Prepare for: Power-Off 180° Accuracy Landing
A commercial maneuver: from abeam your touchdown point, power to idle and glide to a precise landing.
Your CFI's syllabus and your airplane's POH come first. This page is a general study aid to help you show up prepared.
What you'll do
- Fly downwind at pattern altitude; abeam your touchdown point, reduce power to idle.
- Establish best glide (or POH speed) and plan the base and final turns to manage energy.
- Use flaps and forward slips to adjust; don't add power once committed.
- Touch down within 200 feet beyond or on the specified point, aligned with the centerline.
The standard you'll be held to
Quoted from the current FAA Airman Certification Standards for each level that tests this.
Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B)Task CA.IV.M · Power-Off 180° Accuracy Approach and Landing (ASEL, ASES)
- Complete the appropriate checklist(s).
- Make radio calls as appropriate.
- Plan and follow a flightpath to the selected landing area considering altitude, wind, terrain, and obstructions.
- Select the most suitable touchdown point based on wind, landing surface, obstructions, and aircraft limitations.
- Position airplane on downwind leg, parallel to landing runway.
- Correctly configure the airplane.
- As necessary, correlate crosswind with direction of forward slip and transition to side slip before touchdown.
- Touch down at a proper pitch attitude, within 200 feet beyond or on the specified point with no side drift and with the airplane’s longitudinal axis aligned with and over the runway centerline or landing path, as applicable.
Read it in the FAA handbooks
The official chapters behind this page. Each link opens the exact chapter, free on faa.gov. See the full Study Library.
Prepare the night before
- Practice judging the glide angle from downwind.
- Know best glide speed and how wind changes your base turn.
Common mistakes
- Turning base too early or too late.
- Adding flaps too soon and coming up short.
- Skidding the base-to-final turn to 'make it'.
Questions to ask your instructor
- How do you want me to adjust for wind on downwind?
- What's an acceptable miss before we go around?
Check yourself
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