A bit high flare

[pradeep]

Today I had my solo circuit flight and there was a bit of headwind.

 

On the first occasion I was not able to bring the plane so went around. On second landing I did a high flare and landed a bit heavy. I realized that it was a bit high but as it was not 'bumping' landing I thought it should be within the limits.

 

But my instructor asked me to make a full stop on next circuit and which was perfect landing.

 

I am very unhappy and feeling bad with my high landing and specially not happy at all with not recognizing the high flare and do a go around.

 

Just thought of writing this post to cheer myself up.

 

pradeep.

 

 

[flightygirl]

hey pradeep.... while it may not have been a perfect landing... the fact is you just did you first solo!!! congratulations! and well done for making the decision to go round on the first attempt. we all feel such pressure on our first solo to bring it in well and making the decision to go round and try again is not only the right decision but shows you have developed some great flying skills already. so dont be upset with yourself... be happy! you just did your first solo!!!!!!

 

Rach

 

 

[BigPete]

Geez pradeep don't feel too bad. We've all done it (and if you haven't your not trying!!!):big_grin:

 

A good landing is when you can walk away and a great landing is when you can still use the aeroplane.

 

You give the impression that maybe your instructor wasn't too happy i_dunnoi_dunno or have I missread between the lines.

 

regards

 

:big_grin::big_grin:

 

PS congrats on the SOLO.

 

 

[dazza 38]

The thing is, Pradeep about learning, is to recognize when things arent perfect when people learn to fly.When they can see for themselves, when they make little mistakes, without being told by their instructor , that they have made a mistake.They are well on the way to being a good pilot.Your doing fine by the sounds of it.

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Pradeep;

 

Congratulations on going solo

 

It has been said that "nobody laughs at someone who does a go-around, but only at someone who doesn't when they should, and bends the aircraft."

 

To go-around when you were not comfortable with the approach was exactly the correct thing to do.

 

Don't worry too much about the bumpy landing. You will get better with practice, but there's always circumstances that can catch out even experienced pilots.

 

Just to make you feel better... I had a reasonably hard landing after a simulated engine failure during my Pilot Certificate test flight. It was only that I did everything else really well that got me past. I thought I'd blown it and was resigned to have to re-do the test another day. I was elated when I scraped through. Haven't ever repeated the hard landing since.

 

So you see it isn't just you. Chin up and keep learning :)

 

 

[pilotdave69]

Hey pradeep, Congrats on your Solo effort today!

 

Don't beat yourself up as the others have said. ! Just think you flew a plane on your own, its a massive milestone in anyone's books. I only did my solo yesterday as well, its such a sensory overload to make sure you get it right.. Dont know how many times i bumped and grinded, sure to do more.

 

One thing i keep in my head that my instructor has said over and over.. We don't teach how to land, we teach how to fly level with the runway. So now.. i always level off over runway, throttle closed and slow flare. The plane slowly touches down. I know it does click . It took awhile. Its so strange how you can do 3 or 4 near perfect landing, yet the next one will be crap. I never realised how tricky it really was. A real juggling act.

 

Well done once again..

 

 

[Owi]

Hey pradeep,

 

Chin up fellah! Kudos to you for a sound command decision to go-around, especially considering the enormous temptation there must have been to bring it down on first go. I think this makes you a pilot that we can trust to make good decisions when it counts, which is far better than succumbing to ego.

 

It's true that most of us have days when nothing seems to go right. To me, it's important to recognise that something is wrong and not despair - analyse it and try to find a way to correct it. You are still learning and gaining experience, regardless.

 

Cheers, and congrats on your first solo. Keep it up.

 

 

[johndl]

Congratulations on your solo! Good decision making on the go around as well:)

 

 

[sfGnome]

Going a fraction off-topic (congrats on the solo by the way!), how much practice did people get at last minute go-arounds before they went solo? I mean, your instructor always says "if anything goes wrong, just go around", but when they're in the plane with you, things don't seem to go wrong enough, do they? I think my first attempt at a serious go-around was early in the solo stage, and because the flaps were still in the basement, when I hit the power the a/c pointed itself at the sky and sort-of hung on the prop until I got everything under control again. Bit shaky afterwards...

