Focus in the Flare

Stephen Pope

Tuesday, March 05, 2013 at 10:42 PM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

During roundout and flare, maintain a head-straight position, alternating visual focus between the area just over the airplane’s nose and the desired touchdown zone.
As airspeed decays, progressively reduce your visual focus distance, while using peripheral vision to monitor for runway drift.
Incorrect visual focus—either too close or too far ahead—can lead to errors like flaring too high, misjudging height, or flying into the ground.
Mastering the technique of alternating and progressively shortening visual focus as speed decreases is crucial for achieving smooth and accurate landings.

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As you start the roundout on final approach and begin to flare, visual cues become extremely important. Where exactly should you be looking as you bring the control wheel back and prepare to place the wheels just where you want them on the pavement (or the grass, if you’re really lucky)?

To give you a wider scope of vision and a better feel for your height above the ground and your movement over the surface, your head should be pointing straight ahead and your visual focus should alternate from a point just over the airplane’s nose to the desired touchdown zone and back again.