What is the worst landing you can remember?

mastermags

Well-Known Member *giggity*
Alright, this is for anybody... which is the worst landing you have ever made, or not made, that sticks out in your mind?
 
Umm, every one of my 200 some odd landings have been perfect.















If you believe that I can get you enrolled at a great flight school in FL: ATA.
smirk.gif
 
I'd have to say that it was on my private checkride. We did a short-field landing and were rolling out when the DE said "okay - let's do a touch and go.."

.... and I brain farted.

I added full power, but didn't apply ANY right rudder.

As the left side of the runway and adjacent tree line grew ever so closer - the DE said...

"where ya goin? Were ya GOIN'? WHERE YA GOIN?! WHEREYAGOIN?!?!?!?"
crazy.gif


Amazingly, I saved it... and us... and he passed me.

Let that be a lesson to all you kids out there, now....
wink.gif


grin.gif


R2F
 
80's - Night time, Santa Ana winds, MCAS El Toro (SoCal), C-152 (new pilot)

90's - Night time, Santa Ana winds, Santa Barbara CA, C-140 (no landing light)

90's - Day time, Santa Ana winds, InyoKern CA, C-140 (low fuel state, very hot)
 
182 into Driggs Idaho on a pitch black night. Black hole had me all trippin' and ended up bouncing it in pretty firmly. Luckily Cessnas have indestructible landing gear.
 
I don't mind telling you that I had a heck of time getting the last ten feet of the landing under control when learning to fly the Jetstream. It sits higher and more nose down than most GA airplanes, so the sight picture is a lot different. After one landing on IOE, I heard a disembarking female passenger say, "It's a good thing I wasn't pregnant after that landing!" But I'm much better now!

A couple of weeks ago, I was landing at CHO-Charlottesville VA, a little mountain airport with a fairly short runway. We try to land quickly and then get the engines in hard reverse to slow down. The landing went well, but the left engine went into reverse several seconds before the right, so we starting heading for the left side of the runway. Max right rudder and an eternity later the right reverse kicked in. Just enough time for my career to flash in front of my eyes!
grin.gif
 
Bad landing? No such thing. Hey, every single time I've landed, I've been able to walk away and the plane is resusable, so they've all been great.

Sometimes I just made two of them, like the first few short and soft field landings.
 
I don't even get all worked up over bad landings. You can have a totally unstabilized approach in the 88/90 and grease a landing, but then you can have everything totally stabilized, on speed and then fiftyfortythirtytwenty....ten....WHAP!!! "Medic!!!"
 
[ QUOTE ]
A couple of weeks ago, I was landing at CHO-Charlottesville VA, a little mountain airport with a fairly short runway.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have fond memories of CHO. I did my first cross country there and the tower knew for some reason that I wasn't all that experienced. They were really helpful.
 
>>I heard a disembarking female passenger say, "It's a good thing I wasn't pregnant after that landing!"<<

I would like to see how you land if your female passengers are concerned about being pregnant afterwards!!
 
Charleston, SC (KCHS). 9,000 feet of runway. Perfect VFR. Absolutely no wind. Private Pilot with about 200 hours in airplanes, and an instrument rating. NIght...with no landing light (excuses, excuses...). I even had Touchdown zone lighting and Centerline lights!!! In As I stared at all of the pretty lights and got hypnotized, and realized that I was flaring at about 20 ft AGL!!!! At about 10 feet AGL, with an airspeed of about 30 KIAS, and a descent rate of about 400 FPM...with full power...stall horn blaring, all I could do was hold the yoke back and hold my breath!!!

My friend and I didn't say a word until we were in the crew car, 2 miles from the airport. Don't know if I can ever top that one!!!!
confused.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
In As I stared at all of the pretty lights and got hypnotized, and realized that I was flaring at about 20 ft AGL!!!! At about 10 feet AGL, with an airspeed of about 30 KIAS, and a descent rate of about 400 FPM...with full power...stall horn blaring, all I could do was hold the yoke back and hold my breath!!!

My friend and I didn't say a word until we were in the crew car, 2 miles from the airport.

[/ QUOTE ]

Question is..... did ya'll change pants BEFORE the ride home or after?
grin.gif
 
So far, the worst landing Ive ever had resulted in a go around... i was doing touch and goes with my instructor and i was about to drop it in. My instructor grabbed it from me, but instead of executing a go around, he added a little power to try to smooth it out... the damn thing wobbled, and then *BAM* struck the tail, and nosed forward... my instructor cussed, applied full power and we went around.... we didnt say another word till halfway downwind. Bad case of ego getting in the case of judgement.

