Monday, October 29, 2007

Landings


A recent question came up about landing a plane. The question was "Why are some landings smooth and others hard?"

Well, first let me say that my landings are always smooth. That's a joke for those who have piloted a plane before. The reality of it is that not all landings can be smooth. While we pilots strive for that each and every time, we don't always get them.

Why?

There are several things happening during a landing. First off, the pilot is flying the plane. Many assume the auto pilot is landing the plane (see auto landings in a separate post). The pilot is busy correcting for changing wind conditions, modulating the power to maintain a desired airspeed and then at the last second, he/she will "Flare". A Flare is a maneuver where the pilot slows the descent to allow a smooth touchdown.

Things that can go wrong (for the pilot):

-Wind gust: a wind gust will sometimes add airspeed causing the plane to float like a balloon (known as ballooning) momentarily. This has to be corrected with precise control inputs so as to not fly to far down the runway making it hard to stop after touch down. Also the pilot is trying to prevent the plane from dropping onto the runway (hard landing) after the gust has subsided.

-Visual Illusion: pilots typically fly into airports that have similar sized runways in both length and width. As such, they get used to seeing a certain 'picture' when landing and will unconsciously maneuver the plane to land in that picture. The problem arises when the runway is much longer or shorter than the pilot is used to, or if its much narrower or wider than normal.
This can cause the pilot to flare too high or too low. Too high and the plane will ballon, too low and, well hard landing.

-Wind shear: if the wind were to shift from in front to behind (headwind to tailwind) during the flare, the resulting feeling is that the 'bottom falls out'. This too will result in a hard landing.

There are other things such as airport lighting, visibility and time of day (sunlight) that could affect the landing but a good pilot will always make a safe landing and make it as smooth as possible.

Welcome


I have created this Blog for all of you who have that 'dumb' question that you want to ask an airline pilot and were always afraid to do so. Also for those who just want to get an insider's view on travel (air travel in particualr).

I hope to help anyone that reads this get a better understanding of air travel from many different prespectives.

Those looking for answers on anything from; What is turbulence? to How do I make a career as a pilot? and anything in between.

Who am I?

My name is Brian. I am a pilot for a major airline based in the northeastern United States. I have over 10 years flying experience in everything from small Cessna and Piper airplanes to Lear Jets, Regional Jets and Large Transport Jets. I currently fly the Airbus 320 which will carry anywhere from 130- 162 passengers depending on the configuration.

Feel free to ask questions that you'd like answered and suggest topics that you'd like to hear more about.

Thanks for visiting!

Brian