Lndwarrior
Cleared for Takeoff
- Joined
- Jan 15, 2009
- Messages
- 1,284
- Display Name
Display name:
Gary
I have an obsession with confession.
When I screw up in my engineering job the second thing I do (after apologizing and making it right) is confess to my partners or employees. The self-flagellation helps reinforce the desire not to repeat the mistake. Also, it may help someone else will avoid the same problem.
Same thing with flying.
So, after my screw up today, the airport was unfortunately empty of confessee's.
So you get to hear it here.
The interesting part of this screw up was that I had very recently heard from another pilot of a very similar mistake that occurred in a very similar manner. This pilot had been practicing a form of "max performance landing". He had done four or five perfectly and decided to do just one more. He admitted to being complacent during a maneuver that required full attention. The end result was a bent plane and an expensive fix.
So today, I went out to practice a similar, but different, type of "max performance landing".
I too, did 4 or 5 perfectly when my arm, which had already been sore, starting hurting more. So I decided to knock it off an just fly around the area for a while.
It was a cloudy, gloomy day from the ground, but eerily beautiful in the sky and I did not want to come down.
Finally I decided to return to the airport and, since no one else was in the area, decided to try a straight in version of the "max performance landing" I had been practicing earlier.
And... just like my friend, I too, became complacent. I got very low and very slow and just as I got on the power I heard the landing gear scraping through the shrubbery on edge of the runway.
I fire-walled the throttle and aborted the landing. During the go-around the plane sounded normal. My thought was the prop didn't hit the shrubs, but the main gear sure did.
I had an uneventful landing and taxied to the ramp wondering if I had done any damage. When I climbed out of the plane there was a 3 foot branch wedged between the tire and the landing gear!
I got very lucky. This could have turned out very bad for me and my homebuilt plane.
My take-away from this is anytime I'm practicing any maneuver that requires a heightened level of attention, is to keep the number of repetitions to a pre-determined, and limited, number.
Also, low and slow and behind the power curve requires a clear understanding of any possible obstructions during the approach.
Also, don't be stupid...
Forgive me father for I have sinned...
When I screw up in my engineering job the second thing I do (after apologizing and making it right) is confess to my partners or employees. The self-flagellation helps reinforce the desire not to repeat the mistake. Also, it may help someone else will avoid the same problem.
Same thing with flying.
So, after my screw up today, the airport was unfortunately empty of confessee's.
So you get to hear it here.
The interesting part of this screw up was that I had very recently heard from another pilot of a very similar mistake that occurred in a very similar manner. This pilot had been practicing a form of "max performance landing". He had done four or five perfectly and decided to do just one more. He admitted to being complacent during a maneuver that required full attention. The end result was a bent plane and an expensive fix.
So today, I went out to practice a similar, but different, type of "max performance landing".
I too, did 4 or 5 perfectly when my arm, which had already been sore, starting hurting more. So I decided to knock it off an just fly around the area for a while.
It was a cloudy, gloomy day from the ground, but eerily beautiful in the sky and I did not want to come down.
Finally I decided to return to the airport and, since no one else was in the area, decided to try a straight in version of the "max performance landing" I had been practicing earlier.
And... just like my friend, I too, became complacent. I got very low and very slow and just as I got on the power I heard the landing gear scraping through the shrubbery on edge of the runway.
I fire-walled the throttle and aborted the landing. During the go-around the plane sounded normal. My thought was the prop didn't hit the shrubs, but the main gear sure did.
I had an uneventful landing and taxied to the ramp wondering if I had done any damage. When I climbed out of the plane there was a 3 foot branch wedged between the tire and the landing gear!
I got very lucky. This could have turned out very bad for me and my homebuilt plane.
My take-away from this is anytime I'm practicing any maneuver that requires a heightened level of attention, is to keep the number of repetitions to a pre-determined, and limited, number.
Also, low and slow and behind the power curve requires a clear understanding of any possible obstructions during the approach.
Also, don't be stupid...
Forgive me father for I have sinned...