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From: normb@tekred.UUCP (Norm Babcock )
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Eyeballing the Runway
Message-ID: <287@tekred.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 23-Mar-85 15:40:09 EST
Article-I.D.: tekred.287
Posted: Sat Mar 23 15:40:09 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 26-Mar-85 06:39:52 EST
Organization: Tektronix, Redmond OR
Lines: 22

To add my 2 cents worth, I was taught to monitor the position
of the runway relative to the windshield on final. This allows
you to determine drift off center-line, how the approach is going,
make sure there are no a/c on the runway, etc. It's also (but
hard to remember) a good idea to make a quick left/right scan
as you're sliding down the wire to make sure someone hasn't taken
a short-cut. (It's happened to me twice).

Consider that when you're driving, and you come to a curve, you
seldom look at the pavement directly in front of you. What you
really do is to let your eyes scan from short range to long range,
and steer (mentally) where you're going to be. The same thing
works during the flare. Let (make) the eyeballs shift from close
range to the end of the runway. The height above the tarmac pretty
much becomes automatic. My landings improve a bunch when I do this,
and works for most any a/c I've flown to date, including floats.

A quick sanity check to the side is ok, but I agree that looking
at the runway beneath the wheels during the flare is useless.

Stormin' Norman, terror of Victor 165.
tektronix!tekred!normb