The first accident discussed this month involved a Cessna 152 flown by a young woman pilot, who said that she had flared the aircraft too early, ballooned, and it impacted the runway.

She started that when she impacted the runway, the aircraft was not aligned with the center line and it departed the runway to the left.

The airplane slid off the runway, resulting in substantial damage. The student reported no anomalies with the airplane or any of its systems.

The probable cause of this accident was determined to be the student pilot’s premature flare resulting in the loss of aircraft control.

This is a fairly common type of accident, but there are a few more issues we can discuss with this particular accident. Instructors should pay more attention to explaining that landing consists of four very distinct segments; the approach, the round out, the flare and the touchdown. Let us discuss, very briefly, each of these segments.

The approach is self-explanatory and involves setting the aircraft up on final approach, in line with the runway ,with the aircraft correctly configured for the landing, at the correct airspeed and on the glide slope as indicated by the PAPI if the airfield has one installed.

At this stage the airspeed is controlled with elevator and rate of descent with power. If there is any crosswind then the aircraft needs to be crabbed sufficiently to remain lined up with the runway.

The round-out is where this student pilot went wrong. The round-out requires good judgment and timing and this only comes from experience. Heavier aircraft need to be rounded out earlier as they have more downward momentum to arrest, but a C152 needs to be rounded out just a few feet above the runway, and the throttle closed.

Raise the nose for the round-out too early and there will be too much height to lose during the flare. The idea is to round-out so that the aircraft wheels are just one or two feet above the runway.

The flare is when you bleed off any excess speed just above the runway by continuously raising the nose as the speed decreases. This is where mistakes are easily made and, if the nose is raised too quickly, the aircraft begins to climb again. This often results in the aircraft then stalling too high above the runway and a hard landing ensues.

Raise the nose too slowly and the nose-wheel strikes the runway before the main wheels and this, too, can result in a bounce or, even worse, a damaged nose-wheel.

The touchdown should then be on the main wheels first, with the nose of the aircraft kept straight with rudder and the aircraft kept on center line using aileron. In other words, if there is any crosswind at all, you will most likely land on one main wheel first due to the upwind wing being lowered to keep the aircraft on runway center line.

As can be seen by this explanation, on the final approach the aircraft is crabbed to remain on runway center line, but during the flare the aircraft is kept on center line by crossing the controls, namely: keeping the nose straight with rudder and staying on runway center line by lowering a wing into the wind. This switch from crabbing to crossed controls is made during the round-out .All of this requires a great deal of practice and even once mastered ,constant practice is needed to maintain proficiency in landing correctly and safely, every time.

The second accident for discussions involves a Bonanza A36, but none of the three occupants was injured. During landing on a 1010-metre-long and 22-metre-wide asphalt runway, the pilot of the A36 encountered a wind gust which he estimated to be about 40 knots. The aircraft then bounced on the runway and the landing gear collapsed, substantially damaging the right wing. The wind reported at the airport, eight minutes after the accident, was from 300 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 24 knots. The probable cause of this accident was determined to be the pilot’s inadequate compensation for wind conditions. A factor in the accident was the wind gust.

The exact same principles apply to both accidents. The point to be driven home here is that a pilot needs to be completely comfortable with the aircraft during all four segments of the landing.

If the wind is gusty, it is fine to carry a bit of extra speed on the final approach, but this extra speed needs to be bled off during the round-out and flare. If the conditions are very gusty during the round-out and flare you may well find that you need to use a lot of control deflection due to the fact that the aircraft going places you don’t want it to go.

This accident again reinforces my view that we can just never get enough landing practice. If ever you’re in the mood for a local flight but not too sure where to go, merely do an hour of circuits. If the conditions are gusty, take an experienced instructor with you and hone your landing skills.

So, get out there and fly some circuits and landings, you can never have too much practice.

Anthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial and Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter & Aviation Consultancy Firm that specializes Air Transport & Aviation & Pilot Training Consultancy Kenya/ Uganda/Tanzania/Rwanda/Burundi/DR Congo/Somalia/South Sudan & Entire African Continent. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/consultancy.ht

Anthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial and Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter & Aviation Consultancy Firm that specializes Air Transport & Aviation & Pilot Training Consultancy Kenya/ Uganda/Tanzania/Rwanda/Burundi/DR Congo/Somalia/South Sudan & Entire African Continent. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/consultancy.ht

Author Bio: Anthony A Juma is the Editor and Director Commercial and Flights Operations at Wings Over Africa Aviation Limited. This is an Air Charter & Aviation Consultancy Firm that specializes Air Transport & Aviation & Pilot Training Consultancy Kenya/ Uganda/Tanzania/Rwanda/Burundi/DR Congo/Somalia/South Sudan & Entire African Continent. The website has guided thousands of travelers to achieve their dream holiday. For more information and guidance, visit the site at http://www.wingsoverafrica-aviation.com/index.php/services/consultancy.ht

Category: Recreation
Keywords: pilot training Wilson airport,pilot training Soroti Airport,pilot training Johannesburg,instructors