Forward slip to landing

Making drag work for you

December 17, 2025 By Chad Jones

We’ve all been there. You’ve made your radio calls, scanned for traffic, recited GUMPS, and configured the airplane. As the runway numbers appear off your shoulder, you turn from base to final, and all looks normal. But as you roll out on final, you discover a very different sight picture than what you’re used to seeing: You’re too high. But don’t fret, “my sweet summer child,” as I’ve heard more than once from a flight instructor friend. There’s a tool for that.

A forward slip to landing is a maneuver used to increase your aircraft’s rate of descent without increasing airspeed. While sometimes used to great effect when needing to clear an obstacle, it’s usually performed when you’re too high on final and need to descend quickly. Like flaps, it allows a steeper descent angle by increasing drag. But instead of changing the camber of the wings, the pilot cross-controls the ailerons and rudder to expose more of the aircraft’s surface area, namely the fuselage, to the relative wind. Unlike flaps, which increase lift, this maneuver reduces lift. Check your aircraft’s pilot’s operating handbook; some manufacturers recommend avoiding this maneuver when flaps are fully extended. Let’s walk through the steps.

Illustration by Charles Floyd

1. Slow down

Let the airplane lose altitude without accelerating so you can maintain a controlled descent along the glide path.

2. Bank the airplane

If there’s a crosswind, bank in the direction the wind is coming from. This will allow you to avoid drifting away from the centerline.

3. Apply opposite rudder

And by opposite, I mean opposite the direction of bank (e.g., ailerons left, right rudder). Maintain your ground track along the runway centerline.

4. Pitch for airspeed, power for altitude

If you descend slightly below the glidepath, simply recover from the slip. That should be enough to get you back on track. But if you’ve descended well below the glidepath, it may be necessary to add power.

5. Recover and flare

Gradually recover from the slip and adjust pitch to transition into the flare. Focus on a smooth transition, as abruptly releasing the rudder or dramatic aileron inputs can translate to a squirrelly rollout and, potentially, loss of directional control. Remember, if something doesn’t feel right, you can always go around.

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