Bad landings make for a good lesson

My landings today were atrocious, truly some of the worst I’ve done in the last few months, but I’m really not worried. The fact that my landings were so bad actually made for a really good lesson.

Bob had kicked me up there solo with instructions to do two or three circuits and then bring her back (the unspoken implication being “in one piece.”) We both knew that previously my landings had been a bit on the flat and springy side!

I was nervous about going up on my own but probably less than I thought I was going to be. I was a little anxious, a bit wary but mostly just hyperaware of what was going on around me but not in a “paralysed by fear” way. This is a definite improvement.

I taxied out, reminding ATC that I was still on my old transponder code (they got me to change it) and did my stuff in the run-up area. My takeoff briefing consisted of the usual “Don’t break the effing plane.”

Circuit #1 started off great. Fantastic directional and altitude control, reasonable turn to base and approach to final, and then the landing. Oh dear! Boingity boing!

After the second boing, where I came down harder than the first, I decided now was not the time to argue with the plane. I literally said out loud “F@ck this for a game of chess, you obviously still wanna fly.” So I pushed the throttle in and around we went.

Circuit #2 was pretty much the same, bouncity bounce  and around we go. Leaving me feeling slightly bemused and once again talking to myself. “Lovely circuits WMAP but you are going to have to land eventually”

Circuit #3 I concentrated really hard. I knew what I’d been doing wrong. I was coming in too fast and with no head wind , even a few knots over the magic 65 meant that I came in like a rocket, saw the runway disappearing underneath me and panicked, forcing the nose down. I briefly mulled over asking ATC for an extended downwind to give me time to stabilise my approach. As luck would have it traffic meant that they got me to anyway. I set myself up on a nice long final, tried not to drag it in under power and prayed for third time lucky. I bounced a little but it settled down. I kept the column back and exited the runway.

The landings may have been crappy but I made the right decisions in a split second. Having the confidence to know that I do make the right call was a far more valuable lesson than landing perfectly each time.