A serious incident or accident is frequently preceded by a series of minor events or mistakes that line up to cause the accident. The trick is to break the chain. You bounced on landing and without hesitation went around which broke a potential chain and was absolutely the right thing to do. Good airmanship as far as I am concerned. Thank you for sharing, examples like this are educational and just might help to save an accident some day.
All we want is perfect landings. I'm always hard on myself when I do a non-perfect landing. I always try to figure out what i did wrong. I think i don't "flare" enough, and that I am a little bit fast. How many hours does it take to always achieve those perfect landings?
I appreciate people who post their mistakes online with a debrief. It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there. I'm a student pilot about ready for my checkride. I know videos like this will make me a safer and better pilot. Thank you.
Its so refreshing to see somebody who is honest about their experiences. I have recently started to get back into flying and watching your videos has helped me to get the feel for it again. Superb camera work, crystal clear audio and great production make it a pleasure to watch!
There seems to be 2 parts to this for me. The actions and the emotion. The actions and decisions are fine, stuff happens and you handled it well. It was the anger ("I F**d up"), that seemed to me to be the biggest issue. It robs you of your confidence and consequently causes doubt and then the rot creeps in. I know its easy to sit here afterwards and be pointey fingered but the problem is not the problem. Love your work.
What a great comment. It really is the focusing on the mistake and not letting it go that can cause the real issue. Really appreciate, Jon, that you put yourself out there like this. I actually learned something today.
Having followed you for a long while I know you have High Standards when it comes to flying. As I have said before, you showing your mistakes will help so many other pilots still learning to fly, grasp the importance of Planning in this instance. I respect your honesty and you rescued the situation very well. Respect 👍
Great video, thanks! BTW, flying in France, I was taught to ALWAYS join overhead when the terrain is not controlled (I think this actually is a regulatory obligation here). As mentioned by others, that always gives a good and safe overview of the terrain, potential risks, and helps safely preparing the approach and the landing. However, you had a very adapted and efficient reaction after bouncing... Thanks for making the mistake, that's a great reminder for those watching the video! :) And thanks for the tour of this nice airfield / hut!
I admire you for sharing your flights which didn’t meet the the standards that you set. I have a saying which is “you’re only as good as your next flight” whats gone before doesn’t mean a thing. This is true of driving too of course. You remind us that a safe flight or drive is never guaranteed. Your honesty & willingness to share your successes & fails is admirable Jon. I think you were a bit hard on yourself overall. Well done on the go round decision. Biggest lesson I learnt in my aviation career was never try to make a landing out of a bad approach or flare & that’s exactly what you did.👍
Well done ! Again you are honest and genuine enough to show us your shortcomings - often the trait of a person who seeks to improve themselves - you are to be commended. The landing is nothing out of the ordinary - you went around. Never a bad call. The situational awareness (or loss thereof) on approach is rather more troubling - but happily no harm, no foul. You realise all of the above. I'm so pleased you have never seen some of my landings !!! I often think its a good thing when I land long (& badly) ....... less people to hold their heads in their hands (hopefully). Much appreciated as always.
I too have made these same errors in judgement when flying. It’s easy to forget to treat every flight as important as the next. Yes, you should have joined overhead. However, a reckless pilot does what you did and thinks it was right. A good/safe pilot does what you did and learns from the error in judgement. Well done for acknowledging the error and being brave enough to share it. Also, excellent decision making on the go around. Again, it would have been easy to ‘force’ a landing... but you made the right call. Great job and thank you for sharing.
Actually going around from a poor landing is something worth practicing. I don't mean touch and goes either as these are preconceived and include a (hopefully) good landing. The danger with bad landings are that the Pilot often presses on in the hope that it will eventually stop bouncing and land. But this also results in many accidents. The biggest problem is making the decision to go around at the first sign of things going wrong, and then, you will be getting airborne again at a relatively low speed, and this is where careful management is needed. Before climbing away, airspeed must be built up by holding the aircraft down at low level until it's safe to ease back on the controls and start climbing. Well done Jon, you did it perfectly!
Ultimately you took the right course of action and landed safely. As a student, your videos have been invaluable. I had my first solo last weekend and much of my 'ground school' has come from watching your highs and lows, good parts and mistakes. You're an inspiration!
Your flying and communications are fantastic. Its great to see that you are human every now and again. You are teaching more than you can imagine. I am about midway through my ppl and I have picked up so much from your videos. Thank you so much for all your hard work!
Thank you for sharing your story with such honesty. We’ve all make mistake the important thing is that you recognised it and went around. As others have commented it was a number of little things adding up but you broke the cycle by making the quick call to go around.
Aviation is all about ongoing learning from experiences and it is testament to the quality of your content that you have posted this video. Thanks for being so honest and willing to share your experiences with us. Ultimately your prompt reaction and action then taken is a mark of your airmanship.
Well done, fantastic example of real world ADM. I appreciate you for sharing your mishaps and mistakes. This particular one reminds me why I’ve trained to join the upwind leg or cross above to join downwind on such occasions in order to get a good view of the field. Knowing in advance about the birds and other distractions and potential hazards keeps us as unsurprised as possible when things don’t go as planned. Thank you 🙏🏼
Hi Jon. Greetings from an American cousin who also spells it Jon and who also own a PA-28-181. Small world isn't it! I've bounced in quite a few landings over the years myself and know the feeling. I too have had to go around a few times. Fortunately we learn from our mistakes and keep going, hopefully to continue to improve. Thanks for the great video and also the visit to the little grass strip with the new visitor quarters installed. Looks like a great place to visit. Cheers!
Great video!! I thought you did the correct thing--you initiated a go around. Recently, a pilot at our airport did not do that on a botched landing, ended up porpoising, lost control and died in the subsequent crash. YOU DID THE RIGHT THING.
The go-around was the right instinct and the right decision. As you said, it's important to give every flight the kind of planning and respect it deserves. It's good to have confidence as a pilot, but not complacency. Over prepare, never rush yourself and you will do well.
John great decision the go around Passed my PPL last Thursday my PFL was into the airfield so actually had to land it that was testing. I did manage it and rea.y enjoyed the skills test You have inspired me over the last 18 months through all my training
I think you made a great call to go around when you did. I’m a student PPL within a couple of weeks of my Skills test, I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and the biggest thing that stands out to me is your situational awareness, I look up to you for that a lot, so thanks for sharing this.
Jon showing mistakes and how you learnt from them helps us all to be better pilots - I've never encountered birds before on the runway for example and so this will greatly help me should I encounter them in the future - all very useful. Just don't let it beat you up.
After Seeing the birds and your decision to go around rather than porpoise down the runway was wise. You did a great job and shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Stay safe and healthy.
Hi Jon, another really good education video. You’re really hard on your self but you do that to better yourself and be safe! I also have number of times not planned my arrival at airfields correctly! It haunts me for days !! Thank you for sharing :-) Hope to see you at EGLK soon. Chris
I'm just starting to learn to fly. I really hope watching your fantastic videos such as these will make me a better pilot. Absolutely the right thing to do in going around, and kudos for sharing it with us. Keep up the fantastic work sir. :)
Nothing to add!! You seem like you've debriefed perfectly. Filming and editing this gives you an even better chance to analyze your performance. I was told the day you stop learning is the day you should stop flying haha, clearly it's something you've learned from. Looks like a lovely little airfield to visit and an overnight stop there would be pretty cool! Fun little staycation for any pilot in the UK!
