Landings...

[AHPilot]

Wondering if yall (yeah I'm a Texan) would care to share some of your best/toughest...or roughest (whoops..!) landing or one that sticks out in your mind...


LT

 

[RichardFitzwell]

Ouch!

AHPilot,

I landed (if you want to call it that) a 737-800 in Denver so hard that after the PAX were off, the lead F/A walked up to me with her panty hose around her ankles and said, "can I guess who landed that one?" Hey - That hurts.

Another time I landed a 727 in GTF and pranged it on real good. The last thing I heard the captain say before we hit was, "OH" and the O2 mask fell and hit me on the back of the head. Talk about adding insult to injury.

What was it they say about aircraft performance and high altitude airports?

 

[bobbysamd]

Landings

I landed 172s in something like 30-kt crosswinds a couple of times. Carry something like 70-75 kts and no flaps with power all the way down to touchdown and it works fine. A long runway helps, too.

Yes, there are advantages to learning how to fly in Oklahoma.

Don't tell Mr. Cessna and Mr. FAA I busted the demonstrated x-wind component, though.

 

[Sheik_Yer_Booty]

Well, of course I’ve never botched a landing, but that’s beside the point…

I will tell ya about a DC-8 we saw land at LAX a couple years back one evening.

We had been standing around at general aviation near the south pad waiting on our trip to show and this straight 8 comes roaring in for 25R and side steps over to 25L, bobbles a good bit then stabilizes, crosses the numbers and begins to float (I guess). Well just before taxi way golf you hear this bird get awful quiet, sink rate, sink rate, sink rate then BLAM!!!!!!!!

She hit so hard I swear the wings wobbled and flexed for the entire roll out!

The impact was so audiable that a couple of the line guys came out of the hanger to see what had happened.

No company names of course.

ABEX!!!

Hey! I didn’t say anything bout callsigns…

 

[bigD]

My worst landing ever happened during a spot landing on my Commercial checkride in a 172RG. Ouch! Of all the places to have a bad landing - that would be it. Dropped the thing in from what seemed like a mile above the runway (maybe just 3 feet, but it seemed a LOT higher). Hit my spot, though! Passed the checkride too. DE didn't say anything about it. Maybe his jaw was locked shut.

That's gotta be the worst - the sinking feeling when you're nose high in the flare and realize you're still a ways above the runway and are about to drop like a ton of bricks.

 

[AHPilot]

I neglected to share mine...


My CFI gave me my first simulated engine failure in the pattern...got real low on final, too low, pulled the nose up in an effort to go up, but I learned thats not the case... by the time he had reacted and shoved the throttle forward the PA-38 bounced 5 ft short of the runway, over the app. lights, then back on to the runway....I was sweating bullets....

Don't tell Mr. Piper or Mr. FAA about that one....

After that I learned don't fly a "normal" approach when you don't have an engine, just go for the **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** concrete...

 

[OtterFO]

Bobbysamd,

The demonstrated crosswind component of an airplane is not a limitation. It just represents how much crosswind the test pilots had during the certification process.

 

[newmei]

I like bobby have landed in a 30 kt x-wind but in a 150. That was very interesting. I was trying to get home and I had to pick up my mom (she was sick). The winds were'nt bad when I left but go exponentially worse on the return, she was forewarned. The landing was pretty good. You can do it if you approach at a high speed and no flaps, and the end of the roll I ran out of rudder and had to get on the brakes to keep it from going off the side. On taxi the stall warning was going off because the wind was going over it backwards. LOL The worst part of the flight was the turbulence that actually hurt me when my lap belt clinched to keep me in.

 

[bigD]

The worst landing I've ever personally felt was coming into Auckland on a Continental 747 back in 1990. Pretty old 747 too if I remember correctly. Dunno if the PF was an ex-carrier pilot or what, but he didn't flare at all. The three point impact was followed by large amounts of screaming in the cabin, and as we taxiied in quite a few women were sobbing. Unbelievable. I'm surprised the plane held together. They can take a lot of abuse, that's for sure.

