✈️ Aviation Brief — Issue #88
Weekly insights for student pilots and the instructors who train them.
THIS WEEK'S TOPIC
CA.IV.G — Short-Field Approach and Landing (Commercial Pilot ACS)
1. ACS STANDARDS SUMMARY
The Commercial Pilot ACS (CA.IV.G) requires you to demonstrate a short-field approach and landing by selecting a suitable landing surface, configuring the airplane properly for a short-field procedure, maintaining a stabilized approach at the recommended airspeed (+10/-5 knots), touching down within the first 100 feet beyond a specified point, and applying maximum braking after touchdown without sliding the tires. You must also maintain directional control throughout the rollout and explain the performance factors involved.
2. THREE COMMON STUDENT MISTAKES
Students often fly the approach 5–8 knots fast, causing excessive float that eats up the short landing zone.
Many fail to add full flaps until very late or forget to verify the before-landing checklist, resulting in a higher approach speed or unstable configuration.
After touchdown, students frequently under-apply maximum braking or release it too soon, often because they are focused on keeping the nosewheel straight instead of using aerodynamic braking first.
3. CFI PRO TIP
Teach students to pick a precise aiming point 50–100 feet short of the intended touchdown zone and hold it steady with small pitch adjustments while managing airspeed with power. Once that point is consistently on the windscreen, they almost always land where they want and have more mental bandwidth left for the maximum-braking rollout.
4. SAFETY SPOTLIGHT
NTSB accident data shows repeated runway overruns on short or contaminated runways when pilots carry excess speed or delay full braking. In several Cessna 172 incidents, the aircraft departed the end of a 2,500-foot runway because the approach was flown only 7–10 knots fast—an error that would have been caught with a stabilized approach by 500 feet AGL.
5. DID YOU KNOW
The Cessna 172S POH shows that lowering full flaps and flying exactly at 61 KIAS (short-field speed) instead of the normal 70-knot approach can reduce total landing distance by roughly 200 feet on a standard day.
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