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AviationNormal approach and landing
You fly a stabilized approach at the right speed, aim for a point and touch down on it or within 400 feet beyond, with no side drift and on the centerline. It is Task B of Area IV, Takeoffs, Landings, and Go-Arounds, in the FAA Private Pilot Airman Certification Standards, the checkride every private pilot flies.
Free to startThe steps
- Complete the appropriate checklists.
- Make radio calls as appropriate.
- Make sure the airplane is lined up with the correct or assigned runway or landing surface.
- Scan the runway or landing surface and the area around it for traffic and obstructions.
- Select and aim for a suitable touchdown point for the wind, the landing surface and the obstructions.
- Set the recommended approach and landing configuration, airspeed and trim, and adjust pitch and power to keep a stabilized approach.
- Hold the manufacturer's published approach speed or, without one, no more than 1.3 VSO, +10/-5 knots with the gust factor applied.
- Keep directional control and the right crosswind correction through the approach and landing.
- Use smooth, timely and correct control inputs during the round out and 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.
- Go around in time if the approach cannot be flown within these tolerances or anything else makes the approach or landing unsafe.
- Use runway incursion avoidance procedures, if applicable.
Safety rules that stop the station
- If there is no crosswind that day, the examiner tests your crosswind knowledge orally.
- 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
- Approach speed +10/-5 knots, a stabilized approach and a touchdown on or within 400 feet beyond the point, with no side drift and on the centerline.
- Know the stabilized approach and energy management, how the atmosphere and the wind change the approach and landing, wind correction techniques, and the risks of the approach path and landing surface, crosswind, windshear, tailwind, wake turbulence, a go-around or rejected landing, collision, low-altitude stalls and spins, and distractions. Also land and hold short operations and runway incursion.
- 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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