Rough landing

Joshuajayg

Joshuajayg

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Joshua
Most of us get them once in a while but I hate it when I'm at fault.

After takeoff I returned to the airport due to a fast moving thunderstorm.
I was landing long on a runway 10,000 ft long and 150 ft wide when I'm used to 3300 feet long and 50 feet wide.

Put that different sight picture along with no white markings mid runway for height reference, a fully loaded airplane and a sudden change of winds to a tailwind.

I made a mistake that ended in a tail strike

Bummer of a day. I don't think anything other than the tail cone was damaged but I'm going to do some dye penetrant inspection to make sure.

Lesson learned, land near the white stripes on an unfamiliar runway. That was my biggest mistake.
 
Sounds like the airplane will be flying again and everyone is safe. I'd say you did the best job you could. It happens to the best of us, try not to let it get to ya.
 
Jebus!

Sorry to hear it man

What type of plane?
 
Ryanb said:
Sounds like the airplane will be flying again and everyone is safe.
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It is just fine. The landing gear bulkhead had a hair covered in oil on it. I scraped the "crack" with a pick and it disappeared. That's good news. I was thinking that support was damaged.

@James it's a 182C
 
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Glad to hear no major damage, any landing you walk away from, any landing the plane is still usable and all that jazz :)
 
If it's a Cessna, get a good look at the top of the rudder and the rudder hinges. The big mass balance at the top, a chunk of lead, wants to keep going down when you strike the tail and it can buckle the top rudder rib and/or crack the light aluminum rudder hinge brackets. I have sometimes found the top hinge, in particular, cracked in the rudder spar where it's hard to see.
 
Dan Thomas said:
If it's a Cessna, get a good look at the top of the rudder and the rudder hinges. The big mass balance at the top, a chunk of lead, wants to keep going down when you strike the tail and it can buckle the top rudder rib and/or crack the light aluminum rudder hinge brackets. I have sometimes found the top hinge, in particular, cracked in the rudder spar where it's hard to see.
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I'll check that.
 
Sorry to hear it, you managed the situation and everyone is ok. We learn every time.

Not to be critical; I'm interested in your decision process to take off with thunder storms nearby. I struggle to make a go/nogo decision when showers in the vicinity & interested in another POV.
 
PaulMKE said:
Not to be critical; I'm interested in your decision process to take off with thunder storms nearby. I struggle to make a go/nogo decision when showers in the vicinity & interested in another POV.
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Fair question. I fly in the mountains and thunderstorms spring up all over the place. If I know their direction and their intensity, I will fly. The thunderstorm ended up growing after I got airborne and was over my destination so I went back to the departure airport. The thunderstorm was getting closer and it caused a wind change that wasn't gigantic but it was enough to change wind directions. I was preoccupied with passengers/customers so I didn't look at a wind sock, I just trusted ATIS.

I don't get close in front of thunderstorms and I watch their intensity closely. That is all.
 
Glad everyone is OK, hope the plane checks out as well.

I had a rough landing earlier this summer, and my wife "asked how did you do that". We were landing at Skagway, AK. Had not been there in a year or so. I flared to soon, the plane did not bounce but I knew I was on the ground!!!!:(
 
As I understand it, it is always good for the aircraft to be done flying when it lands. However, generally one does not want the aircraft to be done with the taxi at that point.
 
Clark1961 said:
As I understand it, it is always good for the aircraft to be done flying when it lands. However, generally one does not want the aircraft to be done with the taxi at that point.
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Well, I did successfully taxi afterward. I'll just say I was practicing my VTOL technique.
 
I dropped one in a few years back. My wife didn't lose any fillings from her teeth, but it was close. I blamed it on a sticky throttle. (It really WAS sticky) I changed out the throttle control and made an exceptionally smooth landing. I asked my wife how was that? Her answer "I don't know I had my eyes closed."
 
After checking out on the CRJ 900 I landed in BHM on my first trip and BAM! Holy ****e! Taxi to the gate, shut down, and deplane the passengers, not opening the cockpit door, I was so embarrassed. After all the passengers were off one of the FAs comes up and says a passenger in 1st Class wanted to know if we had been shot down.
 
Two really memorable ones:
Took a co-worker for a $100 hamburger about 7-8 months after my check ride. First trip to the airport as pilot (I'd ridden with another pilot friend a time or two). Flared beautifully. 2' off the deck. BANG!

Last week landing with a 6kt tailwind at home plate after an IR lesson including two of the best landings I've ever done with this CFI in the right seat. Flaring and looking good... tailwind quits about 18" up. Bang. Sigh.

John
 
jsstevens said:
Last week landing with a 6kt tailwind at home plate after an IR lesson including two of the best landings I've ever done with this CFI in the right seat. Flaring and looking good... tailwind quits about 18" up. Bang. Sigh.
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That doesn't make sense. A sudden tailwind will drop you. A tailwind quitting (or a headwind) will lift you.
 
MAKG1 said:
That doesn't make sense. A sudden tailwind will drop you. A tailwind quitting (or a headwind) will lift you.
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You're right. It was a gust not a stoppage. CFI acknowledged that it was a change in the wind not my goofing up. And he's no known for cutting students slack ( especially more advanced students...).

John
 
Brush up on trimming the plane properly for your speed on final and it'll pretty much
take care of itself. Any float pilot familiar woth glassy water landings can take you up and show you how to do it.
 
I had a rough landing in a 172 at CRQ the day i asked my ex wife to marry me, and also her first flight in a light plane. Forgot the runway there has a nice hump in it and it messes with your sight picture. That, coupled with a gusty crosswind, i dropped it in from about 3 feet and BANG.. Sad thing is she got it on video.
 
Happened long before we owned it, but the bottom of the tail tie down ring has a flat spot on our 182.

If you look around the ramp, you'll find more like that.
 
My first airplane was a Hawk XP. I had a local spring shop bend a leaf spring like a J and attached the short leg to the tail so the long leg was a spring skid. It worked great.
 
It used to drive me nuts when they were doing work at IAD and had a 6000 foot displaced threshold. There's something unnerving about flying over a mile of runway before setting down.
 
flyingron said:
It used to drive me nuts when they were doing work at IAD and had a 6000 foot displaced threshold. There's something unnerving about flying over a mile of runway before setting down.
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It's distracting as hell to land at Camarillo (KCMA) with its 3000 foot displaced threshold, while the cops are doing donuts on it.
 
Never was distracted or driven nuts w/ displaced thresholds. Just fly your normal VFR glide path and everything will be fine, unless you land short. :eek:
 
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Maybe next time I will land in the last fifth of the runway where there are stripes rather than in the middle where there is nothing. Yeah, that will fix it.
 
MAKG1 said:
It's distracting as hell to land at Camarillo (KCMA) with its 3000 foot displaced threshold, while the cops are doing donuts on it.
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Yep, did an autocross out there once. We thought the same thing about planes flying really low over our course! :eek:
 
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