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Commercial pilot · ACS CA.IV.D · lesson pack

Soft-Field Approach and Landing

Why this one matters

A firm touchdown or dropped nosewheel on a soft surface can dig in, bend the gear or flip the airplane, and stopping in mud can strand you. Landing gently and slowly with the weight on the wings protects the airplane and the passengers.

1 · Know these cold

  • •Carry some power through the roundout and touchdown: fly 1 to 2 feet above the surface in ground effect as speed dissipates, and touch down nose-high at minimum controllable airspeed with minimum sink.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • •Keep the nosewheel off until the elevator can no longer hold it, then use power and back pressure to ease it down gently.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.IV.D.S9)
  • •Hold the elevator as the POH recommends on the rollout, avoid braking, and keep enough speed to get off the soft area without sinking in.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.IV.D.S11)
  • •Flaps as the POH recommends (full flaps when practical, to touch down at minimum speed; don't retract them on the rollout, and in a low wing watch for mud and stones). Approach at the published speed, or not more than 1.3 VSO, ±5 knots with the gust factor applied.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.IV.D.S7; Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • •In a retractable, the gear is down and confirmed: a soft field is no place to discover it isn't.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Transition to Complex Airplanes)
  • •Soft and short are near opposites after touchdown. Soft: power carried, nosewheel held off, little or no braking, keep moving. Short: throttle closed, aerodynamic braking in the nose-up attitude while the elevator is effective, nosewheel down promptly, flaps up if the POH says, then maximum braking short of skidding with full back pressure.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • •Go around if the approach isn't stable.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)

2 · The lesson

The approach
  • A normal stabilized approach at the POH speed and flaps: energy management is the same.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • High density altitude: higher groundspeed, longer float and roll.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Aircraft Performance)
  • Crosswind: change from crab to wing-low before the roundout, adding aileron and opposite rudder as the controls lose effectiveness; touch down on the upwind main first with no drift, then let the downwind main settle and keep adding aileron on the rollout. If the crosswind is beyond your control capability, go elsewhere.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Choose the firmest, longest part of the strip into the wind, and know you can taxi off it. Complete the before-landing checklist (gear down and confirmed in a retractable) and the radio calls before your stabilized-approach gate.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Decide to go around before touchdown: from low and slow in ground effect it's full power, pitch for VX or VY, and flaps up in stages; once speed has bled off on a soft surface, a go-around may no longer be possible.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • LAHSO and soft fields don't mix: accept a hold-short only if you can land and stop within the published distance, and on a soft surface you can't count on braking.(AIM 4-3-11, Pilot Responsibilities When Conducting Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO))
Touchdown and rollout
  • Carry a degree of power through the roundout; hold 1 to 2 feet in ground effect as speed decays, and touch down nose-high at the lowest possible airspeed, power cushioning it, with minimum sink.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Once the mains are on, reduce power toward idle, using only small, deliberate additions to ease the nosewheel down or to keep moving to firm ground on a very soft surface. Back pressure and power together control the weight transfer from wings to wheels.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Elevator back on the rollout and taxi, no braking, and enough speed to keep rolling to firm ground.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Wind, surface and wake on landing
  • Crosswind: crab on final, then sideslip (upwind wing low, opposite rudder) to touch down without drift, aligned with the centerline; keep adding aileron into the wind on the rollout.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • The maximum demonstrated crosswind is a tested value, not a limit, unless the POH puts a crosswind value in its Limitations section; then it is one. Check the POH first, then set your own lower limit.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings; Your airplane's POH/AFM)
  • A tailwind raises groundspeed and landing distance. In gusts, add no more than half the gust factor to the approach speed (unless the POH says otherwise), and hold ±5 knots of that adjusted target.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Wind shear on short final can cause a sudden loss of airspeed and a high sink rate: be ready to go around.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Behind a larger airplane landing, stay at or above its approach path and land beyond its touchdown point. Behind one departing, land well before its rotation point. A light quartering tailwind can hold vortices in the touchdown zone.(AIM, Chapter 7, Wake Turbulence)
  • Wet or grass surfaces lengthen the roll and reduce braking: use the POH corrections.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Aircraft Performance)
Planning for the go-around, and LAHSO
  • Brief your go-around triggers before the approach: not stable by your gate, too fast or high, drifting, or the runway not clear.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • LAHSO: the pilot in command decides whether to accept. Accept only if you know the available landing distance (ALD, in the Chart Supplement) and your airplane can stop within it for the conditions; otherwise say "unable". Read back the full clearance, including "hold short of" the runway, taxiway or point. Once accepted it binds you unless you get an amended clearance or have an emergency. Expect it only with at least a 1,000-foot ceiling and 3 SM visibility, and not on a wet or contaminated runway; student pilots and pilots unfamiliar with LAHSO shouldn't participate.(AIM 4-3-11, Pilot Responsibilities When Conducting Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO))
  • If you accept LAHSO and then must go around, maintain separation from the intersecting runway's traffic and tell the tower promptly.(AIM 4-3-11, Pilot Responsibilities When Conducting Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO))
Low, slow and busy
  • Look for traffic on final and on the runway before you line up or turn final, and use landing lights.(AC 90-48, Pilots' Role in Collision Avoidance)
  • Near the ground there's no room to recover: a skidding turn to final or a nose-high climb can stall and spin; a distraction can lead into terrain or obstacles.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
  • Fly the airplane first: checklists and calls before the critical moments. Overloaded on final, go around.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))