I admire your commitment to perfection, nothing wrong with that at all, especially in aviation. In any event, you were the pilot flying, no one else, so you made the call as you saw it i.e. the safe call :-)
The safest airspace around an uncontrolled airfield is midfield at or above pattern altitude. I find it a good practice to always avoid a straight in approach, or a direct to downwind approach to an airfield. You did ask for constructive criticism and so I would simply say that it did not seem that you practiced a soft field takeoff, nor a soft field landing, at either of these unimproved airfields. That said, bravo for sharing this content. I have made and continue to make mistakes as a pilot but I do not share them with the world so kudos to you sir.
I fly mainly into hard runways in the south of France: although the rule book is go around if in doubt, I would have recovered from that small bounce with a quick jab of the throttle keeping the aircraft off the ground and nose up, which I was always taught to do on grass: with almost a kilometre of runway you had plenty of distance. But that said if in doubt..... and you are the pilot on the day, and made the right call.
Well done Jon! You self de briefed it perfectly and demonstrated great decision making in going around (Or executing a baulked landing as I would term it.). Once the wheels have touched the ground it's very easy just to accept it and try and sort it out. I'm going to point my club members to this video, not as an example of what not to do but as a great example of what TO do!
I respect and admire your willingness to share. That opposite flow downwind join was by far the most dangerous of the mistakes. The landing pales in comparison.
Great video and very honest. The learning never stops and after a flight it is always good to ask your self what you can take away from it. Birds are unpredictable as you noticed. A bounce can happen and can have many different causes. What I did notice was that you decided to go straight in but still broke left to follow a lefthand base leg. You self announced correctly and no other traffic was heard. Based on your decision to go straight in maybe breaking left and than flying left base was a decision that made things more complicated. 10 out of 10 for honesty and self analysis which is great airmanship!
Jan. It's a pleasure to have someone with your experience helping me feedback this flight. It didn't match my usual preparedness, hence why it all fell apart a bit. Hope to see you soon at Redhill..
Hi Jon - I bounced into halfpenny yesterday, just a small bounce and a bit of a float as 22 slopes away. Kicked myself about it but after that first little bounce knew I would be going around if she didn’t settle on the next.... which she did. All to be seen in the next video. I like how you said on short final “prepare to go around”. I like that and I will start doing that myself because it focus’ the mind that landing will be a bonus but you are planning to go around. Don’t be hard on yourself.
I think it's way more important that you're good at going around whenever necessary (as you did) than it is to land perfectly every time. Great video Jon, seems there's lots of great overnight spots up in Scotland!
Well we all make mistakes. I like to join over head but having flown in Scotland my method if I am early in to a field is to fly a low pass to check runway and hope to get the birds away (it works some times). The thing is not to let it get to you when you don't get it right but reflect on it when on the ground (do not add to your thoughts in the air, just re-plan, do not dwell). It is the short flights that catch most pilots and the video is a good reminder that the most critical planning parts of a flight are departure and arrival.
The dangerous folks are those who don't learn from their mistakes or admit them. Looked like pretty good airmanship there. Prompt go around is the right decision every time.
What you demonstrated Jon was fantastic airmanship, the landing was screwed up as a result of external issues and you threw the landing away and went around as you should have done, just remember how many professionals do that each year at London Gatwick alone, so you should be proud of yourself mate not upset!!!
Nothing wrong with decisive action and a go around. As my instructor said as he climbed out of the plane to let me solo, "Don't be afraid of a go around. If you have to go around, it is absolutely fine. I'd rather see you go around than anything else...but a good landing of course." Didn't need one that day, but I have since. No shame...it's good skill. Thank for sharing.
I think this is a classic Human Factors case! In my day Job, I am an Emergency Response Ambulance Driving Instructor & Human Factors have become a huge part of what we teach. There are 5 stress coping techniques that fall into driving (and as a pilot I would suggest flying too!) These are; -Confrontative Coping: where you deal with a challenging situation with aggression and often blame others. This is a dangerous coping strategy. -Task Focused coping: where you change things that are within your control to make a challenging situation easier to deal with - setting the aircraft up correctly & early with plenty of contingency plans is a good example of this. This is a good coping strategy. -Emotion Focused coping: where you worry about mistakes made, often out of embarrassment or fear of potential consequences, and this inhibits your ability to make decisions safely. This is a bad strategy. - Reappraisal Coping: this is where you reconstruct an incident and either find learning points for next time to gain benefit from a poor experience, or you actually realise it was pretty benign and isn’t worth worrying at all! This is a good strategy and is what you are doing every time you debrief yourself post flight! -Avoidance Coping: this is where you deal with a challenging situation by just ignoring the hazards present, pretend they don’t exist or try to play them down as to not deal with them. An example of this is pretending the weather isn’t as bad because you want to go flying... or continuing with a flight into IMC because you’re too embarrassed to admit defeat. This is also a bad coping mechanism. In this video you fell straight into emotion focussed, but quickly moved back to task focused!! When ever I teach this subject I always refer to Amelia Earhart who said “worry retards reaction and makes clear-cut decisions impossible” Human factors are such a large part of why things happen, and often lead to a string of smaller events that become something catastrophic - the Swiss Cheese model! You’re doing a fantastic job, so keep up the good work!
Hi Jon, I made the exact same mistake of not respecting a short flight enough. Coincidentally, it was at your departure airfield in this video, Newhall Mains, returning from a short dinner trip to Dornoch Castle. I shared my mistake which although a different one, had interesting parallels. A video of that is in my TH-cam channel "Fying out for Dinner" I agree that sharing our flights on TH-cam is an immensely effective way of learning from others' feedback. Thanks for another great video.
Good call on the go around. Also that wasn't even a bad landing compared to some I see in the GA communi. You clearly have very high standards as this whole flight looked fantastic. Well done.
Did the same a month or so ago. Captain kangaroo was in command. So before he wrecked my nose gear I took control and went around. This was at my home strip. It happens. You made the right choice. 2 very nice airfields
Nothing wrong with the right base join as you were clear with your blind calls from 6+ miles out. However, the overhead join, although not suggested in Pooley's plates is in the AFE plate. An unhelpful confliction which should be addressed by the airfield owner. A low pass could have been a good idea if you had any doubts that the runway area had potential hazards. This would have given everyone a heads up. Birds will always try and avoid aircraft , they want to go home for tea and medals too so, hold your attitude and track. The go around was a good call and carried out without hesitation all in all, 9/10 You are right, prior planning would have avoided some of your "errors". An ex naval test pilot recently said to me, '...aim to work at 60/70% capacity, leaving the rest for emergencies and decisions on the hoof'. A few years ago i went to Sywell. i briefed myself the runway was going to be 21R and only 21, after all it always is...isn't it? When i arrived it had changed to the 600m grass Rwy23....yikes! As i approached i couldn't work out the overhead join for that runway, so i climbed to 3000', told the tower i had an issue and departed 5 miles to the north and set myself up in an orbit. I gathered my thoughts and after 5 mins headed back to execute a perfect short field landing. When you've saturated your mental capacity, play safe; forget about any embarrassment you may be feeling and live to fly another day!
