ChiefPilot's blog

This post is a follow on to Cessna 172- The Landing Pattern That Will Lead to a Good Touchdown

You’ve flown a good pattern with your Cessna 172, putting you ½ mile from the end of the runway at 400 feet above the ground. Your power is set for a 400 fpm rate of descent. In one minute you’ll be touching down. Now what?

Sunday tested my flying endurance.

I got a call Saturday night from CAP saying that an aircraft was missing in western Virginia and they needed crews to help search.

I launched around 10 from Richmond for what is usually about a two hour flight to Wise, VA. Headwinds turned it in to a 2.6. After after a quick lunch we took off to relieve another plane and ended up spending another 2.6 in the air, mostly circling.

Then there was the 2 hours on the way home for a total of 7.2.

Like it or not, pilots get judged on landings more than any other aspect of flight. You can spend two hours 100 feet off altitude, another hour not quite sure where you are, but if you bring it in with a squeaker, you’ll be congratulated. There’s a certain about of justice in that, landings are the phase of flight requiring the most skill and best reactions. On the other hand, no one rolls it on every time. That last minute gust or misjudged 12 inches can easily make a great landing good or a good one slightly embarrassing.