Getting students to line up with the center line

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.

Bring him/her somewhere with a narrow runway.

I learned at an airport with a 150' wide runway. I usually landed with at
least the centerline between the wingtips.

I moved to a 50' wide runway. After a few month, I flew into the wide
airport and was surprised to see the centerline passing under the prop.


"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?

In a previous article, "Steve Foley" said:
Bring him/her somewhere with a narrow runway.

Didn't work for me. My instructor would get mad because I'd land entirely
on the left side of the runway at the home airport, so he took me to a
little parachute jumping strip that was probably about 2 feet wider than
the landing gear and 1100 feet long. I'd land perfectly centered on that
tiny runway, and then come back to the home runway and land way on the
left hand side. The problem is that I was lining up on the left hand
edge, so going to a smaller runway didn't transfer.

I forget how I switched to lining up on the middle.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
"The way I see it, unless we each conform, unless we obey orders, unless
we follow our leaders blindly, there is no possible way we can remain
free." - John Ashcroft^W^WFrank Burns

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.


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

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!

Ask the students where they are looking.
Probably just over the nose.
Tell them it is like driving a car... look down the road (runway) to
the end or beyond.

The runway should be lined up in front of the pilot, not in front of the
airplane. Many new (and even some experienced) pilots put the runway on the
nose. It will look funny at first, but put the runway in the middle of the
pilot's side of the window.

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

EDR erood@rrohio wrote:

Ask the students where they are looking. Probably
just over the nose. Tell them it is like driving a
car... look down the road (runway) to the end or
beyond.

That's what helped me. As a glider pilot (tandem seating) transitioning to
power, everyone said I would be overwhelmed by the radios. The radios were not
a problem ... what gave me the most trouble was sitting on the left side of the
airplane and lining up with the centerline! My instructor on final would say:
"Line yourself up with the centerline" and I'd say, "I *AM*!"--looked like it
to me! Not only did getting my eyes up off the nose and down the runway help
with lining up the aircraft, it also helped solve the problem of flaring too
soon and too high and bouncing. Didn't bounce when doing touch-n-gos, only full
stops -- glider instructor said it was because my eyes were fixated too close
to the airplane on the full stops, whereas doing the T&Gs, you automatically
look down the runway. Made perfect sense. Faking myself out that I was always
going to do T&Gs helped solidify the habit of "eyes down the runway." I still
find it amazing what a big difference a seemingly little thing like that could
make!
--Shirley

On Fri, 09 Apr 2004 00:54:32 -0400, BoDEAN wrote:

I know someone who also had the problem of being left of centerline.
Eventually we determined that she was concentrating too hard at
watching the centerline stripe and not paying enough attention to the
overall runway picture.

The solution in this case was a simple visit to a grass strip (no
centerline). She did several landings there and all were decent -
proper flare, always in the center, etc...

It finally clicked that she was watching the center stripe too
intently, so on return to the home base, she just started thinking
"grass strip" and stopped staring at the centerline, but looking much
further down the runway - It worked.

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?

BoDEAN wrote

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

I've had a more than a couple of students do this. I solved the problem
by demonstrating to them that they were unconsciously applying rudder
just before touchdown. By controlling the rudder myself and having the
student place his/her feet flat on the floor, it was obvious that they
were causing the change in heading.

This behavior was observed in students who were "bracing" themselves with
their feet and legs to assist in pulling back on the yoke for the landing
flare. A couple of students with leg/knee problems (artificial joints)
were not able to "brace" symmetrically.

I have also been known to require students to fly without shoes in order
to gain a better feel for what they are doing with the rudder pedals.

Bob Moore
ATP CFI