Tailwind. — An aviation study journal

How to fly a soft-field approach and landing: hold off, soft touchdown, weight off the nose

A soft-field landing modifies the normal landing (B) for surfaces that can't take a hard touchdown or that risk nose-gear deflection / nose-over. The approach is essentially normal — stabilized, on speed, on path — but the flare is extended, the touchdown is as slow as possible, and the nose wheel is kept off the surface throughout the entire rollout, sometimes the full distance to taxi.

The flare doesn't end at touchdown. On a normal landing (B), the flare bleeds speed and the airplane settles. On a soft-field landing, you continue back pressure after touchdown to keep weight off the nose wheel. Releasing back-elevator at touchdown lets the nose drop, which is the failure mode the maneuver is built to prevent.

Pattern, downwind, base — same as normal landing

The approach phase is identical to the normal landing (B): pattern entry, downwind checklist, base leg with first/second notch of flaps, turn final aligned with the centerline.

Crosswind correction is the same as (B): wing-low side-slip on final.

CROSSWIND LANDING · PA.IV.F

Wing-low side-slip

Wing-low — cross-controlled, ready to land

PLATE 26 · CROSSWIND

Wing-low side-slip

Established from short final. Upwind wing low (aileron into the wind), opposite rudder to keep the nose down the centerline. The airplane is flying straight down the runway with crossed controls — a slip. The ball is off-center toward the low wing (cross-ref IV.G PRI for the convention). Preferred for stronger crosswinds because the touchdown happens already wings-low, no last-moment "kick" required.

The wing-low side-slip is the preferred technique for the soft-field touchdown — the airplane is already in landing attitude with the upwind wheel set to touch first. Same inputs as in B; the soft-field rollout (continuing back-elevator after touchdown) happens on top of this.

Final approach

Full flaps (or the planned landing flap setting per POH). Soft-field landings benefit from the lower touchdown speed full flaps allow.
V_REF — same airspeed as the normal landing (B); the POH typically doesn't publish a separate soft-field approach speed.
Aim point slightly shorter than the normal landing. You'll need extra ground roll once you touch down because you may not be able to brake aggressively on the soft surface.
Stabilized by 500 ft AGL — same as (B).

Round-out — same as (B)

At 10–20 ft AGL, smooth back pressure to arrest the descent. Round-out the airplane to level flight a few feet above the surface — same gesture as the normal landing.

Extended flare

This is where the soft-field landing diverges. After the round-out, continue back pressure to hold the airplane off the surface as long as possible:

Bleed airspeed past V_SO.
Pitch attitude increases beyond the normal landing attitude.
The airplane is in ground effect for the entire flare — induced drag is reduced, so it doesn't drop as airspeed bleeds.
As airspeed approaches stall, the airplane settles to the surface at minimum descent rate.

The touchdown should feel softer than a normal landing — almost imperceptible. The main wheels kiss the surface; the nose is well off.

LANDING TRAJECTORY · PA.IV.B

Round-out and flare — Soft-field landing (IV.D)

Extended flare — hold off, soft touchdown

PLATE 27 · ROUND-OUT & FLARE

Soft-field landing (IV.D)

Same approach as normal. After the round-out, continue back pressure to hold the airplane OFF the surface as long as possible. Ground effect lets the airplane decelerate at a high pitch attitude without stalling. Touchdown happens when the airplane stops flying — soft, slow, nose-high.

Float: Extended float in ground effect, 500-700 ft · Touchdown pitch: ~10-12° nose up (held off)

The round-out arrests the descent at 10-20 ft AGL. The flare bleeds airspeed in ground effect. The three landing types differ in what they do with the flare: normal lands at the back of the float; soft-field stretches the float to slow the touchdown; short-field eliminates the float to land on the aim point. Same round-out gesture; different post-round-out management.

The extended float (~500-700 ft past the aim point) is visible as the long shallow segment in the ground-effect zone. Compare to Normal mode (brief float) and Short-field mode (no float at all).

Touchdown and rollout

Touch down on the main gear only, with the nose well off.
Continue back-elevator pressure through the rollout. As airspeed bleeds, elevator authority fades, and the nose will eventually settle — but you delay that as long as possible.
Do not apply brakes on a typical soft-field surface — brakes can dig the main wheels in or, worse, cause a nose-over. The soft surface itself provides significant deceleration drag.
Maintain centerline with rudder, not nose-wheel steering. Crosswind aileron continues throughout.

Slowing to taxi

As the airplane slows to taxi speed, the nose wheel will settle to the surface on its own. From that point, the soft-field taxi procedure (C, in reverse) applies — full back-elevator, no stopping if practical, smooth power for any taxi maneuvering.

Common pitfall: relaxing back pressure at touchdown. A pilot who lets the elevator come forward at the moment of touchdown drops the nose immediately — the maneuver fails its core purpose. Back pressure continues after touchdown, not just up to it.