Everyone's a critic
Test yourself in a landing competition
That’s the premise behind landing competitions, and nowhere is it done better than at the NIFA student competitions across the aviation colleges in this country. The National Intercollegiate Flight Association oversees Safecon regional competitions throughout the year. These Safety and Flight Evaluation Conferences culminate in a national event each spring. Top teams from the regional conferences compete for awards and scholarships.
The events include competencies in simulators, ground school, navigation, and short field approach and landings and power-off approach and landings. Although many events are team-based, the takeoff and landing events test individual pilots' airmanship. Flying a clean takeoff, navigating the traffic pattern, appropriate power usage, and landing on a target line, competitors are judged by previous competitors who often return to volunteer as judges. The distance in feet from where the aircraft’s wheels initially touch the runway to the target line is the pilot’s score.
You don’t have to be in a collegiate program to compete in landing competitions. Most flying clubs sponsor competitions, and the advent of STOL (short takeoff and landing) competitions finds many backcountry competitions taking place, such as the National STOL series held on a dry lakebed in the middle of the California desert.
Wherever you find a landing competition, recognize the critics really are there to make you a better pilot, not throw shade on your skills.
