Landings a bit uneven? Maybe you need 2" of white tape in just the right place...

[Eric Greenwell]

When I took my Phoenix flight training from Jim Lee, the Phoenix dealer, I had a hard getting the landings consistent. My flying was fine, except for the last 10 seconds of the landing, which is the, um, critical part. Many landings later, from good to bad, I finally realized my thousands of hours in single seat sailplanes were not good preparation for a side-by-side touring motorglider: the sight picture - what you see out the front of the canopy - is so different, I wasn't adapting to it. In sailplanes, you look straight out over the center of the nose, and it's easy to see the glider's alignment with the runway; in the Phoenix, like most touring motorgliders, you have to look to the left of center to see where the glider is going.

The first thing I tried was putting a 1" square of white on the canopy frame, right where I had to look to know what the glider was pointed at. Take a look at the attached image: the upper square tape (about 11 o'clock on the canopy frame) is the "look here to see where the glider is pointed" tape. That made a big difference - now I could at least keep the glider aimed down the runway!

I still had plenty trouble holding the glider just off the ground during last 10 seconds of the landing, often landing with a bad bounce. Eventually, I realized the nose sits so much higher than the noses in the sailplanes I had flown for over 30 years, I was unconsciously not raising the nose high enough to obtain the 3-point attitude needed for a good landing.

The cure was simple: I put a 2" horizontal piece of white tape on the canopy frame, right on the horizon when the glider is sitting on the ground. The attached image shows this: the 2" horizontal tape (about 9 o'clock on the canopy frame) is the "put the horizon here to have a 3-point touchdown attitude" tape.

That attitude reference, just 2" of tape, made a dramatic difference in my landings: I immediately began to make good, consistent 3-point landings with confidence, and because I know exactly the attitude of the glider, I can just keep easing the stick back until the tape is even with the horizon, and it settles down so nicely.

The attached PDF shows another view of the "sight tapes" and a bit more explanation.

Phoenix sight lines.pdf

[Randy Roth]

Way to go Eric. Those are some good uses for old methods of learning & teaching. Happy landings.