ATC: Pretty Awesome Landing

This was my landing a few months ago. The guy in the jumpseat must have videoed it. Anyways, SFO 28L, 747-8. Short leg from LAX. I always like this sector. In SFO we rollout to the end of the runway as that's where we park. I usually don't use the autobrakes and just use idle reverse and aerodynamic braking to slow the plane. Anyways, power to idle around 100 ft, followed by a nose high touchdown. Held the nose off for as long as I could. Maybe 5000 ft wheelie. You can hear the stick shaker on the rollout.

Anyways, at the end of the rollout you can hear ATC say, "Good Morning, that was a pretty awesome landing."

That was nice to hear. I don't know if I've ever heard ATC comment about a landing before.

Pretty Awesome Landing - YouTube

Note: this is an unlisted video. Please don't share the link. I will actually only have the video up for a week or so.

 

Thanks. I've had my fair share on firm ones too.

 

Yeah, it amazes me too. I'm actually relatively light on the controls and would say I am smoother than a lot of guys. Some guys really get on it!

Here's another video of a so so landing in Narita. Again, taken by a jumpseater. The winds were maybe 10 - 15 kts. It's by no means a bumpy day. But you do use a lot of control for the slightest amount of pitch and bank.

It's also interesting to note that while this is an ILS approach, it's essentially a visual. Day VMC conditions. If you follow my eye movements, you'll notice I don't look outside very much. It's not until 100 ft (less than half the wingspan) that I'm 100 % looking outside. Flying a pure visual approach isn't as easy as it sounds. Maybe you can see why based on how much the controls move to keep it on the glidepath.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXEca7r8q6Q

This video is also unlisted. Please don't share the link. Thanks

 

Yeah, the 747 lands pretty nicely. Especially if it's heavy. It can be a bit of a truck and is heavy on the controls. That's fine when it's a nice day. But it can be a handful when the wind blows.

As the 747 is the only jet I've flown, I can't compare it to anything else (jetwise).

 

Nice approach Mark! What aircraft was that? Was that last pitch up to slow and get the rest of the flaps out?

Pretty much following the Flight Director until at least 200 ft. For those that fly planes without a FD, the FD basically shows the pitch and roll that the autopilot would be using to fly in the mode selected. For approach, it shows what pitch and roll is required to keep on the localizer and glideslope. So while the autopilot isn't ON, it still shows you what it would do.

This in the only pic I could find. It's in cruise flight. However, while the autopilot is ON right now (shown by CMD, meaning the autopilot is in command) the flight director is ON too. The FD is the 2 magenta "crosshairs" shown on the display. As you can see, the autopilot is flying exactly where the crosshairs match up. While this seems obvious, as the autopilot is flying, it can be off. The idea here is that the autopilot (there are 3, Left, Center, Right) flying is the Center autopilot. The FD is showing what the L autopilot would do. So having both this information available to you shows you that both autopilots concur.

Anyways, that can be a bit confusing. The main point is that we follow where those two magenta lines cross. So we are always trying to keep our attitude (the white square) where the FD cross is. Of course you gotta keep your eye on the airspeed too. But that's just to the left and easy to see.

As far as looking outside on a visual, it's not actually that easy. PITCH Flying faster on approach (typically around 160 kts) makes small pitch changes have a big impact on glidepath. While you can keep it on a VASI or PAPI visually, it's not all that easy. It's much more accurate to follow the FD to keep the glidepath. You don't want to be high on a runway that can be relatively short even though it's thousands of feet long. Of course, you don't want to be low either! ROLL Flying faster makes the plane more stable in holding a heading. In other words, the faster you fly, more bank and time will be required to make a heading change. That's a good thing if you're lined up and the winds constant. But with a changing wind, you have to stay on it to keep the centerline. Also, with a wingspan of 225 ft or so, then runway width is relatively small. Even a 200 ft wide runway is less than your wingspan. Think of landing your light single on a 25 ft wide runway. That may not be a fair comparison, but you get the idea.

All this said, it's not difficult to do. It just requires different control inputs than a light airplane. You just use whatever control you need to achieve what you want. It all feels pretty natural.

It is interesting to watch an airliner land. It looks like the pilot isn't really touching the controls and the airplane pretty much lands itself. The pitch and roll doesn't seem to change much. Now you can see that there's a lot more going on than that.

Again, I'm not trying to make the 747 seem hard to fly. And I'm by no means "the ace of the base". I just thought it was cool that the tower noticed my landing.
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Looks good to me. It's nice to see one you've made from the outside view. I've only ever found one of mine on youtube.