Can they fail you???

[say again]

I busted my commercial ride on a f**ked up softfield landing

I'm guessing it wasn't to soft!!!!!

In reality, a DE probably isn't going to fail you for a "bad" landing, if that were the case, people would be failing left and right!!!!!!!

 

[Snakum]

Originally Posted by Yank McCobb
"I thought I was heterosexual. I was wrong."

You gotta admit ... that's pretty funny, I don't care who you are.

Minhberg

 

[KigAir]

So if you bounce the heck out of a landing on your private checkride as long as it is "safeish" youll probably be ok, commercial is another story...after a couple hundred landings under your belt you should be passed the bouncers.

I did exactly this on my PVT checkride. I was able to keep the plane pointed down the runway. I was convinced that I failed but I passed. The DE made some passing remarks to my instructor about my aerobatic landing...

 

[Immelman]

Its called a "practical" test for a reason. You aren't expected to be perfect... but are expected to recognize if a bad situation (that would lead to you making a landing where bad things could happen) ahead of time, and either correcting or going around, even if he asked you for a short/soft landing at a certain point.. "...I see that we're not in a position to make the requested landing safely due to 'x'... I am initiating a go-around".

Recognize what could cause a bad landing and correct/adjust for it -- that is what the DE is looking for. A reasonable one (havent met one otherwise) will praise you for this and give you another shot at the maneuver..... now if you have tried 3 times and still cannot get it........