I've got around 300 hours in the 175 and have reached a point where I feel generally comfortable in the airplane.

Up until about a week ago, I would say it's the easiest plane in the world to get consistent good landings in. But lately I've been floating, flaring high, getting the timing wrong etc.

Not sure if it's just normal ups and downs but it's bothering me. Anyone else have similar experiences, specificly in the 175?

Thanks.

*Edit - Also with the stall prot speeds I've been getting a lot lately, probably a factor. I appreciate any advice/input.

 

Completely normal. Not every landing will be your best. Unlike in the GA world, landing characteristics can be greatly different based off weight/speed of the approach, and other factors. I always find the extended winglet fitted a/c tend to float more. It’s much easier to land than the 145, but I still have rough ones from time to time. Usually comes in waves...I’ll be nailing my landings for weeks and they will be smooth then I’ll have a week or two straight of rougher landings. No idea why lol

1500 hours in type.

 

So I'm not the only one ha. My airline only has the extended winglets so I can't compare. It definitely feels easy to float. The beechjet I'm coming from was harder to land smoothly but then again that airplane is a brick with wings.

 

I don’t know about the 175, but in the -200 it seems to be month to month for me. 0-200 hours landings were good. 200-300 bad. 300-400 good. And so on an so forth. Eventually your good landings outnumber your floaters and slammers but I’ve flown with guys who have been flying the airplane since my airline took delivery of the CRJ 18 years ago that still have a few bad days in a row from time to time.

 

Then you upgrade and it starts over

 

When it’s super light with 15 people or less there’s not enough weight for the struts to compress so you kind of just pogo stick. With the winglets I usually pull power 5-10 feet higher then normal.

 

I think you answered your question with the ice speed comment. For me, pulling power about ten feet higher than normal with ice speeds tends to cut down on the float. 3300 hrs in type.

 

900 hrs in type. If you want to stay on glidepath and touchdown at the aim point you need to cross the threshold at vref, not Vapp, also driving toward the ground and a late roundout seems to work. Our company has a mimimum Vapp of ref+5. Stall prot is usually 11 kts above a normal vref and presents it's own unique challenges. Also like others said, an empty plane is very easy to float.

Like you I was greasing it from 400-700hrs but then decided the aim point, not just the TDZ was more important.

 

Like others says it will come and go. You'll have a whole trip of greasers and another where you make sure everyone knows they have arrived. On a normal day with regular winglets I start reducing at 30 and idle at 20. The EWTs it's 40 and idle by 30. Then you'll switch and forget and either prang it on or float for days. Then you see the 3000 footers coming up and reduce back pressure and before you know it, you're on the ground. Just try not to overthink it. That's when I tend to really put it in. You seem like you're on the right path. It comes in waves. As long as your on speed, on center line, it's a great landing. Smoothness is just icing on the cake. As you know, there will be times where you will intentionally put it down hard (gusty, heavy rain, snow, ice, etc). Have fun with it!

 

Along the lines of what others have said...

On centerline, in the TDZ (preferably the first 2000ft, but meh) is all anyone who matters cares about. Bonus points if it's firm enough to make the spoilers deploy (important) but smooth enough to not make the B stew complain about their back problems (they'll get over it). People claim the EWT planes float more... honest to God I can't tell a difference. The 170 is more floaty than the 175 though (mostly by virtue of weight).

As you probably know by now, passengers will say "wow that was great" to some of your worst landings and shrug indifferently to your best ones. They've forgotten about it by the time you hit the highspeed, anything they say at the door is just because they couldn't think of anything else to say when they saw you.

Remember for every knot you add to vRef, you're going to have more energy in the flare. vRef is the number that Pt25 aircraft are expected to be at 50ft... if your company SOP is like mine, you're always at least 5kt above that. When people start adding 15kt to their approach speed (total of ref+20) because they're scared of a gust, and don't reduce below that when they get down low, they float like an empty oil tanker in rough seas. I'm not saying not to carry some extra energy when it's gusty, I'm saying that if you added it for the ATIS/anticipated winds and it's actually not that bad when you get below 50ft, remember to come to idle sooner than you might have otherwise. Ice speeds in a clean airplane... same sort of thing.

A safe landing is rarely a smooth landing.