We are having a spot landing competition in a couple of weeks.
Never have participated in this type of events.

I assume some of the guys here know a trick or two?

Burn a lot of gas!

Don't land short.

Don't land long!

The apparent brisk walk rate of closure approach will safely put you on the exact spot at or below stall speed every time. Where there are no obstructions, a hover taxi in low ground effect up to the spot and then close throttle will get you there even slower but the throttle closing must be timed.

If you don't have a recent edit of "Safe Maneuvering Flight Techniques," email me at [email protected] and I will attach a copy to a return email. Both techniques are in there.

Other pilots here have flap dumping and braking techniques, but touching down on the spot as slow as possible is key. Full flaps if you have them.

Just realized you are not allowed engine thrust. Gravity thrust is much harder to control. Use full flaps and full forward slip as needed. 75% of forced landings touch down at or beyond the middle of the chosen landing site. Unless you have more iterations of spot landings than what is called normal landings, you will more likely go long. The slower you approach, the easier it will be to make the spot but the more accurate must be the timing of the flair. Not a big consideration in a real forced landing. I have had ten and getting down in the beginning of the landing site as slow as possible was always my biggest concern.

Contact has a good point. One good carryover from all my helo hours is that I'm usually pretty good at hitting a spot, plus or minus a skosh. I didn't give it a lot of thought until I read Contact's book but as long as you're above stall, helo approaches do pretty well for precision landings.

Practice practice practice practice practice and more practice. Fly as much as you can. Lots of take offs and landings. Find out what your airplane likes, how it flys. Get a feel for it. Go up and do some slow flight. Grab a good instructor to take along if need be.

I just did a few this year for the first time. I have landed in tight spots, short spots, and bad weather. But when I was competing it felt like my first solo!!! Don't let nerves get the best of you. Make a plan and follow it. But above all make sure the fuel valve is on correct tank, both mags are on, and check carb heat. The rest is just flying and ya do that all the time
DENNY

The key to a good landing is a good approach.

Practices today at the event field.