You know those quasi-rough landings when the plane seems suspended over the runway for ages before it touches down with a bang that takes your breath away?

At the conclusion of a recent long-haul flight, I experienced one of those bumpy landings. I gripped the armrests for a second or so — long enough for the passenger across the aisle, with whom I had become acquainted during my trip, to notice my blip of anxiety. Without skipping a beat, he relayed a theory he learned from a former Navy pilot: Pilots who land a plane with a light touch that feels like gliding into a pile of feathers (my favorite type of landing) are probably Air Force trained — or trained by former Air Force pilots. Pilots who do the bump-and-role are more likely Navy pilots — or trained by former Navy pilots. The reason for the difference? Air Force pilots are more likely to land where they have plenty of space to gently touch down and roll to a stop. Navy pilots — especially those assigned to aircraft carriers — are working with limited space, so they have to precisely set the plane down and come to an abrupt stop to hit their mark without ditching the expensive equipment in the rolling sea.

Ah ha! The theory makes perfect sense to me. Is it based in fact? I don’t know. But it makes me feel a whole lot better about those bumpy landings.

— Lisa Matte, editor in chief