As others have said, you have picked up on the mistakes and learned from them, that's the key thing. Your reactions to the issues you encountered were the right decisions so I hope that you take that away as a huge positive. Personally I find it very refreshing that you publish any mistakes you make and strive for perfection. Keep up the good work 😊
Right call on the go around for sure. Agree with your observation that joining the pattern in opposite direction to likely traffic flow (even though there wasn’t any traffic) maybe not the smartest decision and would have benefitted from a bit more prior planning. The standard UK overhead join isn’t always the best solution, but in this case it would have resolved that problem. At quiet rural airstrips it is worth considering a prior planned and announced low pass down the runway to move the birds, deer, walkers and people on quad bikes before making a circuit to land. Nothing to beat yourself up about though - overall good ADM!
That wasn't a bounce Jon, it was just a grass field skip and easily managed with a touch more back pressure. Didn't even need a blip of power, just don't push forward !! The 2nd landing was at almost the same pitch as the first so maybe something to think about? That said, If in doubt go around, is ALWAYS the right decision ! I was having problems landing after the lockdown lay-off and it took me longer than it should have to realise that I was not looking to the end of the runway. Such a basic "muscle memory" thing to forget, but I did!
Good decision so far as I’m concerned, especially at a field you didn’t know. I have kept a ‘little black book’ since I started flying 30 years ago. In it I record the sorts of mistakes, poor decisions or poor airmanship which we all do from time to time. It makes me reflect after the event, takes the emotion away and converts it into fact, and makes fascinating reading down the years. That I am still on the book that I started and have a few pages left to fill indicates that it’s probably had the desired effect!
[schoolboy sneer] My bounce was bigger than yours! [ /schoolboy sneer] Truly, it was! A combination of energy bleed off, a slight negative windsheer and being too high when I was "touching down" gave my instructor a mild fit as we dropped about 3-4 ft onto the runway and then launched up again (he told me I was too high...). Thankfully, I gave it a heap of throttle and returned to flying before very gingerly easing down for a smooth landing about 1000ft further than anticipated (6000ft runway). This triggered interest in the unfamiliar surroundings as he dryly said" OOh, haven't been down here for years!" I've never landed on grass, so I think your go-around was infinitely preferable to a deep groove in the runway lined with bits of undercarriage & other aero accoutrements... well done!
Jon, I feel you should be applauded for videos like this. I would say you made no mistakes just explored a series of learning opportunities. If you spent 3 months planning this short flight you would never have factored in birds at one end of the runway and a moving vehicle at the other! When the moment came to make a split second decision on a go around your airmanship kicked in and the right decision made.
I’ve done that exact type of bounce and didn’t initiate a go-around until the second bounce... almost a very bad mistake. I think you did exactly the right thing.
Well John, in my humble opinion that was not so bad so do not be too hard on yourself as we have all been there at least once. The nain thing is your judgement & decision making was actually spot on on final. You had spotted one problem and nentally prepared for the go around already anyway as you articulated. Yes the better option would have been an overhead join with potentially an overflight of the runway, Other than that you did alright buddy.
You could fill up the shock absorber in the front a bit. It looks okay but especially now, when we have a high temperature volatility it loss pressure very fast...
I think unfortunately we have all been there before, slightly behind the plan and the plane when all it takes is one perturbation to send things spiraling. Luckily your airmanship kicked back in and you made the good decision to go around all while realizing your mistake. Luckily because you were confident enough to share, all of us can go through this with you and be reminded without needing a refresher ourselves. Also, what a remarkable situation with that airfield hut! Seems like almost a shame you couldn't stay over!
A similar thing happened to me 2 days ago in the C172. It wasn’t birds but a stiff crosswind that threw me. Bounced, had to apply power and go around. You did the right thing as soon as you realised the situation (one bounce).
I’d say you handled that very well. I shouldn’t imagine you’ll find many pilots that haven’t got themselves in a bit of a raffle at one time or another trying to work out how to join a circuit. I have on several occasions!
My 2 cents... regardless of how minor the bounce appears after us having the chance to review the footage, there was no hesitation in the decision to go around which is great. I'm an analyzing hesitator myself with a bad habit of salvaging every landing, which is something I need to change if I want to become an old pilot. I've had a number of diversions in the last couple weeks to airports just 3-4 minutes from my original target which created some challenging situations from being flustered or unprepared. If there's any feedback to give you.... wait until you're on the ground before you get upset with yourself, a few f bombs on the go around could contribute to the 'series of minor events', especially if flying complex aircraft.
Don't beat yourself up too much. No two landings are the same. No pilot is perfect - few admit their mistakes. Any doubts, going around is always the right decision. Keep up the good work.
Jon, these things happen. Preparations, okay, always do. The actual 1st landing attempt was influenced by two external factors, so a go-around was maybe a good idea even sooner. For the bounce, was it maybe a result of an unintended pitch change, with a increase of speed then..? Not sure because it's hard to see in the video. Anyway, your reaction was the only right one...a third bounce could have a bad ending. Thanks for sharing!
The first distraction due to birds was nothing to be too upset about. The go around was the right move. The bigger mistake was not taking the short hop seriously enough and not planning ahead. As always thanks for sharing.
wrong way in the circuit was a big mistake. The bounce and subsequent go-around is pretty standard (at least it is for me). As always you are super critical and brave enough to share your mistakes. Good on you for doing that.
There was nothing wrong with the initial landing attempt, you bounced but it’s not dangerous at all to bounce and happens to the best pilots, you realised that it wasn’t worth trying to salvage it and made the correct decision to go around. I actually had a similar experience today on my qualifying cross country into Wellesbourne, I bounced hard on landing and made the decision to go around almost instinctively. I had flown in from Leicester and I heard a familiar voice on frequency - were you at Leicester on 14 Jun 2021 by any chance? Sounded exactly like you!
You did fine... Do your fields get muddy, ever? I've flown a Cherokee on grass fields many times, but usually the one I fly for that doesn't have wheel pants. I do love grass runways. I was expecting a giant bounce! Not sure what your speed was, but just seemed a bit flat to me. You were ready, rightly, to go around and did that very well. The only negative I saw was as you said, putting yourself against the downwind traffic. In the US, some people extend downwind pretty far, so that's a bit dangerous. Either overhead, as you mentioned, or just go far wide left, turn right, and enter the downwind at a 45. At least that's a reasonable procedure in the US for an uncontrolled field. Another option is a straight in approach. Legal here, generally frowned upon for VFR, but OK when there's no other traffic around.
The bounce probably felt more of a deal than it actually was. Good decision to go around, though. I find that a complete circuit always helps me set up properly for landing when I’m at an unfamiliar airfield, even if the runway in use isn’t a question. Straight to base or to a long final can be ok if I’ve visited the place several times before. I’d love to fly in Scotland, but it’s so far away from West Sweden: I don’t fancy the direct route.
Don’t be over critical, we all make mistakes, you are very honest about all of yours and share them for others to learn. The go around was a good choice from my perspective, you showed great decision making by having it ready and available to you so that was clear motor function and responsive. Nice to overfly before landing but not always available as not every approach allows overhead joins, birds will be birds they love playing chicken. Best of all you are human and vent your frustrations with them and yourself 😂
Good de-brief.....over head joins are best bet it gives you an opportunity to do a reconnaissance of the rwy state/windsock/other items of note....but hey thats flying for you....the go around was the only option under those circumstances...well flown i'd have no proble flying with you....cheers!!!
