We flew Cessna 172s in Israel. These are 4-seat airplanes very much like my Diamond Star. A 747 is smoother in flight than a paper airplane like mine due to higher wing loading (more weight per square foot of wing). But there are two things that make it tough to land a big jet smoothly: (1) you don’t really flare a jet but almost fly it onto the runway, and (2) the damn thing weighs 500,000 pounds so it has a lot more energy to dissipate than a 4-seater.

With a light airplane you roundout and flare by pulling back on the stick as you get within a few feet of the ground. You continue pulling back to shed airspeed and arrest your vertical descent. If you’re really good and/or you have a longish runway you can touch my Diamond Star down so that the passengers barely notice. That’s because you’re only going maybe 50 miles per hour and the vertical descent rate is minimal. With a big jet I think it is considered unsafe to fly very slowly close to the runway. You’re going 150 mph and a gust a wind might blow you to the side. Basically the idea is to get the wheels on the ground and deploy the spoilers and to slow down and stop flying ASAP.

I see that you are a pilot Philip, so maybe I am being a bit presumptuous with this comment… would not a 747 generally, as a rule, provide a smoother “landing experience” than a smaller craft? What model of plane did you fly from Tel Aviv?

If the whole “earth is spinning faster” thing is true, then how long will the day be if/when the polar ice caps melt?

Doubtful

Having ‘enjoyed’ many flights on European planes, some on African planes, and a few on American planes, I have come to the conclusion that the smoothness of a landing is merely a matter of luck. Mostly it’s nice and smooth, sometimes it’s a bit bumpy. Thus I wouldn’t agree on your point concerning European pilots and put it down to bad luck. If, however, you’d settle for Lufthansa crews being among the least (genuinely) friendly, I’d wholeheartedly agree.