Pilots I need help with the centerline

[mia389]

Am currently doing my PPL and having problems with holding the center line on the runway.  Somedays I get it somedays I dont. Dont matter if there is no wind at all. My instructor is getting pissed that Im not consistent. Any little tricks or advice you have for me would be great. She tells me to look at the end of the runway but that dont seem to help. Im fighting the damn centerline on my whole final approach. I try to be agressive with it but seems to make it worse when I do that.

[Citabria]

try looking further down the runway if your looking at the centerline right in front of the plane.


a reference point further ahead is easier to track

if theres wind i just fly crabbed but track the centerline till about to touch down then kick the crab angle out with the rudder and land

you could also try tuning in the ILS if the runway your using has one and use that as a reference as you approach to land.



p.s. fighters flying in formation on landing each land on one side of the centerline together sometimes so dont sweat it you have a margin for error on most runways and your a n00b so your CFI is gonna earn his pay slapping your knuckles with a ruler when you screw up on stuff.

[udet]

I at times land on the left side of the wide runway at the large towered airport. That means that on the narrow runway at the small nontowered airport I'd land on the grass.
That hasn't happened yet, therefore I suggest you switch your landing practice to the narrowest runway you can find, and that should help with maintaining the centerline, or at least to stop your instructor from *****ing.
Also, don't be too hard on yourself, nobody is born perfect.

[RTR]

Mia, I bet that you have only a few hours so far, and that your legs are sore the morning after a flight lesson. What you are describing sounds to me like a bit of nervous tension, and the release for you is in tensing up your legs. Dont worry too much about it. It will go away as you get a few more hours and become more relaxed. It is hard to get consistent and accurate pedal inputs when you  are tense, but trust me, it will get better very quickly.
If your instuctor doesn't know this, she is unprepared for the task of teaching.
What you are experiencing is normal and it will disappear in a few short hours. I can pretty much guarantee it.
In the mean time, you should carry on with the other lessons, and dont let this hold back your progress in other areas.
You probably wont even realize the first time you have a success here, and after that, you wont  know why you were having a problem with holding the centerline in the first place.

I pronounce you "normal".


Cheers Mia

RTR

[ra]

I learned to fly at an airport with a runway 30 feet wide.  No problem tracking centerline for me.  Find yourself a small airport nearby with a narrow runway and practice.

ra

[Scootter]

Dont fear the rudder pedels, use them as nessasary to hold the centerline. I think you may not be really pushing them as needed to hold the line (keep your heals on the floor to keep from getting into the brakes) If you were flying a tailwheel you would really get used to the rudder.

I bet you are trying to comp. with the yoke, try asking your instructer to take the yoke and you do the rudder only for a few landings that may help. You may also just do a bunch of low passes with out touching the ground this may give you more time to get used to this type of control. I have found this also helps with crosswind training as it gives you a bunch more time in this regieme of flight to learn the touch.


Oh and one other thing, the learning curve will just happen (its kinda weird) and it all comes together like magic, trust me it really will, just stay with it.

[Dux]

you're probably looking inside the cockpit alot, too... checking airspeed, verifying flaps, etc.

By final, everything should be ready for landing, then you can devote your attention to landing. You'll be able to judge airspeed by sound and sight before long.

It also helps if you imagine that you are not in a plane... don't fly the plane, just fly yourself.

[CyranoAH]

Perhaps the key here is to know where the front of the plane is. You may be following the centerline with your eyes, but not keeping the plane in its axis.

Take a good look at the nose of the airplane when you are about to take off. Line your sight with the nose and the centerline. That's your reference. Just keep the reference point you took in the airplane nose lined up with the centerline, fly straight (coordinated) and you'll hit the centerline every time.

I can't give you any advice on the actual handling of the plane, because every one is a different case: in the CAP-10B I wouldn't dare touching the aileron control in short final, but when flying the P92JS you have to be even aggressive when it comes to moving the stick to keep it in the runway if you got turbulence.

EDIT: Here's an approach a friend of mine recorded when I took him for a ride: http://casal.upc.es/danig27/molaaprox31.wmv

Hope it helps!

Daniel

[SFRT - Frenchy]

All of the above plus:

- make small corrections, landing is maintening an equilbrium. Those planes have a lot of inertia. With no winds, change your bank more than 5 degrees and bring your bank back, you will notice you moved about 20 feets sideway.

- keep your bank in till you are stoped. Most student come in a beautifull approach, ailerons to maintain the centerline, rudders to keep the nose parralel to the runway centerline ... then ... while flairing just before touch down, they level the wings and guess what .... ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip the wind is pushing you sideway and all your beautifull approach doesn't mean squat anymore.

In a nutshell, if you don't ear the wheel into the wind bump the runway first, you fuked up.

- Stop looking at the boops of your instructor when you bounce on the ground.

- Or and Frenchy's advice of the day for your future pilot life: "There's is absolutly no excuse to crash a plane while landing. If you don't like it, go around. You have probably between 1h and 4h of fuel left, plenty of time to enjoy landing attenpts".

[Gunthr]

mia389 - I might be wrong, but my hunch is you might need a different instructor...

[Virage]

I had this problem too when I first started.  I realised I was unconsciously using the center of the windshield to line up on and not slightly offset to the left.  I kept landing left.  If you are in a cessna, study how the plane lines up when taxing.  Pick a spot on the top of the instrument panel and a spot on the cowling that is lined up with the center line.  Use this reference when landing.

[Strange]

Listen to Frenchy, Mia.  He's a pilot instructor and knows his watermelon .  

Someday I hope to talk him to coming to fla to teach me to fly

[Scootter]

Oh somthing else I thought of, do you use rudder pedels on your PC? if not you should be.

Put a bit of a dead band in them and you will be forced to use them more, that should help also.


Frenchy can be a big help if you can understand what he is saying, as I have flown with him I can attest. He just has a bit of a speech problem

[Rude]

Sounds like your over controlling...you're behind the plane.

Just let it fly....small control inputs is the key....and remind your instructor that for this very reason, she is getting paid:)

[FTndr]

Originally posted by mia389
I try to be agressive with it but seems to make it worse when I do that.

Relax, and remember this.  You are new to flying, everything your doing is a learning experince.  You will begin to see what works and what doesn't.  When it comes it will come and not before, if you TRY too hard it just gets worse.

It may not seem like it now but before long you will be wondering what the big deal was.  Think about the first time you tried to maintain staight and level!!

I insist that my students fully understand one very important fact about flying.  Flying is 20% manual 80% mental.  Physically flying the aircraft WILL become 2nd nature.  Using your noodle is an option that too few "Rated" pilots exercise.  

One last thing that, I'm not sure to what extent you really meant that your instructor was getting "upset" with you.  If this is truly the case, drop that SOB as fast as you can get the words out.  Nobody needs that type of stress, students most of all !!!

Good luck