taking off for the first time

I'm wondering about how piloting
is taught. Getting to the point, why not use a long runway and have the
student take off just enough for the wheels to leave the ground and
then immediately touch down?

This excercise would not teach what you think it would. Much of the
"trick" to landing is the approach, and in order to teach how to
approach the runway, you need to be far enough away from it, and
pointing in an appropriate direction. One then flies a pattern
(generally one flies parallel to the runway, and then makes a squarish
u-turn while descending and adjusting speed, flaps, and other
controls. If you do this right, the next "trick" is learning when to
flare and by how much. This requires learning the "sight picture" of
what the runway looks like when close on approach. This is different
from what it would look like just after takeoff.

One thing sometimes done in training is to approach and then fly a few
feet above the runway. This helps new pilots learn not to overcontrol.

btw, there's no such thing as a "trainer runway". Student pilots use
regular runways, and mix with regular air traffic. They just have an
instructor aboard until they can handle that much on their own.

Jose
(r.a.student retained, though I don't follow that group; I'm on
r.a.piloting)
--
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