You definitely did the right procedure of going around! A bounced landing Could become Pilot induced oscillations that can be hazardous to Plane and health. The only thing I can judge from this video is that you were possibly going a little too fast on final and when touching down bounced back into the air. If you were at the exact touch down speed your stall warning should just start beeping as your wheels touch the grass, then no bounce just rolling onto the grass would have occurred.
Thanks Daniel. Yes, too fast, because I didn't round out properly and bleed any speed off, just landed flat.. Speed over the threshold was by the book.
I think you've already learned the lessons you needed out of that experience. I'd put "treat all flights the same" at the top of the list. The reaction to the birds was understandable and your choice to go around was the right one.
Been a while since I flew Single engine stuff as I fly commercially now. Only critique I can draw from this is that given the short nature of the flight a little more prior work on the arrival aerodrome would've done wonders, usually a scrap of paper with a few notes or drawings would help you to assess the arrival you wanted to fly in. Otherwise you made the correct decision to go around promptly and flew it well. Birds always pose a startle or distraction risk so don't beat yourself up about the flat bounce, it happens and you made the correct decision. When flying with birds around me now I try to make sure I look through the birds to keep on path to the runway and watch engine instruments as they pass. If you're going to hit them, you'll know about it. The biggest risk they'll typically pose in approach is the loss of the flight path/situational awareness, and in the event you hit them going around may become a tricky decision to make if you've got damage, whereas if you're able to still make the runway safely that risk is reduced and the landing becomes easier. Otherwise a great video as always, nicely flown and good prompt corrective decision making.. allow yourself to make mistakes, accept it as an experience and don't get frustrated by it. Best advice I can give
Nobody is perfect, you handled it well enough though. Interested to find out why the birds were so keen on the threshold with fields of crops all around. I had the pleasure of a hands on flight in a Harvard with CHAA in Ontario back in 1990, 50 Dollars Canadian for an hour. Best of luck with your Harvard training.
Yeh, a bit harsh on yourself Jon but you made the learning point well. I have to confess on my first flight after lockdown and grounded several months before that with aircraft maintenance, I visited Sandown, did an overhead and turned downwind the wrong way, left instead of right. I caught myself thanks to Skydemon and did a 180 downwind. I was super embarrassed and decided on a couple of touch and goes and go home rather than risk someone having seen me and well, just looking at me as I ordered my bacon buttie. It took me a couple of days of beating myself up but, on reflection, I felt like a fish out of water on that first flight in a long while and, like you, I should have spent more time visualising and pre planning what, on the face of it, was a simple short flight. Someone once said "you don't live long enough to learn from all your mistakes" - How true. Stay safe.
I think you are right you were a little hard on yourself! Your landing whilst flat for the reason you mentioned along with the bounce caused you to be unhappy with your landing, you immediately conducted a Go-Around and made a great second Landing regardless of the birds! So in short you did very well in my humble opinion! Happy Landings and we look forward to seeing you at Earls Colne very soon! Kindest Regards, Ross
i was through my CPL training and my instructor wanted me to do very nose high landing. He wanted control column to be all the way back by touch down. I ended up getting so obsessed that I was yanking my control column to make sure it's all the way back. My landings went to pre-PPL level. I lost all confidence. A circuit lesson with another instructor and again with my instructor where he didn't force me to have very nose high attitude brought me back to proper flying and landing
Unfortunately your CPL instructor was correct. The bird should only land when no longer able to fly. On the Piper the nose attitude is high even with flaps. 99% of pilots never land them properly.
Ay, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Even if it was a go around. At the end of the day, you made the right decision and you walked away from it. Nice work, Jon!
Before watching, let me share my opinion that all pilots should be as open as you about their mistakes. If we all learn from each other, we'll all be safer.
Thanks for another candid video Jon. Yes, joining overhead would have given you a safer approach, but ultimately your airmanship in going around after getting distracted by birds led to a safe outcome - and doubled as a runway inspection! We were on short finals at Willaston FL a couple of years ago when a herd of wild boar invaded the runway - and they don't fly out of the way😂
Better to go around and have another go than try and get it down and get in to even bigger trouble, especially on grass. The fact that you had already considered going around even before the bounce was a massive positive. As others have said, don't dwell on mistakes. Of course you want to learn from them but if you keep thinking about them then it could snowball in to something bigger. Love your work too.
I once ‘bounced ‘ a 172 at Gold Coast International Airport (used to be Coolangatta) on Australia’s east coast. ATC had asked me to do a quick, low level circuit as an A320 was on downwind and they wanted me out of the way ASAP. Anyway, I bounced not once, but twice before announcing I was ‘going around’. “Wise decision” said the man in the tower. Ah, Aussies!
In the chat when inbound you thought it would be a good idea to have an overflight to check the runway and windsock? Why did you shelve this idea? The windsock at the threshold of 24 indicated that 06 was a downwind landing? I don't know whether this will have contributed to the bounce on landing and it's fifty years since I trained on the JP4 so I doubt if I'm qualified to comment. Well done on taking it round!!
Hi Don. I hadn't really thought carefully enough about this flight, and hence made it up as I went along. The view of the windsock in the video is an illusion. I've re-checked the footage from a different angle as we pass the windsock, and it is favouring 06. Thanks for watching.
A serious incident or accident is frequently preceded by a series of minor events or mistakes that line up to cause the accident. The trick is to break the chain. You bounced on landing and without hesitation went around which broke a potential chain and was absolutely the right thing to do. Good airmanship as far as I am concerned. Thank you for sharing, examples like this are educational and just might help to save an accident some day.
Thank you.
I fully agree with RJPick1...
All we want is perfect landings. I'm always hard on myself when I do a non-perfect landing. I always try to figure out what i did wrong. I think i don't "flare" enough, and that I am a little bit fast. How many hours does it take to always achieve those perfect landings?
I appreciate people who post their mistakes online with a debrief. It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there. I'm a student pilot about ready for my checkride. I know videos like this will make me a safer and better pilot. Thank you.
Correct decision, correct analysis, what being a good safe pilot is all about.
Its so refreshing to see somebody who is honest about their experiences. I have recently started to get back into flying and watching your videos has helped me to get the feel for it again. Superb camera work, crystal clear audio and great production make it a pleasure to watch!
Thanks Martin.
There seems to be 2 parts to this for me. The actions and the emotion. The actions and decisions are fine, stuff happens and you handled it well. It was the anger ("I F**d up"), that seemed to me to be the biggest issue. It robs you of your confidence and consequently causes doubt and then the rot creeps in. I know its easy to sit here afterwards and be pointey fingered but the problem is not the problem. Love your work.
Interesting. Thanks.
What a great comment. It really is the focusing on the mistake and not letting it go that can cause the real issue. Really appreciate, Jon, that you put yourself out there like this. I actually learned something today.
Having followed you for a long while I know you have High Standards when it comes to flying. As I have said before, you showing your mistakes will help so many other pilots still learning to fly, grasp the importance of Planning in this instance. I respect your honesty and you rescued the situation very well. Respect 👍
Thanks Stewart.
Great video, thanks!
BTW, flying in France, I was taught to ALWAYS join overhead when the terrain is not controlled (I think this actually is a regulatory obligation here). As mentioned by others, that always gives a good and safe overview of the terrain, potential risks, and helps safely preparing the approach and the landing.
