Lost focus in the flare

Heck, I've bounced The Branded Bird any number of times. Never landed hard since the day I bought the plane, with the seller in the right seat. But two-for-one? Probably do that a couple of times a year, easily. The usual cause isn't losing focus, it's misjudging height above the runway or the strength of gusty crosswinds, or else coming in too hot.

Definitely own it, fly with an instructor or whatever you feel will help you not do it again, but don't expect that it will never happen again because it probably will, unless you're a much better stick than I am.
 
I dropped it in hard enough to leave fillings, false teeth and eye glasses on the floor boards. I apologized to my wife and blamed it on a sticky throttle that didn't allow me to add a touch of power.
Some time later I managed to grease it on. Not even a chirp it was so smooth. I asked my wife "How'd you like that one?" "I don't know" she replied "I had my eyes closed. "
 
pmanton said:
I dropped it in hard enough to leave fillings, false teeth and eye glasses on the floor boards. I apologized to my wife and blamed it on a sticky throttle that didn't allow me to add a touch of power.
Some time later I managed to grease it on. Not even a chirp it was so smooth. I asked my wife "How'd you like that one?" "I don't know" she replied "I had my eyes closed. "
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You're saying your wife has falsies and fillings???? :eek:
 
I know I've landed too hard when I find deteriorated insulation from under the dash fallen on floor. I go around after a big bounce. The one time I didn't, I got a second bounce, then touched the nose wheel first...beginning of a porpoise...and then full power and went around.
 
pmanton said:
Some time later I managed to grease it on. Not even a chirp it was so smooth. I asked my wife "How'd you like that one?" "I don't know" she replied "I had my eyes closed. "
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Same here. Wife only remembers not-such-great landings because she felt hem.
When I grease it on (very rarely) or touch down gently, she does not notice and thus does not count it as a good landing.
If I ask her "well, you didn't feel it so it was a good landing, no?", she gives me a typical illogical female response "I don't know, I didn't feel us touch down so I cannot tell whether it was good or bad". *sigh*
 
Clark1961 said:
I did not write that. Perhaps you have some sort of mental problem along with your excuse making?
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You didn't have to. Perhaps you're just a dick? I'm going to go ahead a put you on ignore if I can figure it out. You'll be the first.
 
Jordan if you're referring to me in my post about the sun and birds with the smiley faces, yes it was a joke. I owned my mistakes and I posted them here on this forum for all to see so maybe someone doesn't do the same thing I did and perhaps damage their plane. I have no desire to argue with someone else who hides behind a computer with false accusations or their interpretation of what they think I meant to say. Life's too short to get all spun up about something a stranger says on an anonymous forum.
 
jordane93 said:
I’ll take the go around. I’ve seen too many people try to “save” a landing and it ended up putting the aircraft in a bad situation.
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Depends on how bad things are, how short the runway is, and how hard you try to save the landing. Go-arounds are definitely sometimes, but for a simple two-for-one type bounce, or a ballooning, holding back pressure and adding just a smidge of power is usually all it takes to make a good landing out of it.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Life's too short to get all spun up about something a stranger says on an anonymous forum.
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Really?? Oh.....Maybe my wife has been right all along. :sigh:

I guess I'm going to have to re-think some things.:dunno:
 
azure said:
Depends on how bad things are, how short the runway is, and how hard you try to save the landing. Go-arounds are definitely sometimes, but for a simple two-for-one type bounce, or a ballooning, holding back pressure and adding just a smidge of power is usually all it takes to make a good landing out of it.
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Can you log that as two landings?
 
azure said:
jordane93 said:
I’ll take the go around. I’ve seen too many people try to “save” a landing and it ended up putting the aircraft in a bad situation.
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Depends on how bad things are, how short the runway is, and how hard you try to save the landing. Go-arounds are definitely sometimes, but for a simple two-for-one type bounce, or a ballooning, holding back pressure and adding just a smidge of power is usually all it takes to make a good landing out of it.
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Agreed. A go-around saves the day why? Because you add power and transition into level flight, thus eliminating the oscillation. You can do that without having to fly the whole pattern (provided you have enough runway).
 
azure said:
Depends on how bad things are, how short the runway is, and how hard you try to save the landing. Go-arounds are definitely sometimes, but for a simple two-for-one type bounce, or a ballooning, holding back pressure and adding just a smidge of power is usually all it takes to make a good landing out of it.
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I’ve always seen it as a forced way to put the aircraft down which could lead to trouble. No harm, no foul doing a go around. Set up and try it again.
 
