Short-Field Approach and Landing (ASEL, AMEL)

Touch down at a proper pitch attitude within 100 feet beyond or on the specified point, threshold markings, or runway numbers, with no side drift, minimum float, and with the longitudinal axis aligned with and over the runway centerline.

That is −0 / +100 feet — half the normal-landing box (200 feet, AI.VII.B.S10). Approach speed is the same criterion: the manufacturer's published speed or, in its absence, not more than 1.3 VSO, ±5 knots with gust factor applied (AI.VII.F.S7). Also required: manufacturer's recommended procedures for airplane configuration and braking (S11), and a timely go-around if tolerances cannot be met (S12).

To land at fields with a relatively short landing area, or where the approach is made over obstacles that limit the available landing area — which requires precise, positive control of the rate of descent and airspeed, an approach that clears any obstacles, results in little or no floating during the round out, and permits the airplane to be stopped in the shortest possible distance (AFH ch. 9).

Give the student the framing that makes it click: this low-speed type of power-on approach is closely related to the performance of flight near minimum controllable airspeeds (AFH ch. 9). It is slow flight, aimed at a spot.

Buy yourself room and then stabilize (AFH ch. 9):

• When safety and conditions permit, a wider-than-normal pattern with a longer final approach may be used — this gives ample opportunity to adjust and stabilize the descent angle after the airplane is configured and trimmed. A stabilized approach is essential.
• POH procedures generally involve a final approach started from an altitude of at least 500 feet higher than the touchdown area and full flaps at an appropriate point during final.
• For many GA airplanes that means flying a stabilized final with the flap setting that precedes full flaps. When the field is made, extend full flaps and lower the nose in order to maintain airspeed and keep the aiming point stationary in the windscreen. Over the obstacle, power may be reduced slightly.
• In gusty air, add no more than one-half the gust factor.
• When obstacles are present, a slightly steeper approach angle places the touchdown closer to the obstacle, which gives more room to stop.

The phrase "when the field is made" is the teachable moment — it is a judgment, and it is the same judgment as the power-off 180's "delay full flaps until it is clear they will not cause a landing short."

1. "Stabilized — 1.3 VSO, aim point not moving, descent rate steady."
2. "Field's made. Full flaps — nose down to hold the speed, aim point stays put."
3. "Over the obstacle. Small power reduction."
4. "Round out — slow, small. Not much flare needed at this speed."
5. "Power comes back gently, not chopped."
6. "Touching down… nose stays up for aerodynamic braking."
7. "Nose-wheel on — brakes now, yoke full back."
8. "Feel for the skid — that's max braking."

The rhythm is different from a normal landing on purpose: because the final approach over obstacles is made at a relatively steep angle and close to stalling speed, the initiation of the round out needs to be judged accurately to avoid flying into the ground or stalling prematurely and sinking rapidly (AFH ch. 9).

Float. A lack of floating during the flare with sufficient control to touch down properly is verification that the approach speed was correct (AFH ch. 9).

Teach it as a self-diagnosing test, because it converts an invisible error into a visible one. If the student floats, the debrief is about final approach airspeed, not about the flare. If the student arrives with no flare authority and lands hard, the debrief is about being too slow — too low an airspeed on final resulting in inability to flare properly and landing hard is a listed error, right alongside too high an airspeed resulting in floating on round out (AFH ch. 9).

Touchdown occurs at the minimum controllable airspeed, with the airplane in approximately the pitch attitude that results in a power-off stall when the throttle is closed (AFH ch. 9).

Then the braking sequence, which students routinely get backwards:

• Aerodynamic braking: hold the positive pitch attitude as long as the elevators remain effective (and if recommended by the manufacturer) — for most airplanes, aerodynamic drag is the single biggest factor in slowing the aircraft in the first quarter of its speed decay
• Maximum braking: apply it immediately upon touchdown of the nose-wheel
• Full back pressure on the wheel or stick while smoothly applying brakes increases braking effectiveness — needed because the airplane tends to lean forward with heavy braking
• Incipient skid condition: best braking comes with the wheels turning but with great reluctance — a little more pressure would lock them, and locked wheels lose braking effectiveness dramatically and can damage the tires

And the honest closing line: if the proper approach speed has been maintained, resulting in minimum float, and the touchdown made at minimum control speed, excessive braking should not be needed.

Because it costs both lift and pitch authority at once. Closing the throttle too rapidly risks an immediate increase in the rate of descent and a hard landing, so care should be exercised (AFH ch. 9).

The mechanism is worth teaching: a small amount of power provides more airflow over the elevator, giving it more authority at low airspeeds to enable the pilot to flare. A windmilling propeller at low airspeed can block that airflow enough to make the flare difficult (AFH ch. 9).

Prematurely reducing power to idle on round out resulting in hard landing is a listed common error. Coaching: "Bleed it, don't chop it."

Ten (AFH ch. 9):

1. A final approach that necessitates an overly steep approach and high sink rate
2. Unstable approach
3. Undue delay in initiating glide path corrections
4. Too low an airspeed on final resulting in inability to flare properly and landing hard
5. Too high an airspeed resulting in floating on round out
6. Prematurely reducing power to idle on round out resulting in hard landing
7. Touchdown with excessive airspeed
8. Excessive and/or unnecessary braking after touchdown
9. Failure to maintain directional control
10. Failure to recognize and abort a poor approach that cannot be completed safely

Number 10 is the one the evaluator is watching you teach, not just avoid.

The correction pairs are standard (AFH ch. 9):

Overshooting (clearance excessive, touchdown beyond the aiming point): reduce power while lowering the pitch attitude to steepen the descent and increase the rate of descent.

