The first phase is the airborne section — Page 273, Lesson 341

Let me walk you through the landing itself, because this is where all the performance theory we've been building actually meets the runway. The landing is split into two distinct phases, and I want you to hold that split in your head because it drives everything about how we calculate landing distance. The first phase is the airborne section. This is the distance from the moment you cross the threshold — the screen height — until the wheels actually touch the landing surface. In standard terms, we usually take this airborne section as being about 1000 ft in length. That's a planning figure, a nominal value we use when we think about the landing distance. Now, within that airborne section, certain critical actions take place. As you descend through the screen height, the first thing you do is reduce the thrust to zero. At the same time, you increase the pitch attitude slightly, so the aeroplane is in a slight nose-up attitude. Let me explain why we do both of those together. The increase in pitch attitude helps to arrest the rate of descent — it stops you from slamming into the runway. The reduction of thrust to zero reduces the speed. So you're trading your descent rate for a controlled, slower touchdown. This procedure — reducing thrust and increasing pitch — is known as the landing flare. You'll also hear the term "roundout" used for the same thing; they're interchangeable. The whole point of the flare is to allow the aeroplane to touch down onto the runway using the main wheels first. That's critical — you never want the nose wheel touching first; the main gear takes the initial impact. Now, one thing I want you to understand clearly: the technique of flaring differs from one aeroplane to another. It's especially different between light general aviation aeroplanes and large commercial jet airliners. The flare in a small piston single is a very different physical action from the flare in a swept-wing jet. So don't ever assume one technique transfers directly. That's the airborne section. The second part of the landing is the ground run — also called the ground roll or the landing roll. This is the distance covered from touchdown until the aeroplane comes to a full stop. Again, there are critical actions carried out in sequence here. Once the main wheels have settled onto the landing surface, you can activate reverse thrust and lift spoilers. Reverse thrust, as the name suggests, redirects engine thrust forward to help decelerate. Lift spoilers — also called speed brakes — deploy on the wings to destroy lift and increase drag, which puts more weight on the wheels so the brakes work better. Then, as the speed decreases further, the nose wheel will settle onto the landing surface. Only now, with all three wheels on the ground, is braking force applied, and the aeroplane slows to a stop. But here's an important operational point: in normal operations, the aeroplane does not stop on the runway. Instead, it's slowed to a safe speed where it can be steered off the runway and taxied to the disembarkation point — what we call the ramp. So the full-stop distance is the theoretical limit we plan for, but in practice you vacate the runway at a safe taxi speed rather than coming to a complete halt on the pavement. Let me show you the geometry of this. The landing distance available is simply the length of runway from one threshold to another — that's the physical runway you have to work with. And here's what reverse thrust actually looks like in operation on a jet engine — the mechanism that redirects the exhaust flow forward to help you decelerate during that ground roll. So to tie it together: the landing is the airborne section — about 1000 ft, ending in the flare and main-wheel touchdown — followed by the ground roll, where reverse thrust and spoilers come in, the nose wheel settles, brakes are applied, and you slow to a safe speed to exit the runway. That's the complete landing sequence.