off the flaps until he had climb
speed and then climbed away for
another, wider circuit.
During the go-around he should
have expected the nose to rise and
been prepared to use considerable
force on the elevator to prevent this.
Having failed to do that, what
is the next step? Well, when the
aeroplane did it’s first bounce (by
the way, aeroplanes don’t bounce –
pilots push them on to the runway,
get a fright, and then pull them
off again. They get another fright
and push the aircraft down and
perpetuate the idiocy).
Anyhow, as the aircraft started
it’s first bounce the pilot should
have levelled the nose (notice I
don’t say what he should do with
the stick – only what he should do
with the aeroplane). Then smoothly
applied full power and gone round
again – as discussed above.
Finally let’s look at why he got
into this situation in the first place.
We are all inclined to do it when we
join the circuit at our destination.
We are so happy to have found the
airfield, we don’t want to get too far
from it in case we lose it. The result is
that we stay too close to it, don’t give
ourselves sufficient distance to lose
height on base. And this puts us too
high and too fast on final approach.
It is a very common error. You
have been warned!
If you know this is going to happen,
you can be ready for it and force
yourself to make a wider circuit.- If you are too high and too fast on final approach, don’t wait to
see if the situation is somehow going to magically improve – it
won’t. Just do the right thing and be proud of yourself for making
a professional decision. Even the big jets do it occasionally, so
don’t think you are immune from misjudging your approach. - Expect to make your circuit too tight at a new destination. Then
plan not to. - If you even occasionally “push an aircraft down” during the
landing, then don’t even think of flying again until you have
done a taildragger conversion. It will cure you for ever.
Aiming to make safer pilots of us, here veteran instructor Jim Davis looks at extracts
from official CAA Accident Reports from his homeland of South Africa and analyses
why things went wrong and how we may all avoid making similar mistakes.
australianflying.com.au 77
January - February 2015 AUSTRALIAN FLYING©Jim DavisSafe
- All your exam subjects
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PPL
A Practical Book about Flying SafelyJim Davis
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Look through it and order at jimdavis.com.au
The accident aircraft in
happier times at Durban’s
Virginia Airport.
GARY SHEPHARD
What Can We Learn?