Vintage Instructor THE
BY Steve Krog, CFI
Was that a landing? Or was it a carnival ride?
S
eldom is an incident or an accident the result of a single major mistake or system failure. Rather, it is the combination of a series of little mistakes that compound as the flight continues. This is the story of one of those incidents that demonstrates how little mistakes do accumulate. The result was painless and inexpensive, but it could have been much worse. While doing pattern work with a student, we landed, completed our back taxi, announced our intentions on the radio, and began taxiing into position for a takeoff on Runway 29. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an airplane that appeared to be entering the traffic pattern for a landing on Runway 11. Neither the student nor I recognized the airplane other than it was a tailwheel aircraft. My student immediately demonstrated good common sense and stated, “I’m not sure what he’s up to,” and taxied off the runway until he could determine what the new arrival was going to do. The arriving airplane turned final and appeared to be aligned with the turf immediately adjoining the hard-surface runway. We both noted that this “could be interesting,” as the wind was blowing about 10-12 mph from the northwest, creating a downwind landing situation. After turning final the airplane continued drifting southward toward the hard-surface runway. Be-
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fore touching down (the first time), he was nearly off the runway, with his right wing overhanging the runway lights. The touchdown was hard, the aircraft bounced quite high, and it appeared that a lot of left rudder was being applied as the nose swung to the left. The second touchdown caused the plane to veer hard to the left, and the “carnival ride” began. He exited the runway to the left and rolled into a shallow drainage ditch, which launched the aircraft a third time. While airborne the nose began a swing to the right. On the final touchdown, the airplane executed a full ground loop to the left. I shouted to my student, “Watch the wingtips!” but the arriving pilot was quite lucky. While riding out a full 360-degree ground loop, the wingtips never touched the ground, nor did the tail ever come off the ground. Once stopped, the airplane was pointing northwest into the wind. The pilot who rode out this “spectacular” arrival was quite shaken and remained in the airplane for quite some time before getting his courage up to exit and look at the airplane. Some time later I had an opportunity to speak with the pilot. Still quite shaken, he began explaining what he thought had happened. After allowing time for him to vent and start to relax, we reviewed what had happened step-by-step. Here’s
how the scenario played out. It all began on a sunny fall afternoon. While driving home from work, Dick* decided it would be a good day to do a little flying. Arriving at the airport he met John, his friend from the next hangar, who also planned to do some flying. John had already completed his preflight and was ready to depart causing Dick to hurry his preflight, so that they could depart together. Small problem No. 1. Dick hurriedly entered the cockpit and sat down hard in the seat. He thought he heard a sound like metal cracking but decided to ignore it, as everything seemed normal. The engine was started, and Dick began taxiing toward the runway following his friend John. While taxiing, Dick thought the seat felt different but chose to ignore it. After all, he had never had a previous problem with the seat. Small problem No. 2. Once in the air the two friends decided to fly to a nearby airport and get a little fuel. Dick fell a mile or so behind John, because he seemed to be having a bit of a problem with the rudder pedals. The airplane wanted to yaw to one side. It was easily controlled, so Dick didn’t think it was much of a problem. Small problem No. 3. Dick didn’t see John enter the traffic pattern and land, but he did observe that John was already at the gas island. Not wanting to hold