Balancing attitude and power for the best approach

On my last flight, I experienced my first short field landing at Earls Colne. I was very apprehensive due to the fact that the joining pattern and radio telephony sequence was very different to usual. There are no air traffic control clearances - just a guy in a shed on the ground with a radio transmitter who tells you what runway to use and whether it is windy or not. The rest is at your discretion. At the back of my mind was the landing - a short grass strip. Would I put her down safely or put it in a hedge at the end???

Thankfully, as a result of the great instruction I have received throughout the duration of my PPL, I remembered the simple rule - "Attitude for speed, power for rate of descent".

What this means to non-aviators is that when on a landing approach, you control the speed of the plane with the pitch angle of the pane e.g. nose up/down and you control the steepness of your approach with power i.e. not enough power will mean you fall short of runway, too much means you will probably overshoot.

Applying this principle, I managed to control the plane into a stabilised slow approach into Earls Colne. After wiping the sweat from my brow, my instructor and I popped into to see the said man in the shed to pay our landing fees and then relaxed for a short break before flying back.

Over the River Crouch

On way back to Southend (Thames on the nose)

Earls Colne Airfield

Next trip: Solo navigation to Cambridge.