Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 41

BY DENNIS K. JOHNSON
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL CRAMPTON

"He has a right
to criticize, who has
a heart to help."
-attributed to Abraham Lincoln
LAST SUMMER, some friends and I gathered at our hangars where

we met our new next-door neighbor. He was a fairly new pilot,
about 200 hours, and had just purchased a Cessna Skylane. We
invited him to join us for lunch at another airport's restaurant,
with a warning that the runway there was a bit short. Our two
airplanes got a head start and we were sitting in the restaurant
sipping iced tea by the time he arrived.
His first landing attempt was high and fast and resulted in a
go-around. The second was better, but still too long and he flew
another go-around. The third was an acceptable landing.
When he joined us at the table his first words were, "Did
you enjoy my three landings?" No doubt, he was embarrassed
about his landing and worried about what we thought of him
as a pilot. Yes, we had talked about his skills, but only for a
moment. All that was said was, "He's smart to go around if it's
not right." After that, we looked over our menus.
We told him he used good judgment to not continue landing
once he'd overshot the approach, especially considering his
new airplane and the short runway. We also asked if he noticed
the multiple skid marks at the end of the runway, a sure sign
of pilots who didn't make the smart decision to go around and
burned rubber to stop.
Too many accidents happen because pilots of all experience
levels are concerned by possible embarrassment. They think
other pilots are watching and judging, and they don't want
to seem foolish or incompetent. It's this sort of mindset that
makes a pilot pull a tight base-to-final turn even tighter after
overshooting the runway, which can result in a deadly stall.
Why not just go around? Too many times the pilot is thinking
how everyone down below will see his botched landing and
tongues will be wagging.
Guess what: No one cares about you or your wonky landing.
I'm not going to regale the wife and kids at dinner about that
"lame pilot who overshot the turn to final, what a mook." Good
pilots don't care; we've all done it.
AOPA.ORG/FT  41



http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT

Flight Training - March/April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - March/April 2020

Contents
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Intro
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover1
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover2
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Contents
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 2
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 3
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 4
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 5
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 6
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 7
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 8
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 9
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 10
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 11
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 12
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 13
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 14
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 15
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 16
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 17
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 18
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 19
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 20
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 21
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 22
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 23
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 24
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 25
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 26
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 27
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 28
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 29
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 30
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 31
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 32
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 33
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 34
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 35
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 36
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 37
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 38
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 39
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 40
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 41
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 42
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 43
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 44
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 45
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 46
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 47
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 48
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 49
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 50
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 51
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 52
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 53
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 54
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 55
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 56
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 57
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 58
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 59
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 60
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 61
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 62
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 63
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - 64
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover3
Flight Training - March/April 2020 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202311
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202209
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202201
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202004
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_202003
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201912
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201911
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201909
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201908
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201907
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https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201905
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201904
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201903
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201902
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201901
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201812
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201811
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201810
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201809
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201808
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201807
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201806
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201805
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201804
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201803
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201802
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201801
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201712
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201711
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201710
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201709
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201707
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201706
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201705
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201704
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201703
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201702
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201701
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201612
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201611
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201610
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201609
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201608
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201607
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201606
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201605
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201604
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201603
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201602
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201601
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201512
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201511
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201510
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201509
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201508
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201507
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201505
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201504
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201503
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201502
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201412
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201411
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201410
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201409
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201408
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201407
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201406
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201405
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201404
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201403
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201402
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201401
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201312
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201311
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201310
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201309
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201308
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201307
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201306
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201305
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201303
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201302
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201301
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201212
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201211
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201210
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201209
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201208
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201207
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201206
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201205
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201204
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201203
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201202
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201201
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201111
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201110
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201109
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201108
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201107
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201106
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201105
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201104
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/aopa/ft_201103
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