So I finally think I can land. Somewhat.
I acknowledge this with such a bold statement because my instructor said that, whether I was aware of it or not, the concept of landing had “clicked.”
Sadly, I learned to flare just in time to unlearn it.
Sort of.
In practicing short-field landings, things are slightly different and my newly acquired flare* technique needs to be changed.
“Too much flare on that last one,” my instructor said, describing the procedure again, and noting where we’d stopped on the runway versus where we had wanted to stop. I may have barked the tires a bit.
We did a short-field takeoff, and as we were climbing, he reviewed the steps again for the next attempt. “You don’t want to force the plane down, but we’re not looking for that soft flared touchdown. We need to get the plane on the ground and stopped.”
“But…I finally learned to flare,” I said, a bit bummed.
It’s like learning to speak Spanish just in time to move to China.
* I had a difficult time not making Office Space flair jokes in this post. I have a difficult time not thinking of Office Space flair jokes while flying.