BigBadLou said:
Agreed. A go-around saves the day why? Because you add power and transition into level flight, thus eliminating the oscillation. You can do that without having to fly the whole pattern (provided you have enough runway).
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Because it sets you up for another landing and doesn’t get you in a mindset of I have to make this landing.
 
jordane93 said:
I’ve always seen it as a forced way to put the aircraft down which could lead to trouble. No harm, no foul doing a go around. Set up and try it again.
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Eh I've done it plenty of times and it always worked for me.
 
mscard88 said:
Eh I've done it plenty of times and it always worked for me.
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I’ve seen it done plenty of times where people have bent metal. Whatever works for you. Personally I don’t want to take that chance but others are free to do so. The Challenger crash in Aspen is a good example. Granted most GA planes don’t have GLD but it all started because the pilot thought he could “save” the landing.
 
I've done plenty of slight blip of power to soften the 2nd touch down. Ive also gone around. Pilot's discretion. All situations are not the same. Coming in too fast, bounce, more power, now you have to deal with remaining runway at higher than usual speed. Abort, try again. Not a sure bet, but a better one sometimes. The trap is "I screwed that one up, I'm not going around again next time". Gotta-land-itis.
 
Timbeck2 said:
You didn't have to. Perhaps you're just a dick? I'm going to go ahead a put you on ignore if I can figure it out. You'll be the first.
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Good response to a post which objects to you making a false statement.
 
jordane93 said:
I’ve always seen it as a forced way to put the aircraft down which could lead to trouble. No harm, no foul doing a go around. Set up and try it again.
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A perfectly valid way to look at it, I agree. For me it still all depends. If I have an abort point picked out and have the discipline to abort when I reach it, or if the runway is 10,000 feet long and I'm in a spam can and approaching the flare near the threshold, then personally I don't see a problem. If I'm in a faster bird or the runway is short, especially if it's an unfamiliar field and I don't really have a clear abort point in mind, then I'd lean towards the go around if anything doesn't go quite as expected (and I've done that too, a number of times).
 
azure said:
A perfectly valid way to look at it, I agree. For me it still all depends. If I have an abort point picked out and have the discipline to abort when I reach it, or if the runway is 10,000 feet long and I'm in a spam can and approaching the flare near the threshold, then personally I don't see a problem. If I'm in a faster bird or the runway is short, especially if it's an unfamiliar field and I don't really have a clear abort point in mind, then I'd lean towards the go around if anything doesn't go quite as expected (and I've done that too, a number of times).
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I think Jordane93's point was more regarding the oscillation getting out of hand than the runway running out. Isn't there a rule of thumb regarding the number of bounces, something about not getting a 3rd maybe?
 
azure said:
A perfectly valid way to look at it, I agree. For me it still all depends. If I have an abort point picked out and have the discipline to abort when I reach it, or if the runway is 10,000 feet long and I'm in a spam can and approaching the flare near the threshold, then personally I don't see a problem. If I'm in a faster bird or the runway is short, especially if it's an unfamiliar field and I don't really have a clear abort point in mind, then I'd lean towards the go around if anything doesn't go quite as expected (and I've done that too, a number of times).
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Agreed. Whatever works best for you in the situation. For me, a go around has always worked out better. For others, adding some power down a 10000 foot runway works for them if they’re floating a little.
 
jordane93 said:
Agreed. Whatever works best for you in the situation. For me, a go around has always worked out better. For others, adding some power down a 10000 foot runway works for them if they’re floating a little.
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There really is no 100% correct answer for every situation. In the Alaska area where I have flown, many of the strips if you do a go around it may be the last time you do one. There are dead planes off the end of the runway that tried. I have bounced on 1000 foot dirt strips and still corrected and landed. Too many variables to say what is the right or wrong answer.
 
Zeldman said:
There really is no 100% correct answer for every situation. In the Alaska area where I have flown, many of the strips if you do a go around it may be the last time you do one. There are dead planes off the end of the runway that tried. I have bounced on 1000 foot dirt strips and still corrected and landed. Too many variables to say what is the right or wrong answer.
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Yep and the type of flying you do is completely different from mine. My professional flying and even GA flying is pretty conservative with lots of room for error.
 
Thanks for sharing.

I haven't bounced a landing yet, but I've only got 3 years of flying and maybe 125 hours total. I'm sure with enough flight time, it will happen but I will try to be on guard for it. I HAVE however sideloaded the SHHHH out of the 172 a couple of times.
 
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