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Going a fraction off-topic (congrats on the solo by the way!), how much practice did people get at last minute go-arounds before they went solo?...

Once or maybe twice. Twice more up to passing licence including once doing cross wind landings in 20-25 kn crosswind. Instructor's comment "that was interesting!" The other was during my licence test. Just about 20' off the deck and instructor calls "sheep on the runway!" There wasn't, but that was the unexpected impetus to cause me to go-around.

 

 

[facthunter]

High flare

 

pradeep, we have ALL done it. It is called ballooning. you coped with something not going to plan on your first solo. You should give yourself a little pat on the back for that. the reason that you did this is because the plane is so much lighter when the instructor is not in it. Did he mention this during your training?. Once the instructor gets out the plane behaves so differently.. A go-round is quite a critical manoeuver and you have done it. Nev

 

 

[NWpilot]

Hey Pradeep,

 

Keep your chin up, Like the others have said, you made an excellent command decision to go around on the first one. we all have a bit of a bounce at some stage or another. you have now recognised that you flared to high and i bet you dont do it again.

 

Lets look at this..........First time in the plane by yourself and your going to do some circuits, you are under a little pressure, no instructor beside you to help you out if it goes pear shaped. on your first time round it went pear shaped and you made a command decision to go around. excellent decision.

 

Ok so now the pressure has doubled, first thing you think of is, S**T i bet he/she (instructor) saw that.

 

second time round, you came down flared a little high and bounced, your ok, the aircraft is ok, and you have relised that you were a little high. next time, over the fence, power off and fly the A/C along the runway and let it down softly.

 

What you should be focusing on is that you made your first solo today. CONGRATS, what a fantastic effort.

 

 

[Tomo]

Awesome mate, great news on your solo.

 

The fact that you didn't like the look of the first one, managed the second one but wasn't happy with it, then did a real nice one. Means you have the stuff it takes, you saw the problems, and made up for it each time, and got better and better at the new way it performs. You've got the feel for it, so don't despair. Next time you go out, you'll be a lot more equipped with knowledge on the ways of an empty aircraft.

 

Oh and by the way, as everyone else said, we've all done it!

 

 

[Neil_S]

Hey Pradeep, As all have said - congrats on the first solo! Learning is what it's all about, and you obviously did just that. I remember on my first solo being blown away by the rate of climb without the instructor and I reached circuit height in no time! No way to teach that with a second person in the plane....same with landing when you have less weight than you had been used to.

 

Good work & keep it up!

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[pradeep]

Thanks all.

 

Sharing the feelings with others - specially who knows the situation better - really makes feel better.

 

I am really sorry for not mentioning it is not my first solo, though I have very little solo experience - about 1.5hrs.

 

I will assume all the first solo congrats in this post as for my original first solo experience with all of your permissions.

 

Thank you all again.

 

Cheers,

 

Pradeep

 

 

[Guest milton56]

Congrats Iv'e yet to do my first solo (soon). My instructor keeps on saying you will get better at landing with practice, and true my landings are getting better. Good on you for the go around, as they say if it doesn't feel right go around.

 

 

[facthunter]

The Go-Around process.

 

In some circumstances, ie full flap and x wind conditions a go around needs to be very carefully executed. A misjudged or bounced landing can be critical.

 

IF your airspeed is low, hold the plane in ground effect, a few feet up, make sure you have FULL power.(check carb heat cold) and let your speed increase, retract flap and climb away, normally.

 

If you have drift on, try to avoid contact with the ground during the go-round. The plane should be flown very precisely and the technique should be practiced till you are proficient. Practicing "touch and go's is not the same..Nev

 

 

[pradeep]

Very interesting Nev, something which I should discuss with my instructor.

 

With my experience the other day I thought of discussing with my instructor of various points that I can execute the go around. Say like I am almost there to touch down but a gust of x wind come through ????.

 

Cheers,