Just land it

by Michael
(Ontario)

That is the key to most things in life, isn't it? Just land it.

While perfectionists actually get heaps of work done, they accomplish very little.

I was once in a flying competition involving light aircraft. There were points awarded for following a host of procedures from the pre-flight checks all the way through to shutting down the aircraft and making it safe after the circuit and landing.

The biggest points were to be gained for landing within a 20 meter section of the runway, as the theme that day was pretending we were landing on an aircraft carrier.

We would lose 1 point for every 10 knots over the speed limit on the descent, 1 point for not checking the brakes were off prior to landing, etc. We gained points for landing in or close to the hot zone.

Due to the strong winds that day every single one of us misjudged the downwind leg and turned too early for our final approach. Almost everyone felt compelled to follow procedure by not exceeding glide slope angles, descent rates, etc. They all saved several points for staying within the set limits. The result was that although they saved a few points they all landed in the hypothetical sea by missing the target landing zone. We “lost” a lot of planes and good pilots that day!

After I made my turn I too realized that I was too close to the end of the runway to make a proper descent. I knew what had to be done. I exceeded the glide slope angle by many degrees, I maxed out the descent speed by coming in hot and I think I broke every rule in my approach. I lost 25 points along the way. But, I was the only one who landed my plane on the aircraft carrier and walked away "alive", with a 50 point bonus for doing so.

I won the competition that day and learned a valuable lesson.

It is not always necessary to follow all the steps recommended by the experts, to abide by all the rules, to get it all perfect and lined up. Sometimes you have to come in fast, break a few rules and just land it.

The question is, what do you need to do to get that 50 point bonus?