Challenges of gravel bar landings, hidden jumps.

motoadve

motoadve

Pre-takeoff checklist
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May 12, 2009
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motoadve
I find uneven surface and undulations are the hardest to see from the air, logs you can see, or bigger rocks, but uneven surface can be hidden by shadows , color sand, or shape.
Jughead landed before me and told me about this potential jump, I tried looking for it, and tried landing long thinking I already passed it, I never saw it, even after touchdown did not see it, when it threw me back in the air , the moto instinct made me pull on the yoke
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good thing was a jump and not a depression in the surface.


 
What is the correct action? Pulling on the yoke to lessen the load or going around? Or either/or?

Thanks for sharing.
 
I pulled on the yoke by pure instinct (Pro moto racer for 15 years) at those speeds it might just have bit of authority, better than nothing.
A go around would have been possible too, but there was plenty of room to finish the landing.
 
Video does not do much justice but yeah it felt like that.
Just touched down and jump back in the air a second later, like a wild horse.

There is one gravel bar I always land at, we had a period of rain so did not go there like for a month,went back, did a very low pass, where I used to land I saw some new grass growing, nothing else, it looked fine, I just had a hunch , and landed in the rocky section next to the water.
When I inspected it, the new grass section had lots of undulations , and big ones, it would have been ugly.
New grass meant the water was stuck there for a while and the are flooded , and probably created some pools before it dried.

This was impossible to see from the air.
So be aware of new grass!
 
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The flat lighting I used to encounter in Alaska would really hide some of the bumps, not only on off airport landings but on the dirt runways as well. I always landed at a speed where I could bury the yoke in my lap while rolling out.

And yes, beware of new grass..!!
 
Flat light and skis!

Manual flaps work way better for bumpy terrain. Pull to hop logs, puddles, etc. But that's for takeoffs. When getting tossed by a bump during landing the throttle is the tool to use to reestablish attitude and rate of descent. or firewall it and set it up again.
 
Good to know. I’m sure it becomes second nature and just a reaction at some point. I’m not there yet.
 
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