 

[Sheik_Yer_Booty]

BigD,


That reminded me…

If you want to see some truly extraordinary landings, punishment of earth-shattering magnitude upon man, machine and asphalt just go and check out the day’s activities at any Naval Air Station when the carrier jockeys are flocking home planting Goodyear to terra firma for the first time in six months.

Now those are some landings! If you dare call’em that…

 

[RichardFitzwell]

Sheik_Yer_Booty...that's a great handle. And they say Frank Zappa is dead.

 

[hobbsmeter]

In a Cessna 150...

Winds were right down the runway steady at 35kts, very little gusts to worry about. I had originally planned to do a no flap landing, but while I was hanging on final for what seemed an eternity I decided to mix things up a bit and have some fun, so I put down all 40 degrees. It was like being in a helicopter! I touched down and rolled forward maybe 3 feet before I was stopped! That was definitely the most interesting landing I've had

 

[capt_zman]

I have to go see a dentist every time I fly with an ex-navy guy Routinely fly ce550's with an old A4 pilot, 5000 ft runway and we're taxiing off on Taxiway Alpha or Bravo. Ouch, that hurt.

 

[AWACoff]

Going into Casper, WY one night. Hadn't landed at night in a while... Winds were basically calm, no turbulence. Sitting there fat dumb and happy... And then I notice how fast the runway is rushing up. I simply pulled and quietly said "oh *poopy*". I've never hit that hard in an airplane before that I was flying and the even sadder fact was that we didn't even have enough energy left to bounce. I checked the tires to see if we blew any out. I tell ya, Brakillyas can take a beating!
The hardest landing I've ever been along for was when I was just 2 months off of IOE at Lakes. The fill in captain was a senior IOE check airman. He apparently was trying to impress me with a flaps 45 carrier landing on the short runway in Lansing. We impacted hard with my sphincter the size of a pinhead. Then we bounced...HIGH...he actually added power to reland the airplane. I let him make the PA announcement on that one thank you very much. Isn't it nice that most of the traveling public thinks the captain does every landing anyways?

 

[CaptBuzzard]

I was giving my student instruction in his apache last summer and he landed so hard that the impact broke the generator bracket on the right engine. My back didn't feel too good. That is what happens when you try to land a twin like a 172. He reduced power way to early and by the time I pushed the throttles forward we hit.

 

[avbug]

I had been in the field for about seven months, the longest on our crew, and we were all tired. The captain was burned out, and made no bones about it. Angry all day, drinking at night, and getting pretty vocal. We got a sortie and did it on time, but he was really bent out of shape. Going into GJT he decided not to flare; he planted it hard after a steep short approach. The wings flexed several feet down. Everything in the cockpit that wasn't bolted on came off and wound up on the floor; same though out the airplane. The map case on the wall got pulled completely free of the breaker panel and wound up on the floor with charts flying everywhere. Everything on the airport stopped when they heard it. I think I broke a tooth.

He went to full reverse on all four and we stopped right now.

A career Navy captain who had spent a good share of his time in hercs was waiting for us when we taxied in. He commented that it was the shortest he'd ever seen a C-130 land. No great pride, there.

In the Cessna 207 I liked a particular downhill runway. Hold it off, hold it off, and it would float a few inches off. Passengers would clap and cheer for the good landing, and then I'd let go of the yoke. Thud. Bounce. Silence. When they got out, everyone always handed me a tip (a big source of revenue in those days); they were grateful to get back alive. Any port in a storm.

Flying with a significant figure in the company, old airplane, expander tube brakes. Using a runway that has eaten several large airplanes. Landing loaded, one engine out, 50' wide runway, 4,500' long. Tailwind. #2 engine OTS, and it's the upwind engine...figures.