Want it all on one page, with scenarios? Read the full lesson.

On the flight

ACS standards

  • Maintain the POH approach speed, or not more than 1.3 VSO, ±5 knots with gust factor applied.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.IV.D.S7)
  • Touch down at a proper pitch attitude with minimum sink rate, no side drift, aligned with the centerline.(Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.IV.D.S10)

What your instructor is watching for

Your instructor watches for a stable approach within 5 knots, power used through the touchdown, a gentle nose-high touchdown, the nosewheel held off and eased down, no braking, and continuous movement to firm ground.

3 · Say it out loud

Answer each one out loud, then check yourself and mark how it went.

  1. Remember Recall it

    “How do you touch down on a soft field?”

  2. Understand Explain why

    “Why use power during a soft-field touchdown?”

  3. Apply Use it on a flight

    “You land on a muddy strip and feel the airplane slowing fast. What do you do?”

4 · Common mistakes

  • Closing the throttle in the flare.

    The airplane drops in harder and the nose comes down sooner.

    Instead: Carry some power through touchdown.

  • Braking on the soft surface.

    Wheels dig in; the airplane can stop or nose over.

    Instead: Let drag slow you and keep moving.

  • Letting the nosewheel drop, or poor weight-transfer control.

    It can dig in and damage the gear.

    Instead: Increase back pressure as speed decays; ease it down with power.

  • An unstable final: too fast, a high sink rate, or rounding out too high.

    It ends in a float or a hard touchdown that a soft surface punishes.

    Instead: Stabilize by the gate, manage power, and go around if it isn't right.

5 · Quick check

Answer, then reveal. Flag anything you want to see again.

  1. 1. What is the goal at touchdown on a soft field?

  2. 2. When does the nosewheel come down?

  3. 3. Should you brake on a soft field?

  4. 4. What is the commercial approach speed tolerance?

  5. Scenario5. You start sinking into soft ground on the rollout. What do you do?

Trained it? Now prove it: practice soft-field approach and landing out loud with our examiner.

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Connect it

One situation that runs across this lesson and its neighbors in the same ACS area. Decide first, then check.

Connect it · Takeoffs, Landings & Go-Arounds

On a power-off 180, a tailwind on base carries you past the point where you'd normally turn final, and you're high.

How do you fix it, and when is a go-around the right answer? Decide, then see the worked answer

The maneuver: from abeam the touchdown point, power to idle, then glide to the point through the abeam and base key positions, with pitch controlling airspeed. The standard is a touchdown at the proper pitch attitude, on or within 200 feet beyond the point, never short, with no side drift and the longitudinal axis over the centerline. The tailwind on base raised your groundspeed. Now: turn to final earlier with a normal, coordinated bank. If you've already overshot, accept it or go around, but never tighten the turn with bottom rudder or slip in the turn; slip only once you're established on final. To lose height you have a forward slip, flaps and S-turns, all tools the AFH lists for power-off accuracy approaches. A forward slip is deliberately uncoordinated, crossed controls; hold the airspeed with pitch, and before touchdown transition to a sideslip to stay aligned, or straighten out. Extend flaps in steps, and hold off full flaps until a landing at or beyond the point is assured; check the POH for restrictions on slips with flaps extended. Under the ACS this task gets one attempt: a go-around because you weren't going to meet the tolerances is unsatisfactory, and only a go-around forced by safety, such as traffic on the runway, is excused. Even so, if the approach isn't safe, go around.

Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B), CA.IV.M and Appendix 3; AFH (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings

Brings together: Power-Off 180° Accuracy Approach and Landing · Go-Around/Rejected Landing

Teaching this? The instructor lesson plan →

Study aid, not FAA guidance. Sources: Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C); Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (FAA-H-8083-25C); Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM); AC 91-73; Commercial Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-7B); Your airplane's POH/AFM. Checked against current sources 2026-11-13.