Then there was the time i almost ran off the landing strip in a piper cub... but i didnt, so i guess it was an ok landing
grin.gif
 
Bad landings? So many to chose from. . . .

OK, here's a different kind of bad landing for you: one that looked great from the ramp, but which made me angrier than any other landing to date.

This was a few weeks ago. I was practicing a soft-field. LEt me start by telling you how I prefer a normal landing how in a 172. I should be stabilized on final either power-off, or with just a couple hundred rpms above idle (which I throw out in the flare). I prefer to be power-off on final, though.

So this time I setup nicely, turning final I went to 1000 rpm and full (40) flaps. In our 172, idle is about 750-800 rpm. I noted with satisfaction that I was on glideslope, steady at 60 KIAS, a good airspeed with 40 degrees, IMO.

In the flare, which was too high, she just wouldn't sink. Then she started to sink fast, so I add a bit of power. Now she won't sink again. Whoops, there goes the seat of my pants, so I add power. Now she won't sink.

But then I touch down softly. Fine--whatever. But why? I'm not sure (maybe you can tell me), but I did notice that I had about 1,500 rpm at touchdown! I probably floated 1,500 feet, too. At least it was a 7,000' runway.

At least I kept the nose up a few inches all the way to the taxiway, to practice holding the nose above the grass.

After I shut down, one of the airport bums commented that that was a very soft soft-field landing. I don't know if he was being sarcastic (because it was soft), but let's just say that the airplane did a better job than me that day!
 
A few years back I was doing some nite solo work in a Warrior. Winds were fairly gusty. 1700 RPM and two notches of flaps, 65 KIAS. Things were looking good. 200 AGL is where the wind shear hit. Airspeed fell of the scale and just enough time to recover from a stall as I smacked the runway. I hope to never have to repeat that experience.
I parked the plane and went and found my instructor. After a quick pre-flight we jumped back in and did a few landings. He commented on the "light" wind shear, and we carried more speed on final. I never will forget that one.
 
I've had a few, but the one that stands out most is when I was flying with my boss. It was after I got my CFI, he wanted to demonstrate some student errors and make certain I was prepared before I started instructing. He was flying the airplane and then he ballooned us over the threshold, what seemed to be about 50 feet, and said "Your airplane" I wasn't expecting it and was late in correcting. My boss wasn't expecting me to respond, or lack thereof, the way I did. We hit pretty hard. The only comment he had was "That's just about as hard as you want to land a 152 and still call it a landing".
 
Just remember one of my landings in the early days after my private. I was a freshman in college and decided to take some friends up in a Warrior. I hadn't been flying that much but was current and thought - "I'll just do a touch and go real quick before leaving the pattern and flying to the destination". There was a pretty good crosswind so my approach was rough. On short final I *thought* I had the aircraft configured correctly with wing down and rudder corrections. Boy was I wrong. I don't think I have ever experienced that much side load in an aircraft EVER. I swore that I tore the gear off the thing. Needless to say I was pretty mad about doing that and decided that we were just going to park the plane and call it a day. Worst .3 I've ever put in the logbook
grin.gif

My friends were quiet until we got out and later told me that they had never seen me that mad at myself. Oh well, we learn from everything.

Happy Flying!
grin.gif
 
I've had lots!

From 'wheelbarrowing' on the nosewheel of a 172 as I tried to do touch and goes with flaps (unintentionally, of course!).... Immagine my suprise when the nose points toward the ground and the plane feels like it's on ice! This was as a student when strange circumstances left me to kind of figure out touch and goes on my own
crazy.gif


To porposing it in on my solo XC (finally I realized that if I just HOLD the elevator there... the plane would actually land the way it's supposed to!)

To my bounced soft field on my private ride
blush.gif
(still passed it though; it wasn't THAT much of a bounce
smirk.gif
)

I really wonder just how darned strong those Cessnas are... From what I've experienced, they're reeeeeaaaallllyyyy, REEEEEAAAALLLYYYY strong!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I don't even get all worked up over bad landings. You can have a totally unstabilized approach in the 88/90 and grease a landing, but then you can have everything totally stabilized, on speed and then fiftyfortythirtytwenty....ten....WHAP!!! "Medic!!!"



[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Doug, do you remember in 1990 when I pranged N5124E on the runway at PRC after touching down in a crosswind that shifted to a tailwind?
 
Back
Top