Background
Landing
Updated: 2010-09-02 16:42
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 Visitors watch a landing Airbus A380 aircraft at the ILA International Air Show in Schoenefeld south of Berlin on June 10, 2010.[Photo/Agencies] |
Landing is accomplished by slowing down and descending to the runway.To land, the airspeed and the rate of descent are reduced to where the object descends at a slow enough rate to allow for a gentle touch down. This speed reduction is accomplished by reducing thrust and/or inducing a greater amount of drag using flaps, landing gear or speed brakes. As the plane approaches the ground, the pilot will execute a flare to induce a gentle landing.
A flare is performed by rotating the wings where the rate of descent will be reduced often by adopting a nose-up attitude. The attitude is held until the undercarriage touches the ground, and the controls are either held until all wheels touch the ground or gently adjusted (in the case of tail-draggers) to ensure the nose-wheel or tail-wheel lightly touches the runway.
Aircraft usually land at an airport on a firm runway or helicopter landing pad, generally constructed of asphalt concrete, concrete, gravel or grass. Aircraft equipped with pontoons are able to land on water. Aircraft also sometimes use skis to land on snow or ice.
