Private pilot · ACS PA.IV.B · lesson pack

Normal Approach and Landing

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Wrong Surface LandingsFAA, From the Flight Deck · video ↗

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Why this one matters

Most landing accidents are loss of control: runway excursions in crosswinds, hard landings from unstable approaches, and stalls on the turn to final. Nearly all of them follow an approach that wasn’t stable and a go-around that didn’t happen. A stabilized approach, with a firm rule for going around, prevents them.

1 · Know these cold

•A stabilized approach: on the correct path with only small heading and pitch changes, at the target speed (gust factor applied), in the landing configuration and trimmed, sinking no more than about 1,000 fpm, with appropriate power and the checklists done, by 500 feet above the airport in VMC. If it isn’t stable by then, or becomes unstable below it, go around.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
•Approach speed is the POH figure, or not more than 1.3 VSO if none is published, +10/-5 knots, plus no more than half the gust factor.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IV.B.S7; AFH)
•Pitch and power work together: power mainly controls the descent rate, pitch the airspeed, and you adjust both to stay on path and speed.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
•Aim at a point; land within 400 feet beyond it, with no drift and the airplane aligned with the centerline.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IV.B.S10)
•In a crosswind, crab on final and change to a sideslip (wing low, opposite rudder) before touchdown, or fly the sideslip earlier on final; touch down without drift, upwind wheel first in a stronger wind.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
•Never accept LAHSO as a student pilot. Anyone may decline it.(AIM 4-3-11, Pilot Responsibilities When Conducting Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO))
•Go around early when the approach or landing isn’t right: it’s always an option.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)

2 · The lesson

The stabilized approach and energy

Your energy is your airspeed and height. Too much of either means floating or landing long; too little means landing short or stalling.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Set up early: configuration, approach speed and trim, then adjust pitch and power together to hold the path. The gate is firm: stabilized by 500 feet above the airport in VMC (1,000 in IMC), or go around; and go around immediately if it becomes unstable below that.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Pick a touchdown point (you must touch down on it or within 400 feet beyond) and aim at a point a little before it, because the roundout uses distance. Aiming at the touchdown point itself builds in a long landing.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings; Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IV.B.S5)
The roundout: as the runway expands, shift your gaze toward its far end, reduce power smoothly to idle, and keep increasing back pressure to touch down on the main wheels at the proper pitch attitude, just above stall speed, with little weight on the nosewheel. Looking too close or too far misjudges the height. If it balloons, hold the attitude and add a little power (never push forward); if it bounces, hold the landing attitude, add power as needed, and go around if the bounce is big or control is in doubt.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Hold the aim point steady in the windshield: if it moves up, you’re getting low; if it moves down, you’re getting high.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)

Wind, conditions and the runway

High density altitude means a higher true airspeed and groundspeed for the same indicated speed, so a longer landing roll. Fly the same indicated approach speed.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Aircraft Performance)
Crab into a crosswind on final and change to a sideslip before touchdown (or fly the sideslip from earlier on final) so the airplane’s axis is aligned with the runway and it isn’t drifting.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Choose a runway and touchdown point that suit your skill, the airplane’s performance, the runway length and the wind.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)

Wind, surface and wake on landing

Crosswind: crab on the approach and change to a sideslip (upwind wing low, opposite rudder) before touchdown, or set up the wing-low sideslip earlier on final. Touch down with no drift, aligned with the centerline, on the upwind main wheel first in a stronger crosswind, and keep increasing aileron into the wind during the rollout.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
The POH’s maximum demonstrated crosswind component is what was tested, not a limitation. Set your own limit, and use a runway more nearly into the wind when you can.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
A tailwind raises your groundspeed and landing distance. Gusts: the gust factor is the peak gust minus the steady wind (10 gusting 20 is 10 knots); add no more than half of it (5 knots) to your approach speed.(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 add power and go around.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Wake turbulence: behind a larger airplane landing, stay above its approach path and land beyond its touchdown point.(AIM, Chapter 7, Wake Turbulence)
Wet or grass surfaces lengthen the landing roll and reduce braking. Use the POH corrections.(PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Aircraft Performance)

Planning for the go-around, and LAHSO

Plan every approach as a go-around: brief yourself on when you’ll go around (unstable, too fast, too high, drifting, traffic on the runway) before you start. Touchdown isn't a point of no return: after a bad bounce, a big balloon or a loss of control, with enough runway left, a rejected landing is still available (full power, the right attitude and configuration per the POH, and tell ATC).(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
A LAHSO clearance means landing and stopping before an intersecting runway or point. You may decline it; student pilots and pilots unfamiliar with LAHSO should not accept it. Know the available landing distance and your airplane’s performance.(AIM 4-3-11, Pilot Responsibilities When Conducting Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO))
If you accept LAHSO and then must go around, keep safe separation from the intersecting traffic and tell the tower promptly.(AIM 4-3-11, Pilot Responsibilities When Conducting Land and Hold Short Operations (LAHSO))

