I just made my second ever successful landing!
It was horrible!
(Aircraft was a Cessna 182)
Landing speed, somewhere between 80 and 100 kts.
20° of flap.
Nose dive approach.
Bounced on landing.
The replay from the tower was worse!
Hit the runway with the nose wheel first (probably a bad idea) than the main landing gear hit (causing the bounce), the plane staggered drunkenly into the air, then crashed back down on the starboard landing gear before the other wheels hit and I somehow managed to stop before ending up in the lake.
@DRGN Juno I think I may have found the worst pilot in the world, me!
I needed to look up some differences between the C172 and the C182. I'm basing this off of a C182Q, since it was the first result when I looked up the POH. Here's my critique:
-At 20 degree flaps down, you want to aim for 75-85 KIAS. Landing performance and weather will dictate your exact setup, but the forums seem to agree this is the standard setting.
-Control your airspeed using pitch, and only set your throttle once you have a good airspeed. Dropping your flaps will increase your AoA, and the aircraft will want to nose down to maintain airspeed. Let it drop slowly, then pick it back up and fine tune until you're holding the speed you want.
-Increase throttle if you find yourself getting low, or vice versa. You want to maintain that attitude for speed, so use the throttle to change power, and therefore glide slope.
-Stay aligned with the runway and focus on the far end. When you see the ground approaching, gently bring the power down and flare the nose up. The final approach flare to touchdown is almost a controlled stall. This takes some practice, getting the proper balance, but it brings the nose up and bleeds off any airspeed until you set down.
-If you have any crosswind correction, hold it until you're in the flare.
-Apply brakes as gently as you can, stay focused on the end of the runway. Target fixation is a hell of a drug.
If you find yourself porpoising like you described (hitting the nose gear first and bouncing), go around and reset your approach. Never try to salvage a bad landing attempt.
E: To judge your glide slope, most fields have a set of four lights at the approach end of the runway. The two systems are PAPI and VASI, but they function pretty similarly. For pretty much any general aviation aircraft, you should see two white and two red.
I found this diagram to help, but I've never seen a 2-unit system.
