So today I went flying on a nearly cross country (46nm there and back) just to pass some time. On the way back into the home airport, I was about 4 feet above the runway, settling into ground effect and bleeding a little speed, when all of a sudden the 4 feet went away and I hit pretty hard. It wasn't a stall, as I was still +10 or so from stall speed full dirty, and the nose didn't drop off.
I'm just curious what caused this. Was it basically a downdraft? I had felt one on short final, but I still had several hundred feet under me so no big deal. Also, is there anything I could have done differently? By the time I started to go around I was already down.
As an aside, I visually inspected all three struts upon taxiing in to find no damage. I also called the mechanic and asked him to come by the airport tonight to inspect as well (no one else was scheduled to fly the plane today anyway). Anything else I should've done here?
Thanks for the advice.
Matt
I'm just curious what caused this. Was it basically a downdraft? I had felt one on short final, but I still had several hundred feet under me so no big deal. Also, is there anything I could have done differently? By the time I started to go around I was already down.
As an aside, I visually inspected all three struts upon taxiing in to find no damage. I also called the mechanic and asked him to come by the airport tonight to inspect as well (no one else was scheduled to fly the plane today anyway). Anything else I should've done here?
Thanks for the advice.
Matt