However, you had a very adapted and efficient reaction after bouncing... Thanks for making the mistake, that's a great reminder for those watching the video! :)
And thanks for the tour of this nice airfield / hut!
Thanks for watching Nitram.
Nitram Onze Yes we always do a reconnaissance vertical of the terrain, and then an eloignement that allows for a less stressful approach.
I admire you for sharing your flights which didn’t meet the the standards that you set. I have a saying which is “you’re only as good as your next flight” whats gone before doesn’t mean a thing. This is true of driving too of course. You remind us that a safe flight or drive is never guaranteed. Your honesty & willingness to share your successes & fails is admirable Jon. I think you were a bit hard on yourself overall. Well done on the go round decision. Biggest lesson I learnt in my aviation career was never try to make a landing out of a bad approach or flare & that’s exactly what you did.👍
Appreciate the comment and support Michael.
Well done ! Again you are honest and genuine enough to show us your shortcomings - often the trait of a person who seeks to improve themselves - you are to be commended. The landing is nothing out of the ordinary - you went around. Never a bad call. The situational awareness (or loss thereof) on approach is rather more troubling - but happily no harm, no foul. You realise all of the above. I'm so pleased you have never seen some of my landings !!! I often think its a good thing when I land long (& badly) ....... less people to hold their heads in their hands (hopefully). Much appreciated as always.
Thanks Graeme.
I too have made these same errors in judgement when flying. It’s easy to forget to treat every flight as important as the next. Yes, you should have joined overhead. However, a reckless pilot does what you did and thinks it was right. A good/safe pilot does what you did and learns from the error in judgement. Well done for acknowledging the error and being brave enough to share it. Also, excellent decision making on the go around. Again, it would have been easy to ‘force’ a landing... but you made the right call. Great job and thank you for sharing.
Actually going around from a poor landing is something worth practicing. I don't mean touch and goes either as these are preconceived and include a (hopefully) good landing.
The danger with bad landings are that the Pilot often presses on in the hope that it will eventually stop bouncing and land. But this also results in many accidents. The biggest problem is making the decision to go around at the first sign of things going wrong, and then, you will be getting airborne again at a relatively low speed, and this is where careful management is needed.
Before climbing away, airspeed must be built up by holding the aircraft down at low level until it's safe to ease back on the controls and start climbing.
Well done Jon, you did it perfectly!
thank you.
Ultimately you took the right course of action and landed safely. As a student, your videos have been invaluable. I had my first solo last weekend and much of my 'ground school' has come from watching your highs and lows, good parts and mistakes. You're an inspiration!
Thank you Scott. Congrats on the solo.
Your flying and communications are fantastic. Its great to see that you are human every now and again. You are teaching more than you can imagine. I am about midway through my ppl and I have picked up so much from your videos. Thank you so much for all your hard work!
Good luck with the rest of the training.
Thank you for sharing your story with such honesty. We’ve all make mistake the important thing is that you recognised it and went around. As others have commented it was a number of little things adding up but you broke the cycle by making the quick call to go around.
Excellent video . Thank you David
Aviation is all about ongoing learning from experiences and it is testament to the quality of your content that you have posted this video. Thanks for being so honest and willing to share your experiences with us.
Ultimately your prompt reaction and action then taken is a mark of your airmanship.
Thank you !
Thanks for sharing. Remember, there are no mistakes, only learning experiences.
Really helpful video for all aspiring pilots.Thank you.
Well done, fantastic example of real world ADM. I appreciate you for sharing your mishaps and mistakes. This particular one reminds me why I’ve trained to join the upwind leg or cross above to join downwind on such occasions in order to get a good view of the field. Knowing in advance about the birds and other distractions and potential hazards keeps us as unsurprised as possible when things don’t go as planned. Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks for watching.
Going around is never a bad idea. Gives you more time to think
Hi Jon. Greetings from an American cousin who also spells it Jon and who also own a PA-28-181. Small world isn't it! I've bounced in quite a few landings over the years myself and know the feeling. I too have had to go around a few times. Fortunately we learn from our mistakes and keep going, hopefully to continue to improve. Thanks for the great video and also the visit to the little grass strip with the new visitor quarters installed. Looks like a great place to visit. Cheers!
Thanks for watching Jon.
Great video!! I thought you did the correct thing--you initiated a go around. Recently, a pilot at our airport did not do that on a botched landing, ended up porpoising, lost control and died in the subsequent crash. YOU DID THE RIGHT THING.
The go-around was the right instinct and the right decision. As you said, it's important to give every flight the kind of planning and respect it deserves. It's good to have confidence as a pilot, but not complacency. Over prepare, never rush yourself and you will do well.
Thanks Brian.
John great decision the go around
Passed my PPL last Thursday my PFL was into the airfield so actually had to land it that was testing. I did manage it and rea.y enjoyed the skills test
You have inspired me over the last 18 months through all my training
All Things Pit Bike Well done on your PPL!
Congratulations!
You handled the landing very well!
Thanks Mike.
I think you made a great call to go around when you did. I’m a student PPL within a couple of weeks of my Skills test, I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and the biggest thing that stands out to me is your situational awareness, I look up to you for that a lot, so thanks for sharing this.
Thanks Nick.
Thanks Nick.
Jon showing mistakes and how you learnt from them helps us all to be better pilots - I've never encountered birds before on the runway for example and so this will greatly help me should I encounter them in the future - all very useful. Just don't let it beat you up.
Thanks Nigel. I’ve calmed down now!
After Seeing the birds and your decision to go around rather than porpoise down the runway was wise. You did a great job and shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Stay safe and healthy.
Hi Jon, another really good education video. You’re really hard on your self but you do that to better yourself and be safe! I also have number of times not planned my arrival at airfields correctly! It haunts me for days !! Thank you for sharing :-) Hope to see you at EGLK soon. Chris
Thank you Chris.
John, You are a very good pilot! Better standard than most! Really enjoy your videos they are very informative. I really do enjoy watching.
Thanks James.
I'm just starting to learn to fly. I really hope watching your fantastic videos such as these will make me a better pilot. Absolutely the right thing to do in going around, and kudos for sharing it with us. Keep up the fantastic work sir. :)
Nothing to add!! You seem like you've debriefed perfectly. Filming and editing this gives you an even better chance to analyze your performance. I was told the day you stop learning is the day you should stop flying haha, clearly it's something you've learned from. Looks like a lovely little airfield to visit and an overnight stop there would be pretty cool! Fun little staycation for any pilot in the UK!
Thanks Tom. Appreciate the comment.
@@TheFlyingReporter As soon as I'm allowed I'll get you up!
I admire your commitment to perfection, nothing wrong with that at all, especially in aviation. In any event, you were the pilot flying, no one else, so you made the call as you saw it i.e. the safe call :-)
Thanks Paul.
The safest airspace around an uncontrolled airfield is midfield at or above pattern altitude. I find it a good practice to always avoid a straight in approach, or a direct to downwind approach to an airfield. You did ask for constructive criticism and so I would simply say that it did not seem that you practiced a soft field takeoff, nor a soft field landing, at either of these unimproved airfields. That said, bravo for sharing this content. I have made and continue to make mistakes as a pilot but I do not share them with the world so kudos to you sir.
Thank you.
I fly mainly into hard runways in the south of France: although the rule book is go around if in doubt, I would have recovered from that small bounce with a quick jab of the throttle keeping the aircraft off the ground and nose up, which I was always taught to do on grass: with almost a kilometre of runway you had plenty of distance. But that said if in doubt..... and you are the pilot on the day, and made the right call.
