Getting students to line up with the center line

In article , Cub Driver
wrote:

7B3 Hampton NH is a turf runway maybe 300 feet wide by 2400 feet long.
In a strong wind I generally land at an angle, into the wind.
And of course it is the precisely the "centerline" that is badly
eroded, because of all the anal pilots aiming for the centerline. So
even on calm days I favor one side or the other, usually the west
because the east side has a small hill about halfway down.

But Dan, you're not a student anymore!

Usually, this is due to using the nose of the airplane as a reference.

When I have a student doing this consistently, I draw a little cross on the
windshield with a whiteboard marker directly in front of his face. Then I
tell him to use the cross as a reference instead of the nose. Works every
time, and the whiteboard mark wipes right off.

I also use whiteboard marks on the windshield for other purposes, too, such
as getting Microsoft Flight Simulator junkies to look out the window, and
when students are having trouble judging altitude on final approach.

ZZ, CFI.

On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 10:58:11 GMT, Bob Noel
wrote:

In article , BoDEAN
wrote:

I'm having an issue with 2 students.

One has a hard time lining up/staying lined up with the center line
(no wind and xwind). I keep telling him "toes forward" and "Have the
center line cut through your body"

Still not grasping it.

The other student, likes to be 10-20 degrees angled left / right of
center line before touching down (ie. side loading)

Any tips?

I know this doesn't help you, but...

During my instrument instruction, my CFII was tired of me landing to
the left of centerline on a 150' wide runway. He took me to TEWMAC,
which was (iifc) 26' wide. When I landed on the runway he said "see!,
I knew you could land on the centerline." I replied that I can when
it matters. I still land left of centerline on wide runways.

Correct........ TEWMAC was 26 feet..... or two plow blades wide, if
you prefer...
Don Paquette
PP-ASEL
N9723X

In article , BoDEAN
wrote:

I'm having an issue with 2 students.

One has a hard time lining up/staying lined up with the center line
(no wind and xwind). I keep telling him "toes forward" and "Have the
center line cut through your body"

Still not grasping it.

The other student, likes to be 10-20 degrees angled left / right of
center line before touching down (ie. side loading)

Any tips?

This is from the point of view of a student who is just waiting for his
check ride. I had both problems for a while...

The angled landings occurred early in my training, primarily due to
"information overload." Not enough was happening automatically yet, I had
to think through everything I was doing. As my landings got better in other
respects, I had more time to focus on and fix this problem. I think I was
more concerned about how hard we collided with the ground than at what
particular angle :-)

The alignment problem lasted a lot longer. Our main runway is 75' wide, I
was always to the left of center. It seems that I just didn't have "the
picture" quite right. My instructors reminded me periodically and as my
training progressed my landings migrated to the center. It took most of the
training period to fix that one, and even now I catch myself left of center
on final occasionally.

I am training in a C172. It will be interesting to see what happens when I
transition to my Champ.

Rob

In article , Rob McDonald
wrote:

I am training in a C172. It will be interesting to see what happens when I
transition to my Champ.

You will land where ever your butt is. If it is on the line, then it is
just a matter of keeping your butt on the line until you turn off.

BoDEAN wrote in message . ..
I'm having an issue with 2 students.

One has a hard time lining up/staying lined up with the center line
(no wind and xwind). I keep telling him "toes forward" and "Have the
center line cut through your body"

Still not grasping it.

The other student, likes to be 10-20 degrees angled left / right of
center line before touching down (ie. side loading)

Any tips?



It seems that your students having hard time dividing attention
and performing few tasks simultaneously i.e.. maintaining center line
and longitudinal attitude,
stabilize the descend to landing,etc.
A proven technique that I use for teaching such students how to also
land in crosswinds
may help in this scenario, Have your student repeatedly fly over the
center line at about 10 - 20 ft AGL
while you take away all his other tasks such as power management
required to maintain
the final approach speed, making sure the a/c is trimmed properly,
and by guiding him with the control inputs until you achieve the
proper attitude, and center line is maintained.
Let him view comfortably this attitude( without having to fly it to a
landing).and let him fly this pttn again
for few times until both of you agree that the task has been
accomplished and he can easily perform it, (even if it takes
a whole session).
The next thing will be flying it all the way to a landing.

BTW using this method on a calm wind day may achieve faster results
than on a strong x winds.

Mike CFII MEI

Have your student repeatedly fly over the
center line at about 10 - 20 ft AGL

My early instructor had me do this (more like 5 ft however) at a
nearby airport with a fine long asphalt runway (with centerline
when I demonstrated a lack of finesse in getting the Cub on the
ground.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org

when I demonstrated a lack of finesse in getting the Cub on the
ground.


I've never missed the ground!
;)
Peter