2013 World Jet Masters
by Jim Hiller [email protected]
This year, the US Team Qualifier for the World Jet Masters will be held at Litchfield Airport in Litchfield, Illinois, on September 4 and 5. It was also 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 World Jet Masters 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 flying, or more specifically, the landing—the toughest precision maneuver we perform in aviation. It is even more critical when flying heavy, high-performance models such as jets.
Most discussions about landing involve the approach to landing, but what about improving our skills during the final phase, the flare-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 final flare to touchdown. The landing is not a simple maneuver where you point the airplane to a specific 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 flare using only the elevator. The airplane, the glide speed, and rate of descent are the factors we use to determine when the flare 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 final touchdown.
I like to initiate the flare (the first 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 flare at 5 to 6 feet or eye level. If the model is still too fast, the higher flare allows some airspeed to bleed off by making the round-out longer. Starting at a higher altitude helps bleed off the airspeed.
But the flare 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 flare 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 flares with this model, but with a special technique.
I approach the field as a normal landing, then at approximately 2 feet of altitude start the flare 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 the elevator it simply touches down as a 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 flying 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 accidentally 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 flare. That is the key to reducing your workload during the flare.
Concentrate on precision elevator usage to reduce the rate of descent and airspeed. I like to start my flare-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 flight 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 finished 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 flying 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 difficult. 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 flaps fully extended, combined with the speed brakes extended, is enormous. I find myself pushing up the power four or five clicks just to maintain a controllable rate of descent on approach. This skill is similar to the one I developed while flying the Seniorita.
It is amazing how effective flying the Seniorita has been in preparing me for flying my jets—and everyone thinks I bring that old aircraft out just because I enjoy flying low and slow.
Time to Fly
Come on, it's summer. It's time to get back out and get flying again. See you at the Route 66 Jets in September, following the World Jet Masters Qualifier.
SOURCES
- 2013 Jet World Masters — www.jwm2013.com
- Jet Pilot's Organization — www.jetpilots.org
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