Well done Jon! You self de briefed it perfectly and demonstrated great decision making in going around (Or executing a baulked landing as I would term it.). Once the wheels have touched the ground it's very easy just to accept it and try and sort it out. I'm going to point my club members to this video, not as an example of what not to do but as a great example of what TO do!
Thanks for watching John.
I respect and admire your willingness to share. That opposite flow downwind join was by far the most dangerous of the mistakes. The landing pales in comparison.
Great video and very honest. The learning never stops and after a flight it is always good to ask your self what you can take away from it. Birds are unpredictable as you noticed. A bounce can happen and can have many different causes. What I did notice was that you decided to go straight in but still broke left to follow a lefthand base leg. You self announced correctly and no other traffic was heard. Based on your decision to go straight in maybe breaking left and than flying left base was a decision that made things more complicated. 10 out of 10 for honesty and self analysis which is great airmanship!
Jan. It's a pleasure to have someone with your experience helping me feedback this flight. It didn't match my usual preparedness, hence why it all fell apart a bit. Hope to see you soon at Redhill..
Hi Jon - I bounced into halfpenny yesterday, just a small bounce and a bit of a float as 22 slopes away. Kicked myself about it but after that first little bounce knew I would be going around if she didn’t settle on the next.... which she did.
All to be seen in the next video.
I like how you said on short final “prepare to go around”. I like that and I will start doing that myself because it focus’ the mind that landing will be a bonus but you are planning to go around.
Don’t be hard on yourself.
Thank you. This was definitely a heavier touchdown than I was prepared to tolerate.
Great stuff as always, Jon! Never heard of this beautiful little airfield before. Always informative, many thanks. Keith
You made a good decision to go around,nothing else matters. Live and learn. Thanks for sharing as always.
Cheers Murray.
I think it's way more important that you're good at going around whenever necessary (as you did) than it is to land perfectly every time. Great video Jon, seems there's lots of great overnight spots up in Scotland!
Thanks Joe.
The birds have got a TH-cam channel where they post their battle of wits with you. Oh they laughed when you went around ... ;-)
Love this comment Jonathan!
Funny comment, on the more serious side though, the birds wouldn't laugh when one of them was hit, I am sure.
Well we all make mistakes. I like to join over head but having flown in Scotland my method if I am early in to a field is to fly a low pass to check runway and hope to get the birds away (it works some times). The thing is not to let it get to you when you don't get it right but reflect on it when on the ground (do not add to your thoughts in the air, just re-plan, do not dwell). It is the short flights that catch most pilots and the video is a good reminder that the most critical planning parts of a flight are departure and arrival.
I think a low approach would have been a good idea.
Another very honest and well made video we can all learn from. And what an awesome little airfield that is. Thanks a lot!
Thanks for watching.
I admire your passion and your drive for perfection. Please keep making videos.
Thanks for the support Tony.
The dangerous folks are those who don't learn from their mistakes or admit them. Looked like pretty good airmanship there. Prompt go around is the right decision every time.
U did great! Proper go-around after bouncing, hats off.
Thank you.
What you demonstrated Jon was fantastic airmanship, the landing was screwed up as a result of external issues and you threw the landing away and went around as you should have done, just remember how many professionals do that each year at London Gatwick alone, so you should be proud of yourself mate not upset!!!
That’s true a David.
Nothing wrong with decisive action and a go around. As my instructor said as he climbed out of the plane to let me solo, "Don't be afraid of a go around. If you have to go around, it is absolutely fine. I'd rather see you go around than anything else...but a good landing of course." Didn't need one that day, but I have since. No shame...it's good skill. Thank for sharing.
I think this is a classic Human Factors case!
In my day Job, I am an Emergency Response Ambulance Driving Instructor & Human Factors have become a huge part of what we teach.
There are 5 stress coping techniques that fall into driving (and as a pilot I would suggest flying too!) These are;
-Confrontative Coping: where you deal with a challenging situation with aggression and often blame others. This is a dangerous coping strategy.
-Task Focused coping: where you change things that are within your control to make a challenging situation easier to deal with - setting the aircraft up correctly & early with plenty of contingency plans is a good example of this. This is a good coping strategy.
-Emotion Focused coping: where you worry about mistakes made, often out of embarrassment or fear of potential consequences, and this inhibits your ability to make decisions safely. This is a bad strategy.
- Reappraisal Coping: this is where you reconstruct an incident and either find learning points for next time to gain benefit from a poor experience, or you actually realise it was pretty benign and isn’t worth worrying at all! This is a good strategy and is what you are doing every time you debrief yourself post flight!
-Avoidance Coping: this is where you deal with a challenging situation by just ignoring the hazards present, pretend they don’t exist or try to play them down as to not deal with them. An example of this is pretending the weather isn’t as bad because you want to go flying... or continuing with a flight into IMC because you’re too embarrassed to admit defeat. This is also a bad coping mechanism.
In this video you fell straight into emotion focussed, but quickly moved back to task focused!!
When ever I teach this subject I always refer to Amelia Earhart who said “worry retards reaction and makes clear-cut decisions impossible”
Human factors are such a large part of why things happen, and often lead to a string of smaller events that become something catastrophic - the Swiss Cheese model!
You’re doing a fantastic job, so keep up the good work!
Thank you Thomas. A lot to digest there, and definitely a lot of human factors at play in this short flight.
The Flying Reporter when I investigate collisions at work - it’s often the shortest of journeys that have the gravest of consequences!
Hi Jon, I made the exact same mistake of not respecting a short flight enough. Coincidentally, it was at your departure airfield in this video, Newhall Mains, returning from a short dinner trip to Dornoch Castle. I shared my mistake which although a different one, had interesting parallels. A video of that is in my TH-cam channel "Fying out for Dinner" I agree that sharing our flights on TH-cam is an immensely effective way of learning from others' feedback. Thanks for another great video.
Good call on the go around. Also that wasn't even a bad landing compared to some I see in the GA communi. You clearly have very high standards as this whole flight looked fantastic. Well done.
Thanks John.
Did the same a month or so ago. Captain kangaroo was in command. So before he wrecked my nose gear I took control and went around. This was at my home strip. It happens. You made the right choice. 2 very nice airfields
Nothing wrong with the right base join as you were clear with your blind calls from 6+ miles out. However, the overhead join, although not suggested in Pooley's plates is in the AFE plate. An unhelpful confliction which should be addressed by the airfield owner. A low pass could have been a good idea if you had any doubts that the runway area had potential hazards. This would have given everyone a heads up. Birds will always try and avoid aircraft , they want to go home for tea and medals too so, hold your attitude and track. The go around was a good call and carried out without hesitation all in all, 9/10 You are right, prior planning would have avoided some of your "errors". An ex naval test pilot recently said to me, '...aim to work at 60/70% capacity, leaving the rest for emergencies and decisions on the hoof'. A few years ago i went to Sywell. i briefed myself the runway was going to be 21R and only 21, after all it always is...isn't it? When i arrived it had changed to the 600m grass Rwy23....yikes! As i approached i couldn't work out the overhead join for that runway, so i climbed to 3000', told the tower i had an issue and departed 5 miles to the north and set myself up in an orbit. I gathered my thoughts and after 5 mins headed back to execute a perfect short field landing. When you've saturated your mental capacity, play safe; forget about any embarrassment you may be feeling and live to fly another day!
