Uphill Runways with Upsloping Approaches

Baublitz airport 9W8 is "M" shaped.  The first 200 feet are rising, the second 200 are flat and the 400-1000 foot section is downhill---both for runways 10 and 28.

The first 200 feet of 10 is too close to the wires and too steep, so landing on runway 10 is pretty much landing on a flat section with a downhill rollout.

The first 200 feet of runway 28 has a gradual uphill incline, and there are no tall obstuctions on approach (other than corn stalks or hay bales) so the aim point is to land in the first 200 feet with a flat rollout and then a ending rollout stint downhill. 

If you miss these first 200 foot sections, then you are essentially landing downhill.

Both uphill and downhill landings take some thought.  Downhill-the runway is falling away-you need a higher descent rate at touch down.  (Be sure to get the flaps out as soon as possible.) Uphill--just the opposite, the runway is rising out (relatively) so your descent rate needs to be lower (more earler flare--more power).  Even trickier if the approach area is steep uphill and there is a headwind, as the headwind will cause a downdraft. 

Here is a really tough airport with an uphill landing...(This is REAL mountain flying.)  Runway is only 1700 feet long.

The pilot in the video writes:

• A proper approach looks steeper than normal because the field inclination is steeper relative to the plane's attitude.
• You need to flare sooner for two reasons:
  1. The sink speed relative to the rising ground is higher than normal, and
  2. The amount of pitch change needed to flare is larger.
• Even with airplanes which have a strong ground effect (and where too fast a touchdown speed will normally result in a very long float) the flare was short, as was the rollout distance. Don't let speed bleed off too early, but stay on your approach speed until you are low enough to flare.
• Airports with slope sit on the sides of mountains. In many cases, the approach is already over rising terrain. When landing with a headwind, the wind will create a downdraft along the approach so the sink speed during the approach will be higher than normal. For glider pilots this is the biggest danger - once you are too low, you will hit the ground short of the runway.
• Most inclined runways show a variation in inclination along their length. This means that the relative sink speed and the necessary pitch change for a successful flare will vary with the touchdown point. Stay alert, no landing is routine!

The landing configuration and approach speed were not different from that on regular airports with level runways. Different was mostly the height at which the flare is begun. Also, at first I needed getting used to staying on my approach speed until I was low enough to flare - you need more energy to keep the airplane flying until it is level with the ground (i.e. climbing uphill!), so the final approach and flare must be executed precisely for a good landing.

So here is my uphill landing "practice"..

Some pilots in faster planes will hold the plane off long enough that touch down occurs on the uphill portion right after the halfway point. In such a case, same principles would apply--a little more flare and power at touchdown.