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I’ve been flying the Cessna 172 for about a year now, and I’m starting to feel like I’m not really getting any smoother with my landings, especially in a bit of a crosswind. I keep flaring either too high or holding it off and ballooning slightly.

I used to think smoother landings came from waiting longer during the flare, but I kept ballooning. I started using a staged flare: watch the horizon, then gently push to a few inches, and feel for the nose gear light. It helped me keep the nose down.

On gusty days my technique would flip with the wind. One flight I tried keeping the approach a touch faster and then letting the nose settle, but I overcorrected and bounced.

Last weekend I set a timer and counted to five during the flare so I didn’t rush the transition. It helped a little but didn’t fix the core timing.

Maybe the issue isn’t the flare at all but where I touch down—am I trying to hold enough sink to meet the pavement with the mains first?

Do you think a little sideslip on final would help with the crosswind or is that a crutch?

I’ve been flirting with 60 knots on the approach and still end up with the nose lifting. It feels more like timing than strength.

I drifted into thinking about autopilots last week and then realized I’m just not using rudder enough in the flare to counter drift.

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