We got down okay, smoking along and heavy, and he asks me to look out at the brake. Is it smoking? By jove, yes, it is. Lots. Burning, too, by the looks of it. Of curiosity, why do you ask? Brakes just faded...here comes the end. We stopped with the nosewheel off the end, which was good, because 30' past that, it dropped off about 100' into a ravine.

Landed an airplane which requires hydraulics for everything following hydraulic loss. No controllability on the ground without hydraulics. Won't taxi straight five feet to save it's aging life without brakes. Rescue trucks waiting, airport evacuated on our behalf, guys in funny martian silver suits waiting. Big anticlimax; we walked away, not smiling.

Nose baggage latch failed on a Seneca II landing at PHX once, as I was flaring. Hatch flew open; very enlightening. Could have sworn I locked it. I did...latch didn't have a will to live. Tower didn't say a word.

Finally, my most stupid decision when landing yet, and it shows...a Cessna 188 (AgTruck) into Wichita. Ferried it down there to get it rebuilt after a quadruple wire strike. Quiet flight, fat, dumb, and happier than usual. Season's over, time to go home. Just this last flight. Decided to enter the pattern and land using the normal 200' tight downwind to final turn. Bad idea after sitting in the airplane for three hours and not working or thinking.

Touched down three point, and bounced, then touched down two point, one of which was the tailwheel, which became enraged at the main gear and attempted to pass it. Powered up, also a bad decision, made excursions to both sides of the runway (hadn't landed on a hard surface all season), and did a remarkable job of missing multiple runway lights. Tested the grass on each side for firmness, hammered the tailwheel up and down several times to ensure stinger integrity, tried out brakes and discovered unfortunately that they still worked. Got stopped 11 inches behind bosses airplane, which was parked alongside runway, waiting. Boss standing behind airplane, filling 11 inch gap between my prop and his rudder.

Very unhappy. That day started out so well, too.

The worst landing was under a parachute, and I paid for that with skin, muscle, bone, and cash for time spent in ICU (and a year for recovery. Hitting the cliff wasn't so bad, but the cactus really made it special.

 

[bigD]

Holy sh*t Avbug - you need to write a book. I'd buy it.

 

[ShawnC]

Well worst landing, well I haven't gotten any real bad ones yet (knocking on wood). I have witnessed a couple of bad ones and funny ones too.

I had some leftover block hours on a 172 at home. I had a friend that was from the same town that I was from, he asked me to fly his old girlfriend to Daytona, in exchange he would give me the same amount of Cub time. I gladly took him up on his offer.

Well I arrived at Flagler before he did with the Cub, so I got his girlfriend out and moved her stuff into a rental car. When I came back I saw the cub on downwind. I mentioned to her thats him. We continued watching, the landing seemed normal, until he was turning onto the closed runway, then wham, ground loop.

My jaw dropped (he had quite a bit of tailwheel time almost all of it in the Cub), she came up to me and said "Showing off? That looks fun"

"Ummm...yeah, we try not to do much, its hard on the plane" Not totally lieing.

She probally still thinks thats the best landing she has ever seen.

 

[AWACoff]

BigD ya chiggernat.....SHHHHH! We get to read avbug for free on the forum

 

[Sheik_Yer_Booty]

Avbug your story reminded me of a story I read in Flying years back.

Some poor soul flying freight in a 206 or 207 which ever on has the big back double door looking thingies. Twr clears him when able turn on course…

He powers up, roars off into the wild blue and begins his turn about mid field with plenty of runway left, his turn is in the general direction of the tower, terminal, parking lot area, when around 500 ft agl still in the turn the load shifts and smacks the door, door pops open, load begins to leave… bombs away!

Twr accused him of a bombing run on the admin parking lot; nobody hurt but did mess up a bunch of cars and punched a hole in the roof of a hertz rental car shack.

If anyone remembers or has this story I would like to read it again, I remember it being absolutely hilarious!

One of those I learned about flying from that segments.