Undershooting (descent angle would not ensure safe obstacle clearance): increase power while simultaneously raising the pitch attitude to shallow the descent.

The trap is the second one, and it is the reason this Task is slow flight: at high AOAs and low airspeeds, an increase in pitch attitude increases the rate of descent, so care must be taken to avoid excessively low airspeeds (AFH ch. 9). A student who is low and slow and pulls will go down faster, not slower — the back side of the power curve, at 200 feet, over an obstacle.

The other rule: retracting flaps to correct for an undershoot creates an unnecessary risk — a sudden decrease in lift, an excessive sink rate, and an aggravated unstable condition (AFH ch. 9).

Coaching line when they are low and slow: "Power. Power first, then pitch."

Earlier than on a normal landing, because the margins are smaller in three dimensions at once — obstacle clearance, airspeed above the stall, and runway remaining.

The AFH's own trigger: when there is doubt regarding the outcome of the approach, execute a go-around, evaluate the situation, and decide whether to make another approach or divert (AFH ch. 9).

Your specific triggers, briefed in advance:

• Airspeed decaying below the target with the nose rising — this is the high-AOA/back-side condition, and it does not respond to elevator
• Unstable below 300 feet AGL — the AFH's own guidance for a typical GA piston airplane in a traffic pattern (AFH ch. 9)
• Float that puts touchdown outside the first third of the runway (AFH ch. 9)
• Any bounce or drift at touchdown on a runway with no room to recover

Then use the phrase: "I have the flight controls" — calmly, and take them fully, because there is nothing to be gained by having to fight for control (AIH ch. 9).

By teaching the aiming point mechanically and then moving the eyes away from it. The short-field approach and landing is an accuracy approach to an aiming point and uses the stabilized approach procedures directly (AFH ch. 9).

The cues, in the order a student can acquire them:

1. The aiming point is the spot that does not move. Objects short of it and beyond it appear to move — and in opposite directions (AFH ch. 9)
2. If the distance between the aiming point and the horizon increases, the true aiming point is farther down the runway (you will overshoot); if it decreases, the true aiming point is closer than perceived (you will land short)
3. The runway shape does not change during a stabilized approach — shallow makes it shorter and wider, steep makes it longer and narrower
4. Then scan: from the aiming point to the horizon, to objects along the runway, to an area well short of the runway, and back — do not stare at any one place (AFH ch. 9)

Finally, be explicit that the aiming point is not the touchdown point — the round out carries the airplane farther, and with minimum float on a short field that distance is small and repeatable, which is exactly why the maneuver is gradeable to 100 feet.

The approach is deliberately flown energy-lean but power-supported — the opposite of the power-off 180, and the contrast is the best way to teach both.

• Airspeed is held at 1.3 VSO or the POH number, which is the minimum energy that still buys a usable flare
• The missing energy is supplied continuously by power, which is why it is a power-on approach and why removing power abruptly at the flare produces a hard landing (AFH ch. 9)
• Full flaps convert the remaining excess into drag at the moment "the field is made," steepening the path without adding speed — and the AFH's instruction to lower the nose to maintain airspeed and keep the aiming point stationary is the tell that flaps alone would otherwise slow the airplane and shallow the path

The judgment being taught: you may always spend energy late (flaps, a steeper angle, a slip), but you cannot create it. Arrive marginally energy-rich, spend it on final, and touch down with minimum float — which is the definition of having spent exactly the right amount.

Runway selection is graded as a risk element (AI.VII.F.R1) — pilot capability, aircraft performance and limitations, available distance, and wind. Then:

• Headwind — shortens the ground roll and steepens the path over the ground; when there is a strong wind on final or flaps produce a steep descent, position the base leg closer to the approach end (AFH ch. 9)
• Gusts — add no more than one-half the gust factor, and remember the stabilized criterion that indicated airspeed should not decay below the recommended landing speed when a gust factor is applied (AFH ch. 9). More speed means more float, and float is what the 100-foot box punishes
• Crosswind — the wing-low correction must increase through the round out as controls lose effectiveness (AFH ch. 9); on a short field you have less room to salvage a drifting touchdown
• Tailwind — increases groundspeed and lengthens both the float and the roll; on a short field this is usually disqualifying
• Landing surface/condition — braking is central to this Task, so a contaminated surface changes the answer. Hydroplaning can exist on a runway contaminated with standing water or slush (AFH ch. 9)
• Wake turbulence and LAHSO — a LAHSO restriction and a −0/+100 box are a poor combination; as PIC you have final authority to accept or decline (PHAK ch. 14)

Use the telling-and-doing progression, which adds one step to demonstration-performance (AIH ch. 9):

1. Instructor tells — instructor does. Fly it with the narration, in the same sequence you explained on the ground. Since learners generally imitate the instructor's performance, demonstrate the skill exactly the way learners are expected to practice it, including safety procedures.
2. Learner tells — instructor does. The student calls the maneuver while you fly. This is the step CFI applicants skip and the one that pays here, because the judgment calls — "the field is made," "full flaps now," "go around" — become verbal and testable before the student is absorbed in controlling the airplane. In the process of explaining the maneuver, perceptions begin to develop into insights.
3. Learner tells — learner does. The student narrates aloud while flying. This forces total concentration and keeps the instructor aware of what the learner is thinking, making it easy to tell whether an error is induced by a misconception or by a simple lack of motor skills.

The AIH notes explicitly that a typical test of how much control is needed often occurs during a learner's first few attempts to land, and that the instructor must quickly evaluate the learner's need for help and not hesitate to take control if required. Also apply primacy — make sure they get it right the first time, because a fast, floating short-field approach learned early is remarkably durable.