Landing Procedure

Owned by Nixon Chan
2021-02-22
2 min read

General Overview

The goal of this procedure is to take the aircraft from the holding pattern to a desired stopping point on the ground. This procedure can be divided into a couple of steps and stages:

  • The transition stage (the aircraft exits the holding pattern and flys into the slope)

  • The slope stage (the aircraft maintains the slope)

  • The flare stage (the aircraft increases its angle of attack to level-off)

  • The decrab stage (the aircraft aligns its heading to match the runway)

  • The touchdown stage (the aircraft touches down and comes to a stop)'

 

These stages are divided by important points:

  • The intersection point (where the glide slope intersects with the altitude plane of the holding pattern)

  • The aiming point (a point on the runway where the glide slope is based)

  • The landing point (where the aircraft touches down)

  • The stopping point (where the aircraft stops rolling)

 

This picture summarizes the entire procedure and important points:

Steps to Land

  1. Fly out of the holding pattern into the transition stage. This stage connects the holding pattern to the intersection point.

  2. Turn into and follow the glide slope. At this slope stage, the aircraft maintains the slope and approaches the runway.

  3. A few meters before the aircraft reaches the aiming point, it flares (increase the angle of attack to level-off). At the same time, the throttle is turned off so that the altitude is slowly decreasing.

  4. Right before the aircraft touches down, it aligns its heading with the runway in the decrab stage.

  5. Then, the aircraft touches down and rolls to a stop.