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AviationForward slip to a landing
Too high on the approach, you cross the controls to slip the airplane down without gaining speed, change to a side slip for the crosswind and touch down on the point or within 400 feet beyond. It is Task M of Area IV, Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, for the airplane classes listed below.
Free to startScenarios
- Airplane single-engine land (ASEL).
- Airplane single-engine sea (ASES).
The steps
- Complete the appropriate checklists.
- Make radio calls as appropriate.
- Plan and follow a flight path to the selected landing area for the altitude, wind, terrain and obstructions.
- Select the most suitable touchdown point for the wind, the landing surface, the obstructions and the airplane's limitations.
- Put the airplane on the downwind leg, parallel to the landing runway or landing surface.
- Configure the airplane correctly.
- As needed, match the direction of the forward slip to the crosswind and change to a side slip before touchdown.
- Touch down at a proper pitch attitude, on or within 400 feet beyond the specified point, with no side drift and the airplane aligned with and over the centerline or landing path.
- Keep the ground track aligned with the centerline or landing path.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Any action, or lack of action, that makes the examiner step in to keep the flight safe is unsatisfactory.
- Not clearing the area with a proper visual scan before and during the maneuver is unsatisfactory.
- Consistently exceeding the tolerances of the task, or not correcting promptly when you exceed them, is unsatisfactory.
To pass
- The slip matched to the crosswind, a side slip before touchdown and a touchdown on or within 400 feet beyond the point, with no side drift.
- Know energy management in a forward slip, how the atmosphere and the wind change the approach and landing, wind correction in a slip, when and why to slip, and the risks of the approach path and landing surface, crosswind, windshear, tailwind, wake turbulence, a go-around, land and hold short operations, collision, low-altitude stalls and spins, distractions, fuel flow and airspeed indication in a slip, touching down misaligned and an unstable approach.
- Missing the standard on this task fails the task and its area of operation.
Official source
Federal · FAA Private Pilot ACS
Private Pilot for Airplane Category Airman Certification Standards (FAA-S-ACS-6C)
The FAA publishes the Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards free: every task of the checkride with its knowledge, risks and tolerances.
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