Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

[taylorcraftbc65]

The other day I was shooting steep/short landing approaches in variable gusty conditions. On the third approach, JUST as I initiated my roundout at about five feet AGL, the wind STOPPED. I dropped the five feet, (after halting my decent momentarily), and BOUNCED about three feet back into the air before grabbing a BUNCH of throttle, and bringing the plane back to Earth in a more dignified manner.
After doing several more touch and go's I checked the gear, and safety cables when I put her in the hanger, and everything seemed O.K..
Is there anything else I should look at? I just want to be sure that I didn't prang something that I haven't looked at.
I'm such a BAAAAAAD pilot, I'm just sit with my nose in the corner till I know the planes O.K..

[Victor Gisclair]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

You think you are a bad pilot, Last friday I took 95110 out and coming back I have a pond on the east end of my runway that I have to taxis around to get to my hanger. Well guess what? I wasn't paying attention and taxis right into the pond. Now this takes guts to tell you guys this because I feel like a fool. Pay attention Vic!!!

[Victor Gisclair]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

You see I can't tell directions, The pond is on the west end of the runway. On by the way a T-Craft does sink all the way up to the bottom wings. Very Confused.

[Len Petterson]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Bad Pilot or not?
The wind playes havoc with all of us, taxing is tricky at the best,
Good landings you work hard for. Just dont expect ANYONE to notice them.
I did 4 circuits easterday: Wind 10-15 Mph gusting and termals on final over a river.
#1 with the FBO chief in a T28 watching, I bunced badly and had to go round.
#2 Better just a littel high, I exercied the bungies.Acceptable.
#3 Bad tropped in on the maingear with some tire noise had to go around.
#4 10- 15 deg cross wind is now stady, high approch on final, sidesliped trough the turbolence, Left wing down, tail and left wheel is down so smoth I was asking myself if I landed A combo of skill and luck or luck and skill????
Did anyone watch? No rumors about that one in the hangar!
Keep practicing, we all need to.
After a not so good start for me after 18 years of layoff I am getting there.
Tanks to all that helped me!
Len

[crispy critter]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Don't feel so bad guys.It was absolutly beautiful in West Liberty,Ky today.60 degrees,NO clouds,NO wind,and NO haze anywhere in the sky.I decided to take the old Cessna 170B out for some pleasure flying and take a couple friends a ride.As I was doing the preflight I walked around the tail and tripped over the cat.In order to avoid killing the cat I just took my trip and landed my right butt cheeck on my left foot that was turned up on it's side.I knew it was hurt but I flew anyway,I didn't relize how bad I had hurt it until I had to apply some quick,hard rudder peddle movements on roll out.When I stepped out of the airplane I couldn't walk.After a trip to the ER I now know that I have a broken left foot.That damn cat better be glad the kids love him so much......well,maybe I like him a little bit too.

PS.However my landing was still a greaser

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Len,
They saw the good one too, they just don't want to give you a big head, so they will not talk about it in front of you.
Kevin,
Sorry to hear about your foot, hope you can still fly while you recouperate. I have a spare "Missing Your Cat?" "Check under my tires." Bumper sticker if you would like one.
Hey guys, seriously, is there anything other than the gear, wheel to axle preload, safety cables that I should check? I looked at the bungies, and they looked O.K.,

[matsuthunder200]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

The place that i would check out is where the gear attach fittings are welded on. I have seen alot of t-crafts that have had cracks there prob not from one bad landing but from long time wear and tear on the gear.

[paulp]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Howdy Tribe,

Definetion of a good landing: One that you can walk away from.

Definetion of an outstanding landing: One that you can walk away from and and the aircraft is still flyable.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