Low, slow and busy

Takeoffs and landings are where traffic converges: look for airplanes 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)
Close to the ground there’s no room to recover. A skidding turn to final, a nose-high climb or a stretched glide can stall and spin; flight into terrain or obstacles can follow a distraction.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), Approaches and Landings)
Fly the airplane first. Finish checklists and radio calls before the critical moments, and if you’re overloaded on final, go around.(Risk Management Handbook (FAA-H-8083-2A))

Before and after the touchdown

Complete the before-landing checklist, make the radio calls (a landing clearance at a towered airport, self-announce on the CTAF at a nontowered one), and verify you're lined up with the correct, assigned runway before landing.(FAA-S-ACS-6C, PA.IV.B.S1-S3)
The landing isn't over at touchdown: keep directional control and crosswind correction, hold back pressure for aerodynamic braking, lower the nosewheel gently, brake only as needed, and treat it as incomplete until you're at taxi speed and clear of the runway. Then the after-landing checklist.(Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C), After-Landing Roll)
After landing, avoid incursions: clear the runway completely (past the hold line), don't cross another hold-short line without a clearance, and leave non-essential tasks until you're clear.(FAA-S-ACS-6C, PA.IV.B.S12; AC 91-73)

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

On the flight

ACS standards

Approach at the POH speed, or not more than 1.3 VSO, +10/-5 knots with gust factor applied.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IV.B.S7)
Touch down within 400 feet beyond or on the specified point, with no side drift, aligned with and over the centerline.(Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C), PA.IV.B.S10)

What your instructor is watching for

Your instructor watches whether the approach is stable early, you hold the aim point and speed, the crosswind correction is right, the roundout is smooth, and you go around promptly when it’s not working.

3 · Say it out loud

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

Remember Recall it
“What approach speed do you use if the POH doesn’t give one?”
Understand Explain why
“Why does a stabilized approach matter?”
Apply Use it on a flight
“On short final you’re 15 knots fast and high. What do you do?”

4 · Common mistakes

Chasing the airspeed with power alone, or the glidepath with pitch alone.
One control can’t fix both, so the approach oscillates.
Instead: Use pitch and power together and make small, early corrections.
Landing with drift.
Side loads on the landing gear can cause a ground loop or runway excursion.
Instead: Transition from crab to sideslip in the roundout and keep the upwind wing low.
Forcing a bad approach.
Unstable approaches cause most landing accidents.
Instead: Be stabilized by 500 feet above the airport (VMC) and go around if you’re not, or if it becomes unstable below that.

5 · Quick check

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

1. What is a stabilized approach?
2. What is the touchdown tolerance on a normal landing?
3. How do you correct for crosswind at touchdown?
4. Should a student pilot accept a LAHSO clearance?
5. Where do you land behind a large airplane that just landed?
Scenario6. On final the airplane ahead hasn’t cleared the runway. What do you do?

Trained it? Now prove it: practice normal 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

A 2,200-foot grass strip, wet after rain, with trees off the departure end. You land there, then leave an hour later.

Which techniques does each part of the visit call for, and where are your go-around and abort points? Decide, then see the worked answer

Decide before you go. Work both numbers from the POH: the landing distance on wet grass, and the takeoff distance to clear the trees on departure. Compare both with the 2,200 feet, with margin. Many POHs publish only a dry-grass correction, or none at all; where there's no wet-grass figure, add a conservative margin of your own. If the departure won't fit, don't land there. Arriving: fly a stabilized approach and pick a go-around point; if you're not on speed and on spot by then, go around rather than float down a short, soft runway. Land soft-field style: carry a little power through the roundout and touchdown, touch down nose-high at minimum controllable speed with minimum sink, hold the nosewheel off, keep your momentum, and avoid wheel braking. Leaving: this is a soft-field takeoff and climb with an obstacle. Keep moving onto the runway and lift off with soft-field technique; the short-field brake-hold-and-rotate procedure isn't used on wet grass. Accelerate in ground effect, then climb at Vx over the trees. From short-field technique only two things carry over: use all the runway available, and the Vx obstacle climb. Brief a concrete abort point before you roll; a common rule of thumb is about 70% of liftoff speed by the runway midpoint. Wet grass brakes poorly, so allow for a longer stop. If you don't have it by then, abort straight ahead.

AFH (FAA-H-8083-3C), Takeoffs and Departure Climbs, Approaches and Landings; PHAK (FAA-H-8083-25C), Aircraft Performance

Brings together: Soft-Field Takeoff and Climb · Soft-Field 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; Private Pilot ACS (FAA-S-ACS-6C); Your airplane's POH/AFM. Checked against current sources 2026-11-12.