2013 World Jet Masters - 2012/08

This year, the US Team Qualifi er for
the World Jet Masters will be held
at Litchfi eld Airport in Litchfi eld,
Illinois, on September 4 and 5. It also
was held here two years ago. More pilots
have been interested in making the team
this year, and the list of participants is
growing.
The 2013 World Jet Masters will
be held in Switzerland, and after a
successful WJM last year in Dayton,
Ohio, the Swiss have a tough act to
follow. They promise to meet the
challenge.
Landing Tips
With that thought in mind, let’s talk
fl ying, or more specifi cally, the landing—
the toughest precision maneuver we
perform in aviation. It is even more
critical when fl ying heavy, highperformance
models such as jets.
Most discussions about landing
involve the approach to landing,
but what about improving our skills
during the fi nal phase, the fl are-out
to touchdown? That’s where the real
touchdown happens. What techniques
have we developed to improve our
landing skills?
All good landings start with the
approach—getting the airplane to the
proper position, height, and airspeed
for the fi nal fl are to touchdown. The
landing is not a simple maneuver where
you point the airplane to a specifi c line
and say, “Great job.” It is a dynamic
maneuver where you are in control—
slowing the aircraft down and changing
the angle of descent to achieve nearly
no rate of descent just as the wheels
touch the ground—all while guiding the
aircraft on centerline and not making
visible roll corrections to do so. Landing
is one busy maneuver.
To break the landing into parts,
I’ll start with the fl are using only the
elevator. The airplane, the glide speed,
and rate of descent are the factors we
use to determine when the fl are begins. When we start to apply up-elevator to slow
the airspeed and rate of descent, we must ensure that will still carry enough airspeed
for the fi nal touchdown.
I like to initiate the fl are (the fi rst pull of the elevator) at roughly 2 to 3 feet of
elevation, belt height or lower, but depending on my experience with the airplane,
the airspeed, and the rate of descent, I may decide to start the fl are at 5 to 6 feet or
eye level. If the model is still too fast, the higher fl are allows some airspeed to bleed
off by making the round-out longer. Starting at a higher altitude helps bleed off the
airspeed.
But the fl are is not that simple. The speed at which we slow down the rate of
descent is also slowing the airspeed. The goal is not to increase the rate of pull on
the elevator so that we run out of airspeed and elevator travel before the airplane
touches the ground. That’s the magical trick in landing. Enough airspeed and elevator
travel must be available for those last few inches that lead to the touchdown, so the
aircraft descent rate can be nearly zero at touchdown.
Developing the delicate touch on the elevator stick to smoothly and precisely
execute the fl are to landing is the art we are trying to develop. My technique to
improve this delicate touch on the elevator is slightly different than most. I pull
out my daughter’s old trainer, a Sig Kadet Seniorita, which is a slow, simple, benign
airplane. On calm mornings or evenings, I simply practice landing fl ares with this
model, but with a special technique.
I approach the fi eld as a normal landing, then at approximately 2 feet of altitude,
start the fl are and bring up the throttle a few clicks off idle. At roughly 1 foot, I try
to hold this height until all airspeed and elevator are used up, then the model gently
settles to the ground. With the right fast idle setting, this can take 100 to 300 feet,
and more than 10 seconds.
At the same time, I’m gently increasing the pull on the elevator to maintain 1 foot
of altitude, while watching the airspeed slowly bleed away. Continuously varying
the pull on the elevator is one tough, precision maneuver that’s close enough to the
ground to make it easy to see my accuracy.
Why do I use a trainer? First, it is slow, gives me plenty of time to think and
develop my skills, and I can see the results of my actions. Second, if I am late with landing, or if I overcontrol the Seniorita,
it simply balloons up in altitude-losing
airspeed. It’s such a benign stall that
I know that with a simple hit of the
throttle, it will immediately recover to
normal fl ying and all will be well.
Ballooning by overcontrolling the
elevator is the most common mistake
made in landing, and it can lead to some
nasty moments if one is left with too
much altitude, not enough airspeed,
and a fast-approaching ground. That’s
why it’s a good idea to practice with a
trainer. Aircraft that are easily within our
abilities are the best aircraft to use to
develop our skills through exercises.
As you practice using the elevator
with the aforementioned exercise, do
you notice you’re also wagging the
wings slightly and inadvertently putting
in some aileron as you pull back the
elevator? You are not alone; most pilots
do this.
If this happens, a trick I learned years
ago is to adjust the transmitter springs.
You can make the control stick aileron
springs tighter than the elevator springs,
and it will help reduce your tendency
to accidently apply ailerons as you pull
back on the elevator. You know what
comes next.
On my transmitter for the Seniorita,
I do the opposite because the aileron
control-stick springs are softer. The
Seniorita is for developing my skills, not
making life easy.
That was the easy part of the landing.
It’s time to throw in the effects of the
crosswind.
First, set up the appropriate crab for
the crosswind to hold the centerline on
the approach, correcting as necessary.
You don’t want to make corrections in
crab angle once you start the fl are. That
is the key to reducing your workload
during the fl are.
Concentrate
on precision
elevator usage
to reduce the
rate of descent
and airspeed.
I like to start
my fl are-out
low because
there is less of
a chance of it
being blown off
centerline in a
crosswind when
the crab angle
I’ve selected
isn’t perfect.
Once you
have the
correct crab
angle, you
won’t touch
down crabbing sideways to the fl ight
path, especially with narrow gear
airplanes such as the T-33, F-15, or
F-16. They tend to tip over and scrape
those beautifully painted and fi nished
wingtips. The side loads are tough on
tires and landing gear.
I try to wait as late as possible to kick
in rudder to align the aircraft to the
runway just as it is touching down. Make
sure you are familiar with your model,
because it takes a touch of opposite
aileron to stop any roll. Wing sweep
and angle of attack vary the amount of
aileron needed to keep it level. If you hit
the rudder early to align the model, you
have to deal with plenty of issues.
You are fl ying a jet in a sideslip, at low
airspeeds, at a high angle of attack. In a
sideslip, the elevator authority, reaction,
and pitch trim all change, along with the
stall angle. I try to swing the fuselage to
align with the runway as I touch down.
Flying a precision elevator maneuver
while in a sideslip is diffi cult. Keep it to a
minimum.
I just set up my DerJet Vampire
with a JR 12X radio, so now I have
enough channels to use the speed
brakes for landing. The skills I explained
immediately come into play. Now, when
landing the Vampire, the drag with the
four split fl aps fully extended, combined
with the speed brakes extended, is
enormous. I fi nd myself pushing up the
power four or fi ve clicks just to maintain
a controllable rate of descent on
approach. This skill is similar to the one I
developed while fl ying the Seniorita.
It is amazing how effective fl ying the
Seniorita has been in preparing me for
fl ying my jets—and everyone thinks I
bring that old aircraft out just because I
enjoy fl ying low and slow.
Time to Fly
Come on, it’s summer. It’s time to get
back out and get fl ying again. See you at
the Route 66 Jets in September, following
the World Jet Masters Qualifi er.