doing a short field
 

Whats some tips on performing a short field landing in a complex airplane. open to anything. Really helpful, thanks.

I like to come in with full flaps, gear down, props low pitch high rpm for max drag, and then chop and drop. Some people say you should retract flaps once on the ground to maximize braking, but in a complex airplane you risk putting the gear up instead of flaps depending on the type. What airplane are you doing this in?

im doing them in a 172 RG, I also come in with full flaps and full prop, ive been coming in a little low and floating too long trying to compensate for the low approach

Sounds like you miht be a bit fast when coming in. Try coming in a bit higher then slipping to get down, that way you don't pick up the airspeed. Also if you flare it a little bit higher than normal, you'll get it right down with little float. I would not retract the flaps unless they are the manual type, otherwise you could risk retracting the gear aswell.

I think the 172 (not sure about the RG) recommend 62 kts, you might need to be a bit slower than that to minimize float, because with 62 kts you will still get a bit of float.

The RG is 63 knots for final, but it seems im floating too much, i think im going to try the higher flare it seems to kill the float pretty well, i just put it down too hard one time, and i leave the flaps down, im just worried about the point more of. i tried the slip, it worked pretty well, it seems the higher approach works a lot better, more stabalized. thanks guys

Steeper angles work better than shallow approaches. The flare kills a ton of that kinetic energy and should firmly plant you on the ground. Airspeed control is obviously the other very important factor

If your lighter than gross weight, then 63 knots may be a tad bit to high. Aim slightly before your touchdown point, flare over the runway that doesn't count toward your 100 or 200 feet (depending on the certificate) then touch down somewhere in the allocated distance.

Airspeed is everything. Good luck

If you've got a dash mounted compass, keep your landing point just on top of the compass. Airspeed control is the most important part of any precision landing. be quick on power adjustments. If the point begins to move above the compass, add power. And vice versa.

Pick a point 100' from your touchdown point. Keep your approach steep, and airspeed constant. Keep your touchdown point in the same spot in the window until you are 25' above the ground. Power to idle. Start a normal flare and keep flaring until you make a nice firm landing. The key is to keep adjusting power to control your descent (keep the touchdown point in the window) and maintain the same airspeed throughout the approach.

I initially had troube with this in the Piper Arrow. I found it helped to come in a little high to get the steep approach angle and with power to maintain the approach speed. This way, as soon as you pulled the power over the threshold you dropped due to the reduction in prop wash over the wings. Previously, I had a low power setting and glided in, I was always fast and floated. Like was previously stated, airspeed control is the key.