATS THE IMMEDIATE ACTION I MUST TAKE

 I WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IMMEDIATE ANSWERS BECAUSE THIS PROBLEM IS MAKING ME THINK OF NOT FLYING ANYMORE .

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10 Answers



  1. Brian on Nov 22, 2012

    It might be in your head. It might be because you’re landing too fast. It might be from relaxing back pressure just after landing. I’d suggest going up to altitude and practice a half dozen simulated approaches, round out, and flare and take it all the way to a stall. Really focus on what the visual picture looks like, what the controls feel like, and the sounds you hear (or don’t).

    Picking an altitude to flare and all that doesn’t matter. All that matters is you stabilize an final approach, have a point in the distance to keep your heading, and then perform your round out/flare to a full power off stall. In other words, don’t get wrapped up with an altitude because it will distract you from the picture outside. Just be high enough that it’s safe to stall the airplane.

    After you’ve done this a bunch, go try a landing. If you can make the stall horn talk to you before your mains touch (power idle) then see if you experience this phenomena still. And after you land keep the back pressure, holding the nose off as long as you can. Apply brakes when the nose touches down.

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  2. jimmy on Nov 23, 2012

    THANK U BRIAN FOR UR ANSWER ,BUT REALLY THE ISSUE IS NOT IN MY HEAD I ACTUALLY SEE AND FEEL THE AIRCRAFT GO SIDEWAYS EVERYTIME THE NOSE WHEEL TOUCHES DOWN ,APPROACH IS GREAT ALL IS OK ,IT REALLY GOES TO 1 SIDE BUT NOT OF THE CENTER LINE IT STAYS IN A STRAIGHT LINE OF MOVEMENT ON ROLL OUT BUT ONE OF THE MAIN GEAR WHEELS IS OF THE GROUND AND THEN SETTLES DOWN AGAIN

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  3. MaggotCFII on Nov 23, 2012

    In what airplane are you training?

    How long are the runways that you are
    using?

    Is you training in the Part 61 or Part 141 environment?

    How experienced is the CFI that you are training with?

    How often are you flying? Would you describe yourself
    are younger/middle aged/older?

    Of your 55 hours dual, how much was spent in the practice are
    doing pre-solo maneuvers and how much has been in traffic pattern?

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  4. George on Nov 23, 2012

    i think your problem is lazy feet after landing some ruder pedal work as necessary .

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  5. jimmy on Nov 24, 2012

    HI MAGGOTCFII

    AIRPLANE =CESSNA 172S

    RUNWAYS VERY LONG ENOUGH FOR 3 TOUCH AND GOES

    CFI VERY EXPERIENCED

    NOW I STARTED FLYING 4 TIMES A WEEK

    MIDDLE AGED

    OUT OF 55 HOURS U CAN SAY AROUND 35 ON TRAFFIC PATTERN ,

    THE ISSUE IS NOT THE TRAFFIC PATTERN ITS THE ROLL OUT

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  6. Brian on Nov 24, 2012

    If you land at a stall airspeed, in calm winds, directionally straight, and keep holding the nose off as long as possible there is no symptom like you describe. They key is to hear the stall horn before the main wheels touch.

    In the 50 or so 172’s I’ve got time in (I know I’m so cool!..) the only way I’ve experienced this is: 1) side load 2) gusty crosswinds 3) landing at a high speed and intentionally being on one wheel/lifting one after touchdown with ailerons. Number 2 you eliminated. Number 3 won’t happen if you land full stall on both mains. Number 1 will be a brief jolt on initial touchdown and won’t transpire to anything more; assuming you land at a full stall.

    Have you had the time to try landing full stall and holding the nose off? If so, did it still happen? Did you hear the stall horn before the mains touched?

    PS My apologies if you took my ‘in your head’ comment from the first post offensively. It was not meant as such, just covering all the possible bases as I saw it. Sometimes when we see something weird happen we mentally reconstruct it on later flights when it’s not there. It’s something I’ve personally done myself, but maybe I’m a weirdo. I won’t deny it. 🙂

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  7. jimmy on Nov 25, 2012

    thanks brian for ur answers ,u are %100 write i think the problem is that im landing non directionally straight ,the question is if it happens and the plane seems to lift off the right wheen and move to the left what is the immediate action to be taken to get it back immediately to the normal postion roll out

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  8. Brian on Nov 26, 2012

    The only thing that confuses me with this is landing sideways will cause a jolt on initial impact. As you describe it there is a jolt when the nose gear settles.

    In either case I would bet you are not landing at a full stall. If anything you’re likely landing flat. Have you tried going out to the practice area and simulating an approach, round out, and landing to a full stall a few times? When I touch down

    A bit of a side track here, but unfortunately your case is an all too typical one in the flight training world: With 60 percent of the training being in the traffic pattern. A landing is nothing more than a controlled stall inches from the ground. Therefore, if we focus on teaching good control of the aircraft at altitude, landing becomes a non-issue. If you can fly it you can land it.

    The point here is this, whenever any pilot is having a problem with a landing it can almost undoubtedly be traced to a basic flight skill that could use some polishing up. In the case of the final phase of flight to touchdown, working on slow flight and power off stalls with a focus on good directional control. So my advice remains what it was in the first post, practice a little at altitude and only focus on making that one thing perfect. Then see how it translates to your actual landing. I think the results will surprise you.

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  9. jimmy on Nov 26, 2012

    thanks brian i will try what u adviced ,and i will get back to u

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  10. jimmy on Nov 27, 2012

    dear brian i did 2 landings with my instructor and they were perfect .i think brian the issue is not how i fly because my instructor says i fly very good ,i think the main issue is that im afraid of flying solo ,i already have 5 hours solo but im not being able to overcome the fear ,to tell u the truth i have no idear what to do or how to overcome the fear ,when im with my instructor i fly perfectly but the min he tells me go solo my heart starts pounding as if its going to go out of my chest ,today i refused to go solo.

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