Regardless of our performance during the rest of the flight, it’s often the landing by which others measure our piloting skills.

By Rich Stowell, MCFI-A

Axioms about landing abound in aviation. Sayings such as "flying is the second greatest thrill known to man; landing is the first" and "any landing you can walk away from is a good landing" are among the most popular. You also hear colorful language applied to the landing process: A greaser is good; crow-hopping, porpoising, groundlooping are bad. And then there’s the old adage proclaiming there are three simple rules for a smooth landing, but no one knows what they are. All of which might be true, but we can get consistently satisfying touchdowns by making several adjustments to our normal landing procedures. …