All wise words Andy. Thanks.
Inverness is where I trained!! Great too see the firth on your channel!!
As others have said, you have picked up on the mistakes and learned from them, that's the key thing. Your reactions to the issues you encountered were the right decisions so I hope that you take that away as a huge positive. Personally I find it very refreshing that you publish any mistakes you make and strive for perfection. Keep up the good work 😊
Thanks Claire. I try to keep it real.
Right call on the go around for sure. Agree with your observation that joining the pattern in opposite direction to likely traffic flow (even though there wasn’t any traffic) maybe not the smartest decision and would have benefitted from a bit more prior planning. The standard UK overhead join isn’t always the best solution, but in this case it would have resolved that problem. At quiet rural airstrips it is worth considering a prior planned and announced low pass down the runway to move the birds, deer, walkers and people on quad bikes before making a circuit to land. Nothing to beat yourself up about though - overall good ADM!
Thanks John. I think you're right. A low pass would have been the best course of action.
OK, overhead join would have been preferable, but go-around was exactly the right decision at that point. Thanks for your openness.
Thanks Jon.
Great video 👍✈️
That wasn't a bounce Jon, it was just a grass field skip and easily managed with a touch more back pressure. Didn't even need a blip of power, just don't push forward !! The 2nd landing was at almost the same pitch as the first so maybe something to think about? That said, If in doubt go around, is ALWAYS the right decision !
I was having problems landing after the lockdown lay-off and it took me longer than it should have to realise that I was not looking to the end of the runway. Such a basic "muscle memory" thing to forget, but I did!
Thanks for the input. Fly safe.
Good honesty about the pattern entry, and good call on the go around. All the best. Wayne
Thank you Wayne.
Good decision so far as I’m concerned, especially at a field you didn’t know. I have kept a ‘little black book’ since I started flying 30 years ago. In it I record the sorts of mistakes, poor decisions or poor airmanship which we all do from time to time. It makes me reflect after the event, takes the emotion away and converts it into fact, and makes fascinating reading down the years. That I am still on the book that I started and have a few pages left to fill indicates that it’s probably had the desired effect!
That's a great idea.
[schoolboy sneer] My bounce was bigger than yours! [ /schoolboy sneer] Truly, it was! A combination of energy bleed off, a slight negative windsheer and being too high when I was "touching down" gave my instructor a mild fit as we dropped about 3-4 ft onto the runway and then launched up again (he told me I was too high...). Thankfully, I gave it a heap of throttle and returned to flying before very gingerly easing down for a smooth landing about 1000ft further than anticipated (6000ft runway). This triggered interest in the unfamiliar surroundings as he dryly said" OOh, haven't been down here for years!"
I've never landed on grass, so I think your go-around was infinitely preferable to a deep groove in the runway lined with bits of undercarriage & other aero accoutrements... well done!
Thanks Steve. I think we've all been there. I love instructors like that!
Excellent video Jon - thanks for sharing, a great resource for everyone to learn from.
Thanks Ross.
Jon, I feel you should be applauded for videos like this. I would say you made no mistakes just explored a series of learning opportunities. If you spent 3 months planning this short flight you would never have factored in birds at one end of the runway and a moving vehicle at the other! When the moment came to make a split second decision on a go around your airmanship kicked in and the right decision made.
Thanks Mikey
I’ve done that exact type of bounce and didn’t initiate a go-around until the second bounce... almost a very bad mistake. I think you did exactly the right thing.
Thank you.
Well John, in my humble opinion that was not so bad so do not be too hard on yourself as we have all been there at least once.
The nain thing is your judgement & decision making was actually spot on on final.
You had spotted one problem and nentally prepared for the go around already anyway as you articulated.
Yes the better option would have been an overhead join with potentially an overflight of the runway,
Other than that you did alright buddy.
Thanks Sean.
I say, welcome to the club! It’s good to critique oneself for improvement. Nice work. Thanks for the video.
Thank you.
You could fill up the shock absorber in the front a bit. It looks okay but especially now, when we have a high temperature volatility it loss pressure very fast...
I think unfortunately we have all been there before, slightly behind the plan and the plane when all it takes is one perturbation to send things spiraling. Luckily your airmanship kicked back in and you made the good decision to go around all while realizing your mistake. Luckily because you were confident enough to share, all of us can go through this with you and be reminded without needing a refresher ourselves.
Also, what a remarkable situation with that airfield hut! Seems like almost a shame you couldn't stay over!
Thanks for your support. I will probably end up in the hut one day!
A similar thing happened to me 2 days ago in the C172. It wasn’t birds but a stiff crosswind that threw me. Bounced, had to apply power and go around. You did the right thing as soon as you realised the situation (one bounce).
Thanks pal.
I’d say you handled that very well. I shouldn’t imagine you’ll find many pilots that haven’t got themselves in a bit of a raffle at one time or another trying to work out how to join a circuit. I have on several occasions!
Thank you Rory.
My 2 cents... regardless of how minor the bounce appears after us having the chance to review the footage, there was no hesitation in the decision to go around which is great. I'm an analyzing hesitator myself with a bad habit of salvaging every landing, which is something I need to change if I want to become an old pilot. I've had a number of diversions in the last couple weeks to airports just 3-4 minutes from my original target which created some challenging situations from being flustered or unprepared. If there's any feedback to give you.... wait until you're on the ground before you get upset with yourself, a few f bombs on the go around could contribute to the 'series of minor events', especially if flying complex aircraft.
Thank you.
Don't beat yourself up too much. No two landings are the same. No pilot is perfect - few admit their mistakes. Any doubts, going around is always the right decision. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Scott.
Jon, these things happen. Preparations, okay, always do. The actual 1st landing attempt was influenced by two external factors, so a go-around was maybe a good idea even sooner. For the bounce, was it maybe a result of an unintended pitch change, with a increase of speed then..? Not sure because it's hard to see in the video. Anyway, your reaction was the only right one...a third bounce could have a bad ending. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Bob.
The first distraction due to birds was nothing to be too upset about. The go around was the right move. The bigger mistake was not taking the short hop seriously enough and not planning ahead. As always thanks for sharing.
Thank you.
wrong way in the circuit was a big mistake. The bounce and subsequent go-around is pretty standard (at least it is for me). As always you are super critical and brave enough to share your mistakes. Good on you for doing that.
Thanks Dave.
Hi Jon another lovely video I am learning to fly
There was nothing wrong with the initial landing attempt, you bounced but it’s not dangerous at all to bounce and happens to the best pilots, you realised that it wasn’t worth trying to salvage it and made the correct decision to go around.
I actually had a similar experience today on my qualifying cross country into Wellesbourne, I bounced hard on landing and made the decision to go around almost instinctively.
I had flown in from Leicester and I heard a familiar voice on frequency - were you at Leicester on 14 Jun 2021 by any chance? Sounded exactly like you!
Your honesty is greatly appreciated John. Edit: Permission to show you the exact same bounce I did in my aircraft when my video is released John?
You did fine... Do your fields get muddy, ever? I've flown a Cherokee on grass fields many times, but usually the one I fly for that doesn't have wheel pants. I do love grass runways.
I was expecting a giant bounce! Not sure what your speed was, but just seemed a bit flat to me. You were ready, rightly, to go around and did that very well.
