Awful landings???

[JECKEL]

Some of the worst stuff I've seen have been from guys with years upon years of experience.

I knew this guy in NC. Board member of the local flying club, 20+ years of flying, CFI ... the works, and man if that guy kept forgeting to put the gear down on the club's Mooney. Thank God for the gear horn. And when the gear did come down, he bounced the landing half way down the runway.
We won't even talk navigation.

Experience and position are not everything. They certainly do help, but if you do not continue to try to better yourself, those "slick" touchdowns will be more and more difficult.

 

[ksu_aviator]

I was sitting in a SAAB in MEM one day when I saw a landing that made me duck.

was one of those typical summer days. Hot as hell, thunderstorms popping up here and there and of course everyone is just trucking right along. We where actually waiting to park, lighting was reported in the area so the ramp shut down. We where facing the landing traffic, which at the time was landing on what is now taxiway Mike. I think it was listed as 17R back then, 18R was just being finished. Every other section of runway was paved leaving 50 ft gaps between strips concrete. The only approach was a localizer approach and the visibility wasn't great (2 miles or so).

Most got in fine, but one NW DC 9 lined up on the soon to be runway. At a very low altitude (I want to say about 50') they realized their mistake and tried to make 17R. I say tried, they actually made it to the runway and landed, but at one point I thought the wing tip was going to hit the ground. I was so convinced they where going to hit that I started to duck. They did manage to get the wings level just as the mains slammed onto the runway well past the landing zone. I don't know how they felt but they surely had to replace their undies afterwards.

So not every bad landing comes from regionals.

 

[HoserASA]

Landings, don't they ALL pay the same anyway?

hoser

 

[SLFLYHI]

I think the real point here is what defines a "good" landing. When I first started flying at my airline, I would always try to pull off a greaser. It made me feel good. I loved it when the passengers would clap, or say something positive when they were getting off. Most of the time, the guys/gals I was flying with would go along with my attempts, and some even tried to match my greasers....

All that changed when I flew with a 50+ yr old grandmother who happened to be a check airman at our company. I pulled off one of my amazing greasers and on the taxi in she said to me in her distinct southern drawl "that was the worst landing I've seen in a long time" What!?

She was kind enough to pull me aside and educate me that landing 2000 ft past the touchdown zone was unprofessional and unsafe despite what the passengers may have said. She said the mark of a true pro is to put the airplane into the touchdown zone every time regardless of how smooth or hard the landing felt. A little old granny with a two-pack a day Marlboro habit had reduced superpilot back to a subconscious student who could barely muster a sentence. And she was 100% right.

Since then, I put it in the TDZ no matter what. I've had a few stinkers and a few greasers doing this, but most landings are just average. I flew with her again recently and she told me how proud she was of my improvement and that she couldn't wait to do my Captain upgrade training coming up in a few months.

Being a pro means checking your ego at the door and not trying to appease passengers who don't know that "greasers" don't make a landing a good one.

 

[FlyingFerris]

words

What's wrong with trying to greasing it in the TDZ then? Of course the airplane I fly it's hard not to have a good landing, not that I haven't pounded one on now and agian.

 

[SLFLYHI]

What's wrong with trying to greasing it in the TDZ then? Of course the airplane I fly it's hard not to have a good landing, not that I haven't pounded one on now and agian.

Greasing the ERJ in the touchdown is nearly impossible without floating. A moderate crosswind actually makes for the best greasers in the TDZ - at least when I'm flying.

 

[acaTerry]

Here's my take:

One good landing is luck
Two good landings is darn luck
Three good landings is a darn lie.

 

[blzr]

Maybe she put the power levers in Beta before touchdown.?

 

[Motive Flow]

It's okay to try for a greaser, but if you float for 1 to 2 seconds, just plant it.

 

[Tank Commander]

Mother nature will eventually humble even the best of pilots. Ask the SWA crew that went through the wall at MWD. She's a bitch and she will try to kill you!

 

[propjockey]

Well, I've had my share of good ones and bad ones, including the good ones that were "bad" because they were past the touchdown zone. (Yes, I got the same lecture in the right seat -- "whatever you do, don't put it down past the touchdown zone on your type ride!!") But there are three landings in particular that stand out in my mind as particularly firm.

I know a check airman who was very dejected one day because he pounded on the 700 so hard. He was so disappointed with himself that he called his wife and said "I landed, THEN I flared!"

 

[WSurf]

One of my boys was waiting to take-off out of DCA (Windy Day) when this guy that sounded like the United Captain kept asking for wind checks. My Buddy was like, 'What a nub to be asking for so many wind checks'. Then this United 727 bounces off the runway so high that by the time it starts to settle down on the runway there is a chance that they might run out of pavement. At just the point of it coming down a big ball of black fire comes out the engines and plane wollows into the air, just as the gear is coming up on the go around, the tower asked, "wow, united guess you are going around". Then my bud said a teenage girl sounding voice says, "Yes, United going around". Dope!!

 

[skidbuggy]

Back in the day when Comair Academy was running their "Hired" ads in the magazines....

We were holding short of RWY 4 at LGA, single runway ops, on a lousy weather day with high winds a Comair CRJ porpoised on landing. While these guys were busy at settling down their errant ride somone spoke up on frequency with the comment "Hired".

 

[SkyBoy1981]

All that changed when I flew with a 50+ yr old grandmother who happened to be a check airman at our company. I pulled off one of my amazing greasers and on the taxi in she said to me in her distinct southern drawl "that was the worst landing I've seen in a long time" What!?

She was kind enough to pull me aside and educate me that landing 2000 ft past the touchdown zone was unprofessional and unsafe despite what the passengers may have said. She said the mark of a true pro is to put the airplane into the touchdown zone every time regardless of how smooth or hard the landing felt. A little old granny with a two-pack a day Marlboro habit had reduced superpilot back to a subconscious student who could barely muster a sentence. And she was 100% right.

Excellent post. I have heard of the Check Airman that you speak of, and I agree with her 100%. I certainly don't claim to be the next Chuck Yeager, but I try to put more emphasis on flying a good, stable approach followed by a landing within the touchdown zone at the proper speed. I don't understand why some folks put twice as much effort into greasing their landings as they do flying a proper approach. A firm touchdown may get you a few smirks from the passengers as they deplane...but flying a bad approach may get you on the front page of the next day's paper.

 

[mrnolmts]

I'd say as long as you are in one piece, and stay within the runway limits, everything is A-ok. Talking about staying within runway limits: Here's a guy that didn't:
http://www.aviationexplorer.com/md11_kai_tak_crosswind.htm