Somebody should do the flight training world a favor and declare June “Don’t Bounce the Landing” month.
Not to pick on June—but it’s time to focus some attention in an area that a perusal of June 2010 aircraft accidents suggests would do some good. From sessions in the traffic pattern to pilots opting to land downwind, or even in thunderstorms, there’s a lot of bouncing going on out there.
Too bad it’s all so unnecessary. Designating a month to call attention to a worthy cause is a time-honored tradition that spawns a wide variety of observances. Let’s borrow from the tradition, possibly saving a few firewalls, nosewheels, and entire trainers along the way. As part of the observances, let’s hear flight instructors take a vow that they will make sure that the pilots they train know without any doubt how to land an aircraft before being turned loose with the keys to that rental ship.
What makes this so frustrating to behold is that a bounced landing is so extremely easy to avoid. One might assert that a pilot who understands the concepts behind landing an airplane properly is going to have a seriously hard time bouncing a landing, because he or she knows when the aircraft is ready to set down—and won’t allow it to do so until it is (see "Kiss the Runway," page 26).
Indeed, it’s that simple.
As for the details, a pilot is demonstrating knowledge of how to make proper landings when he or she can level off in the roundout, then descend at a very small rate of descent that is controlled with increasing pitch. The result is touching down in the pitch attitude that delivers a stall indication just as the main wheels of a tricyle-gear trainer make ground contact, eventually followed by the nosewheel.
You achieve that result through a combination of airspeed and altitude control that starts with rounding out at the right airspeed and proper height above the ground, then bleeding off the remaining airspeed to manage the aircraft’s descent to the ground. For every stage of the process, there is a proper, increasing pitch attitude used to control descent rate as airspeed bleeds away, from roughly level pitch in the roundout to so nose-high when the mains touch that you may not be able to see directly ahead. There’s also a certain feel associated with those pitch changes and descent rate, starting with the very strong sensual clue of entering ground effect, and ending with the buffets and horn squeaks of a stalled touchdown.
Many accidents would be avoided if pilots remembered that each landing attempt is not a one-shot deal. There’s plenty of room for correcting error because the process is so gradual. If you find that you added excessive back-pressure and have climbed a tad instead of descending, relax the back-elevator at the first sensation of upward motion, and start again. If the descent rate is becoming too great, level off momentarily and start the descent process again from the new level. Bigger inaccuracies, upward or downward, may require momentary power adjustments. That’s a practice session in itself. Remember, you can arrest descent completely with a certain power setting (What is that value for your trainer in the landing configuration?) so there is never a reason to slam the aircraft onto the ground.
The idea from a visual standpoint is to recognize the pitch attitude appropriate to your aircraft’s height above touchdown at every stage. Once you know that the right pitch attitude for, let’s say, a foot above the runway has a certain sight picture, you’ll be able to tell when the pitch is too high or too flat, for that height. Other cues will confirm that the condition needs correcting.
Most important—remember that a proper landing takes time! That’s what your instructor meant when reminding you to “Hold it off, hold it off” the ground before touchdown. You were learning patience—but that’s a lesson easily forgotten.
How much time does a landing take? You’d be surprised how many seconds elapse during a landing from the roundout to the rollout. Use it to advantage.
A touch-and-go landing is still a landing, and shouldn’t be treated differently until it’s time to accelerate again for takeoff. Yet it’s common to observe student pilots treat them as rush jobs.
Take your time, and if you do experience a bounce before the aircraft rolls on, don’t take off again unless you are sure that you won’t be back in the air with a damaged airplane.
That’s what happened to at least two pilots in June 2010, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
One mishap occurred on June 1, 2010, in Greenfield, Indiana. “During her first touch-and-go, the airplane bounced after a hard landing. She attempted to correct for the bounced landing, but the airplane’s nose landing gear impacted the runway before the main landing gear. The airplane stabilized onto all three landing gear and she proceeded with the next takeoff. No anomalies were experienced with the two subsequent landings. A postflight inspection of the airframe revealed substantial damage to the engine firewall and fuselage floor structure.”
A similar event occurred on June 21, 2010, in Maryland Heights, Missouri. “The pilot reported that he was practicing takeoffs and landings and that the first two landings were normal. On the third landing the airplane landed hard and bounced, so the pilot performed a go-around. The subsequent landing was good, but the pilot noticed a shimmy in the nosewheel. Post-accident inspection of the airplane revealed that the nosewheel bearing and firewall were damaged.”
Here are two ways any pilot can observe the herein proclaimed “Don’t Bounce the Landing” month. First, practice extensively in the traffic pattern. Use the recommended landing configuration, but also throw in a healthy number of no-flap landings and learn the different visual aspect. Crosswind landings are an exception to the rule that the mains will touch down together—but they should both still be on the ground before the nosewheel touches, or you could be in for a troubling rollout.
Windy days require extra airspeed for control effectiveness down low, so you may not touch down in a fully stalled attitude. But the same skill controlling descent rate and airspeed will allow you to choose exactly how much extra airspeed you will carry at touchdown (and it won’t be very much).
The second way to observe the occasion is to take on a conceptual challenge. Can you explain the concepts of a proper landing sequence to a second party? Sit your instructor down, or corral another pilot in the coffee shop, and talk your way through. Visualize and explain the final approach, roundout, flare, and touchdown. Don’t end the narrative until the imaginary yoke is full back and the nosewheel gently settles onto the ground.
Make June the month when you ask yourself how you plan to avoid bounced landings. Then pursue the goal all year.
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