30+ hours, I had a terrible landing, wasn't even a landing!

[UA-RESURRECTED]

The airplane started bouncing down the runway and I felt very uneasy at this point. As much as it is embarrassing, it is simply scary and puts a swift end to an otherwise good day. By the 3rd bounce I could not seem to stop it I thought I was gonna lose complete control. I punched the throttle and soon after managed to start a climb. I was so rattled by the whole experience I majorly f*cked up and retracted the flaps all at once. The fact is I knew better, but wasn't thinking clearly at the moment.

I have over 30 hours, should I be doing things so dangerous as this? I want to be the best pilot I can be, but these experiences really humble you.

Any advise would be appreciated. Kream926 need not reply.

 

[Learsforsale]

The airplane started bouncing down the runway and I felt very uneasy at this point. As much as it is embarrassing, it is simply scary and puts a swift end to an otherwise good day. By the 3rd bounce I could not seem to stop it I thought I was gonna lose complete control. I punched the throttle and soon after managed to start a climb. I was so rattled by the whole experience I majorly f*cked up and retracted the flaps all at once. The fact is I knew better, but wasn't thinking clearly at the moment.

I have over 30 hours, should I be doing things so dangerous as this? I want to be the best pilot I can be, but these experiences really humble you.

Any advise would be appreciated. Kream926 need not reply.

If it was easy (and/or cheap) everyone would be a pilot.

 

[RefugePilot]

30+ hours and you can't grease every landing, you obviously are not cut out to be a pilot.

 

[fletch717]

Don't think of it as being humbled, Think of it as a learning experience. I have a "learning experience" every now and then. Get used to it, as they say " I have heard of the perfect pilot but I've never seen one."

 

[RefugePilot]

Hey just kidding.

I soloed a student last week and I had only flew with him a few times but he showed no bad habits, so I signed him off. On his second landing he bounced quite a few times. If you think its frightening from the cockpit you should try it from the ground when your signature is riding in a log book in the airplane.

Next time you bounce go around on the first bounce, oh and don't bring the flaps out all at once. But you already knew that, but now you really know it. Have your instructor show you how to use power to cusion a bounce or baloon.


Sounds like a good flight in that you learned something.

 

[wmuflyguy]

The airplane started bouncing down the runway and I felt very uneasy at this point. As much as it is embarrassing, it is simply scary and puts a swift end to an otherwise good day. By the 3rd bounce I could not seem to stop it I thought I was gonna lose complete control. I punched the throttle and soon after managed to start a climb. I was so rattled by the whole experience I majorly f*cked up and retracted the flaps all at once. The fact is I knew better, but wasn't thinking clearly at the moment.

I have over 30 hours, should I be doing things so dangerous as this? I want to be the best pilot I can be, but these experiences really humble you.

Any advise would be appreciated. Kream926 need not reply.

I wouldn't worry, It won't be your last bad landing and it probably won't be your worst. It happens

My worst landing to date happened a couple months ago, just didn't have it that day., had to go check the gear to make sure it was still under the wings. The captain had a good chuckle.

 

[ksu_aviator]

Not to rag on the original poster, but why is advice so commonly misspelled?

Any how, back on topic. I would expect 30 hour pilots to have bad landings from time to time. What I wouldn’t expect is for a 30 hour pilot to have enough sense to get out of a bad landing and go around. You did go around and for that you should be commended. Just because you are cleared to land doesn’t mean you have to land. (Oh and be sure to log 4 landings, after all you flew upwind legs on every bounce, even if they where brief.)

Like they said above, this is a good learning experience. Talk with your instructor, identify the cause of the bad landing and vow to never ever do it again until the next time you do it again. You will do it again, everybody does. I’ve been on 737’s that have bounced, I wasn't flying of course they would never let me on one if I didn't buy a ticket! As long as you are flying, you will have bad landings. Always evaluate the events that lead up to the bad landing and learn from it.

 

[gringo]

Don't sweat it.

Like they say- if you can walk away from it, it's a good landing. If the airplane flies again, it's a great landing!

Even the pro's screw it up once in a while!

 

[sleddriver71]

Two days ago it seemed like every landing I made was hard. It's like I just had an off day. Then yesterday, flying the same airplane in the same conditions (night), every landing was really smooth. Just treat what happened as a learning experience. The important thing is not to dwell on how bad you did in that case but instead how you will do better next time.

 

[RunUp]

My worse landing was in a 172 on a crosswind runway right in front of a SWA 737 waiting to depart the main runway. Actually, it wasn't even a landing...I just flew the beast into the ground. I happened to glance over at the airliner and saw both pilots with there noses pressed against the windscreen with looks of horror on their faces. Talk about feeling humbled. It is a miracle that I didn't wreck. Luckily my instructor was back in the hangar reading the newspaper, so he didn't see it.

Like someone said earlier, if it was easy, everyone would be a pilot.