“Skyscraper” Jackson gets serious about landings
I landed everything on my own today. It was busy over the airport today as I had eight U. S. Coast Guard aircraft: a Lockheed C-130 (military cargo plane), Alenia C-27 (military transport, and two Hughes UH-60 Blackhawks (rescue helicopters), in and out of the pattern with me today!
The “pattern” is short for landing pattern which exists at every airport. At its most basic, it’s a rectangle with one of the long sides being the runway. At airports controlled by towers or those that are non-towered, the pattern helps sequence aircraft for landing and every pilot knows the rules just like traffic rules that are followed by cars on the ground.
At an airport that has a lot of flight training, the pattern can be pretty busy. When you are learning how to land, you fly a lot of rectangles and each trip around can take five to ten minutes depending on how many other aircraft are in the pattern.
One challenge is learning to fly and talk at the same time. It’s hard enough to just remember the airplane procedures at each point in the pattern let alone also remember to talk on the radio.
At a towered airport it can be intimidating to talk to a controller at first but you actually make less radio calls. At a non-towered airport you announce your position in the same sequence of words for every side of the rectangle. One of the first things we are told to prioritize when flying is to aviate, then navigate, then communicate. Always be flying the airplane, talk when you have time.
Today radio calls and airplane management went beyond fine! I FIGURED OUT THE FLARE!!!!! The flare is not another snide reference to “Office Space”, it’s actually a maneuver that is a little bit skill and a little bit art. The flare is the technique of stopping the gentle descent during the approach just above the runway by raising the nose of the plane slightly.
Because the conditions upon landing such as the weather, airspeed, and the condition of the runway differ each time, how fast, how high to flare is never the same each time. Then after a few more landings I touched down and heard the tires screech and I’ve never been happier in an airplane!!!!!!!! I FEEL LIKE A PILOT NOW
YESSS!! It feels goooood landing on my own. My instructor said he was proud of me and that I’m actually one of the best students he’s ever had regarding actually flying the airplane. He said I was born to fly!!
I agree with him!
While I will soon be able to solo, I still have been studying hard for the written test that I will take in a week or two. I am feeling more and more confident every day about it.
Editors Note: The Skyscraper Jackson Blog is meant to update and also inform. Austin has been asked to submit brief summaries of his experiences in order to not interfere with his training. The Editorial Staff at times will add/change or expand his words for clarity and to explain terms and concepts for the broader educational good.