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Touchdown on a soft or rough field should be made at the lowest possible airspeed with the aircraft in a nose-high pitch attitude. After the main wheels touch the surface, the pilot should hold bar-forward pressure to keep the nosewheel off the surface. Using forward control bar pressure and engine power, the pilot can control the rate at which the weight of the aircraft is transferred from the wings to the wheels. 

Field conditions may warrant that the pilot maintain a fl ight condition where the main wheels are just touching the surface, but the weight of the aircraft is still being supported by the wings until a suitable taxi surface is reached. At any time during this transition phase, before the weight of the aircraft is being supported by the wheels and before the nosewheel is on the surface, the pilot should be able to apply full power and perform a safe takeoff (obstacle clearance and fi eld length permitting) should the pilot elect to abandon the landing. Once committed to a landing, the pilot should gently lower the nosewheel to the surface. A slight reduction of power usually helps ease the nosewheel down. 

The use of brakes on a soft field is not needed and should be avoided as this tends to impose a heavy load on the nose gear due to premature or hard contact with the landing surface causing the nosewheel to dig in. The soft or rough surface itself provides sufficient reduction in the aircraft’s forward speed. Often upon landing on a very soft fi eld, the pilot needs to increase power to keep the aircraft moving and from becoming stuck on the soft surface. 

## Power-on Approach and Landing for Turbulant Air 

Power-on approaches at an airspeed above the normal approach speed should be used for landing in turbulent air. This provides for more energy and positive control of the aircraft when strong horizontal wind gusts, wind 

sheer, or up and down drafts, are experienced. Like other power-on approaches (when the pilot can vary the amount of power), a coordinated combination of both speed and power adjustments is usually required. It is easiest to think of fl ying the aircraft onto the ground at an airspeed above the stall speed. The additional power provides the pilot the ability to reduce the descent rate to touch the wheels gently to the surface at a higher speed. Landing in turbulent air is where practice and experience in energy management are utilized. This precise coordination of power and speed for higher energy landings should first be practiced in calm air and can be used as the next step in learning landings after the student becomes proficient at low approaches. 

To determine the additional approach speed to fl ying in turbulence, one procedure is to use the normal approach speed plus one-half of the wind gust factors. The wind gust factor is determined by how much the airspeed varies while flying. If the normal approach speed is 50 knots and the wind gusts are at 15 knots, an airspeed of 57 knots is appropriate. Another method is to ensure the aircraft is at least at V$_{Y}$ speed plus the wind gust factor. In any case, the airspeed that the aircraft manufacturer recommends. 

An adequate amount of power should be used to maintain the proper airspeed and descent path throughout the approach and the throttle retarded to idling position only after the main wheels contact the landing surface. Care must be exercised in not closing the throttle before the pilot is ready for touchdown. In this situation, the sudden or premature closing of the throttle may cause a sudden increase in the descent rate that could result in a hard landing. 

Landings from power-on approaches in turbulence should be such that the touchdown is made with the aircraft in approximately level flight attitude. The pitch attitude at 

