Hellenic (Greek) Air Force F 16D Landing

In this video, you see an F-16D of the Greek Air Force (Hellenic Air Force) landing.

Notice the aerodynamic braking maneuver, where the pilot holds the nose of the plane up for a distance. This is designed to scrub off speed during landing without having to use the wheel brakes as much.

The nose-high attitude exposes more of the craft's surface-area to the flow of air, which produces greater drag, helping to slow the plane. The raised elevators also cause air to push down on the rear of the craft, forcing the rear wheels harder against the ground, which aids the wheel brakes by helping to prevent skidding. The pilot will usually continue to hold back on the stick even after the elevators lose their authority, and the nose wheel drops, to keep added pressure on the rear wheels.

Aerodynamic braking is a common braking technique during landing, which can also help to protect the wheel brakes and tires from excess wear, or from locking up and sending the craft sliding out of control.

The Hellenic Air Force (HAF; Greek: Πολεμική Αεροπορία, romanized: Polemikí Aeroporía, lit. 'War Aviation', sometimes abbreviated as ΠΑ) is the air force of Greece (Hellenic being the synonym for Greek in the Greek language). It is considered to be one of the largest air forces in NATO and is globally placed 18th out of 139 countries. It is also noted for its high quality pilots, benchmarked annually in international exercises.

The motto of the Hellenic Air Force is the ancient Greek phrase Αἰὲν Ὑψικρατεῖν (Aièn Hypsikrateîn, "Always Dominate the Heights"), and the HAF emblem represents a flying eagle in front of the Hellenic Air Force roundel.

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