The only negative I saw was as you said, putting yourself against the downwind traffic. In the US, some people extend downwind pretty far, so that's a bit dangerous. Either overhead, as you mentioned, or just go far wide left, turn right, and enter the downwind at a 45. At least that's a reasonable procedure in the US for an uncontrolled field. Another option is a straight in approach. Legal here, generally frowned upon for VFR, but OK when there's no other traffic around.
The bounce probably felt more of a deal than it actually was. Good decision to go around, though. I find that a complete circuit always helps me set up properly for landing when I’m at an unfamiliar airfield, even if the runway in use isn’t a question. Straight to base or to a long final can be ok if I’ve visited the place several times before.
I’d love to fly in Scotland, but it’s so far away from West Sweden: I don’t fancy the direct route.
Thanks Peter. Yes, it felt a lot worse than it looked.
Don’t be over critical, we all make mistakes, you are very honest about all of yours and share them for others to learn. The go around was a good choice from my perspective, you showed great decision making by having it ready and available to you so that was clear motor function and responsive. Nice to overfly before landing but not always available as not every approach allows overhead joins, birds will be birds they love playing chicken. Best of all you are human and vent your frustrations with them and yourself 😂
Thank you Marvin.
Good de-brief.....over head joins are best bet it gives you an opportunity to do a reconnaissance of the rwy state/windsock/other items of note....but hey thats flying for you....the go around was the only option under those circumstances...well flown i'd have no proble flying with you....cheers!!!
Thanks Richard.
You definitely did the right procedure of going around! A bounced landing Could become Pilot induced oscillations that can be hazardous to Plane and health. The only thing I can judge from this video is that you were possibly going a little too fast on final and when touching down bounced back into the air. If you were at the exact touch down speed your stall warning should just start beeping as your wheels touch the grass, then no bounce just rolling onto the grass would have occurred.
Thanks Daniel. Yes, too fast, because I didn't round out properly and bleed any speed off, just landed flat.. Speed over the threshold was by the book.
I think you've already learned the lessons you needed out of that experience. I'd put "treat all flights the same" at the top of the list. The reaction to the birds was understandable and your choice to go around was the right one.
Thank you Robert.
Been a while since I flew Single engine stuff as I fly commercially now. Only critique I can draw from this is that given the short nature of the flight a little more prior work on the arrival aerodrome would've done wonders, usually a scrap of paper with a few notes or drawings would help you to assess the arrival you wanted to fly in. Otherwise you made the correct decision to go around promptly and flew it well. Birds always pose a startle or distraction risk so don't beat yourself up about the flat bounce, it happens and you made the correct decision. When flying with birds around me now I try to make sure I look through the birds to keep on path to the runway and watch engine instruments as they pass. If you're going to hit them, you'll know about it. The biggest risk they'll typically pose in approach is the loss of the flight path/situational awareness, and in the event you hit them going around may become a tricky decision to make if you've got damage, whereas if you're able to still make the runway safely that risk is reduced and the landing becomes easier. Otherwise a great video as always, nicely flown and good prompt corrective decision making.. allow yourself to make mistakes, accept it as an experience and don't get frustrated by it. Best advice I can give
Great advice. Thank you.
Nobody is perfect, you handled it well enough though. Interested to find out why the birds were so keen on the threshold with fields of crops all around.
I had the pleasure of a hands on flight in a Harvard with CHAA in Ontario back in 1990, 50 Dollars Canadian for an hour. Best of luck with your Harvard training.
Yeh, a bit harsh on yourself Jon but you made the learning point well. I have to confess on my first flight after lockdown and grounded several months before that with aircraft maintenance, I visited Sandown, did an overhead and turned downwind the wrong way, left instead of right. I caught myself thanks to Skydemon and did a 180 downwind. I was super embarrassed and decided on a couple of touch and goes and go home rather than risk someone having seen me and well, just looking at me as I ordered my bacon buttie. It took me a couple of days of beating myself up but, on reflection, I felt like a fish out of water on that first flight in a long while and, like you, I should have spent more time visualising and pre planning what, on the face of it, was a simple short flight. Someone once said "you don't live long enough to learn from all your mistakes" - How true. Stay safe.
Thanks for the comments. yes, the shame can be worse than the reality sometimes.
My first touch and go alone was a bump landing I think it’s a roll of honour.
The immediate go around was a very well decision...
I think you are right you were a little hard on yourself! Your landing whilst flat for the reason you mentioned along with the bounce caused you to be unhappy with your landing, you immediately conducted a Go-Around and made a great second Landing regardless of the birds! So in short you did very well in my humble opinion! Happy Landings and we look forward to seeing you at Earls Colne very soon! Kindest Regards, Ross
Thanks Ross. Back there on Thursday.
i was through my CPL training and my instructor wanted me to do very nose high landing. He wanted control column to be all the way back by touch down. I ended up getting so obsessed that I was yanking my control column to make sure it's all the way back. My landings went to pre-PPL level. I lost all confidence. A circuit lesson with another instructor and again with my instructor where he didn't force me to have very nose high attitude brought me back to proper flying and landing
Unfortunately your CPL instructor was correct. The bird should only land when no longer able to fly. On the Piper the nose attitude is high even with flaps. 99% of pilots never land them properly.
@@JB-tc8el I didn't say my CPL instructor was incorrect. On the contrary I said I got obsessed and made my landings worse.
Ay, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing. Even if it was a go around. At the end of the day, you made the right decision and you walked away from it. Nice work, Jon!
Thank you.
Before watching, let me share my opinion that all pilots should be as open as you about their mistakes. If we all learn from each other, we'll all be safer.
Thanks for another candid video Jon. Yes, joining overhead would have given you a safer approach, but ultimately your airmanship in going around after getting distracted by birds led to a safe outcome - and doubled as a runway inspection! We were on short finals at Willaston FL a couple of years ago when a herd of wild boar invaded the runway - and they don't fly out of the way😂
Those can wreck smaller cars. Better not play chicken with them.
@@syntheretique385 We didn't, luckily we had time for a safe go around.
I'll keep my birds thanks.
Better to go around and have another go than try and get it down and get in to even bigger trouble, especially on grass. The fact that you had already considered going around even before the bounce was a massive positive. As others have said, don't dwell on mistakes. Of course you want to learn from them but if you keep thinking about them then it could snowball in to something bigger. Love your work too.
Thank you Nick.
I once ‘bounced ‘ a 172 at Gold Coast International Airport (used to be Coolangatta) on Australia’s east coast. ATC had asked me to do a quick, low level circuit as an A320 was on downwind and they wanted me out of the way ASAP. Anyway, I bounced not once, but twice before announcing I was ‘going around’. “Wise decision” said the man in the tower.
Ah, Aussies!
Cheeky ATC.
In the chat when inbound you thought it would be a good idea to have an overflight to check the runway and windsock? Why did you shelve this idea? The windsock at the threshold of 24 indicated that 06 was a downwind landing? I don't know whether this will have contributed to the bounce on landing and it's fifty years since I trained on the JP4 so I doubt if I'm qualified to comment. Well done on taking it round!!
Hi Don. I hadn't really thought carefully enough about this flight, and hence made it up as I went along. The view of the windsock in the video is an illusion. I've re-checked the footage from a different angle as we pass the windsock, and it is favouring 06. Thanks for watching.