How to Land a Cessna 150

Flying is a wonderfully liberating experience, because once you are in the air, you no longer have the restriction of gravity pulling at you quite so heavily. But, of course, all good things come to an end, and there comes a point when you have to come back down to earth. How to do it safely is of prime concern to anyone who decides to be your passenger. Read on to learn how to land a Cessna 150.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Choose your marker on the ground, something that will help you line up your airplane so that you are flying parallel to the runway. Trees and telephone poles are good candidates.

2. Line up your airplane so that you are parallel to the runway, with the runway off to your left. This is known as the "downwind" leg of your approach.

3. Keep good visual contact with the runway and gauge how far you need to be out from it before you start your first left turn into what is known as the "base" leg. You want to have enough distance to make the turn onto what is called the "final" approach.

4. Lower your airspeed and put the flaps down 10 or 20 degrees. With flaps lowered, you have more "lift" to the wings at a lower speed. You don't want your airplane to stall--lose lift and begin to fall--1000 feet above the ground, and the flaps will help make sure this doesn't happen.

5. Turn onto the "base" leg, making an easy left turn. Throttle in a bit if you need to in order to maintain your altitude. You should be dropping in altitude steadily, but slowly and in control. Keep watching the end of the runway where you want to put the plane down.

6. Add another 10 degrees of flaps and turn onto the final leg of your approach. As you do this keep the nose of your airplane so that it looks like it's just under the edge of the runway. Hold it there to maintain a good approach posture. Pull the throttle out as needed to keep the nose where you want it.

7. Pull up on the nose when you get just over the edge of the runway. Cut off the throttle completely. Pull up on the nose as needed to bleed off excess altitude and let the plane drop out of the sky onto the runway. Do this smoothly, and you will roll on to the runway easily. Do this too abruptly, and you will fall straight down. Taxi back to the hangar or parking area.

Tips & Warnings

• Watch the wind direction as you come into the airport area. The windsock is there for that reason. You want to land into the wind.
• Watch a lot of small planes land. Notice how they set up their approach, and watch every movement of the plane as it comes in on final. The more familiar you get with the process, the easier and more natural it will become.
• The instructions here given do not, in any way, replace your need to learn these techniques from a qualified flight instructor.
• As you come in to final approach, make sure that you don't keep the airplane's nose under the edge of the runway all the way in, or you will crash. Take note of the altitude and you will know when to pull the nose up so that you glide right over the edge of the runway.

Resources

• Various Aspects of Operation of a Cessna 150
• Online Journal of One Person's Quest for the Private Pilot Certificate

[madogreg]

on 6/8/2009 I agree with flyboy's observations and concern. However the article may someday save a life.

[flyboy1]

on 8/27/2008 This is very, very scary. As a private pilot I know flying is much more complex than this. You cannot learn to land an airplane from a "How To" tip or book - you MUST get proper instruction from a qualified flight instructor! Flying is great fun - dying is not!

[flyboy1]

on 8/27/2008 This is very, very scary. As a private pilot I know flying is much more complex than this. You cannot learn to land an airplane from a "How To" tip or book - you MUST get proper instruction from a qualified flight instructor! Flying is great fun - dying is not!

[flyboy1]

on 8/27/2008 This is very, very scary. As a private pilot I know flying is much more complex than this. You cannot learn to land an airplane from a "How To" tip or book - you MUST get proper instruction from a qualified flight instructor! Flying is great fun - dying is not!

[flyboy1]

on 8/27/2008 This is very, very scary. As a private pilot I know flying is much more complex than this. You cannot learn to land an airplane from a "How To" tip or book - you MUST get proper instruction from a qualified flight instructor! Flying is great fun - dying is not!