If you are worried about other damage you need to look at everything in the load paths. I would start with the wheel beads (in case the tire pushed down enough for something to hit the bead and crack or deform it). While the tires are off you can pull the brake and check if you have a need for new surfaces but the big thing is to look for cracks or nicks in the radius between the axel and brake flange. Look all the way around, sometimes landing loads are bigger on the rebound than the initial hit. Next I would look at the welds on the backside where the brace tube comes down to the cluster. While you are at it check the brace for wall thickness, they rust from the inside. Next is the lower longeron to gear leg attach and the upper cluster at the bungees. Don't forget to look at the bungee area in the fuselage. When those bungees slammed the gear back up that area took a big hit. I would bet the bumpers between the fuse and gear apex were crushed. You can make nice new ones from axe handle protectors (got drawings around here somewhere). Next is take a good look at the cord that secures the seat sling and the sling itself. They would have taken a hit too and if there was any "human waste" involved it will rot the canvas and cord pretty fast (plus your interior will smell "funny") ;-)
Last, I would take a close look at the tail wheel instl. for cracks, damage, rudder bottom strikes, longeron damage and make sure your springs are in the correct order. If the springs are stacked wrong the secondary impact of the tail will have partially sheared the bolt at the front or rear and your tail wheel will fall off. Another big one is make sure the bushing is in place in the fuselage where the front bolt goes in. LOTS of planes have them missing and it allows the tail spring to rock back and forth under load.
Got you nervous yet, well, you asked. I spent the first ten years of my engineering career working as a Navy Landing gear repair specialist. Lots of crash, accident and incident investigation time. The list of items I gave you is what I check on my planes gear at every annual.
Hank (but I'm anal) J

[TimHicks]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Vic,
I can't believe that you taxied your TaylorCraft into a pond! Hey, weren't you painting alot that day on your other project? I've heard that even a little inhalation of certain fumes can cause perception differences.

Possibly a contributing factor?

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

That was Vic that taxied into the pond and I was painting (unless you were painting too Vic).
Thought of a couple of other things to check after a hard landing. Look at the shaft on your control wheel. In an "arrival" you would be amazed at the down load you can put on the wheel and the shaft can get curved down. Same for the throttle shaft. I did a crash investigation where the steel tube stick was bent back and the grip was torn off (it was still in the pilots hand, unfortunately the hand wasn't still on his arm). The crash loads would have bent the stick FORWARD; the PILOT bent it aft prior to impact. I have seen rudder pedals bent too, but I doubt you would have been trying to push them at the time. Might want to give the wings a bit of a look over too. The down load would have put the struts in compression and there could be some internal wing damage.
Remember these things are assuming a worst case. Don't panic, just be thorough.
Hank J

[Victor Gisclair]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Yes I was painting the new landing gear vee's for my PA22/20 and went flying waiting for the paint to dry.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

So we were both a little dizzy together, just in different places.
When I was painting my fuselage the exhaust valve on my respirator failed (slowly, so I didn't notice right away). I was breathing some pretty concentrated fumes before my addled mind started to wonder where the bananas were being stored. It's amazing how slow your mind works when the fumes start to take over. Bananas and Dope smell alike, right? Wearing a charcoal respirator I shouldn't be able to smell EITHER ONE. When something doesn't seem right, it probably ISN'T! STOP! GET OUT! Make sure your head is clear. That was the second time that has happened to me (first time was CO poisoning) and BOTH TIMES I thought I was fine and someone or something else was screwed up. It can be dangerous to work alone, but sometimes there isn't much choice. I hope you weren't actually "feeling the effects". It could get you killed and you wouldn't even ever know what happened. We need to be careful so we can keep flying as long as possible (and even longer with younger buddies).
Take care
Hank

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Hank,
I just bounced once, and then I throttled up and brought the plane under control. One of the things that I already checked was the wing struts, and there was no metal deformation at all. I was on a paved strip, so there is no possability of anything between the tire beads and wheels. The fuselage was Completely restored 15 flight hours ago, and anything that didn't look right was replaced at that time. No human "waste" , I don't scare, if you ever saw me on a mountain road on my Suzuki GSXR 1000 all heeled over going through a blind corner at ten tenths you would know.
I'll check the other stuff though, and let everyone know what I found.

[crispy critter]

Re: Bad Pilot, BAD Pilot

Hey Vic,
I would pay good money just to see a picture of your t-craft in that pond.I could use it to show some of my students what happens when you don't pay attention or the result of flying impaired.I think a couple of them inhale some paint fumes for fun....you know the kind of student I'm talking about,the ones that have no buisness in a car,and certinly not in an airplane.These 2 are best friend and they have about 34 hours each and I still refuse to solo them.They fly great but have no respect or common sence.
On a serious note,I would like to have a picture of that.Did it do any damage to the plane?