Flight School - Lesson #9 - 8AM-9:30AM - Wind & Balloon While Landing
October 24, 2006 – 11:03 am | by gaulardcom
|
|
Since finishing my last lesson, I have been going over my mistakes in my mind. There were a few…you can read this post to catch up. I went into this lesson on a mission. I even told Yigal that I was going to impress him today. I figured that a few days of dreaming about this lesson would handle that.
Well, today was windy again. Let’s be clear, it is good to practice in the wind. It draws out a lot of issues and teaches a student pilot how to correct them. Trust me, flying in calm air has just become much easier. Also, I appreciate the fact that I am learning crosswind takeoffs, landings and crabbing with the instructor in the cockpit with me, rather than being all alone trying to gain this important experience for the first time. It is challenging to say the least.
I am doing very well with the taxi, takeoff, climb, pattern, speed, crabbing and descent. I am actually getting the hang of descending smoothly to bring the plane about a foot off the runway. Up to this point, I have had a problem with maintaining enough airspeed to avoid a full stall before I needed it on landing, so I wanted to correct that for today. Well, apparently when you land, everything you do becomes extremely sensitive.
As stated above, I come in nicely for my final descent and bring the airplane about a foot off the runway. At that point, the problems begin. Right when I hit my target height, wham, we balloon back up to about twenty feet off the runway. Now, this is very dangerous because at such a slow speed at that height, the airplane can drop suddenly, causing damage.
Here is a good description:
“Most pilots, especially of small aircraft, will experience ground effects on landing; in fact the art of landing largely comes down to understanding when these effects need to be taken into account. As the aircraft descends towards the runway, it will not be influenced by ground effect, but as the aircraft flares and descends within one wingspan of the strip, ground effect will cause a pronounced increase in lift. If not anticipated by the pilot this can cause the aircraft to rise suddenly and significantly — an effect known as a “balloon”. Left uncorrected, a balloon can lead to a dangerous situation where the aircraft is rising yet decelerating, a condition which can rapidly lead to a stall, especially when it is considered that landing speeds are generally only a very small margin above the stall speed. A stall even from a few tens of feet above the ground can cause a major, possibly fatal, crash. A “balloon” may be corrected given sufficient runway remaining, but for novice pilots a better option is to go around. A good landing approach allows for ground effect such that the aircraft flares and is held off in ground effect until it gently descends onto the runway.”
So, this issue had to do with airspeed and ground effect causing a balloon. It happened twice today. A few landings were ok, with one being very good. As you can imagine, my personality does not accept this that well. Yigal tells me not to be hard on myself and that almost all student pilots experience this at this point in their training, but I really need to conquer this. I will be doing a lot of research on this to prepare for my next lesson on Sunday. Of course, any advice from other student pilots would be GREATLY appreciated. I would also appreciate other experiences…Bob C.?
PS - Yigal tells me to get ready for my first solo.
Total hours - 10.5
Related posts
Tags: Flight Maneuvers, Flying
5 Responses to “Flight School - Lesson #9 - 8AM-9:30AM - Wind & Balloon While Landing”
By Bob on Oct 24, 2006 | Reply
Jay!
I agree with your instructor - Don’t be so hard on yourself. But, like you, I hate hearing that. I too want to be exact. I know HOW it’s supposed to work, so why can I DO it? It takes a lot of practice.
First, take a look at what you have accomplished. Take stock in the skills you HAVE. At 10 hrs, you are almost ready to solo. THAT’S amazing. You say that you have pattern, uncontrolled field radio work, takeoffs and approach down - in 10 hours??? WOW!
I did my first pattern solo at 25 hours. National average is 15-25 hrs. You are doing great. Now, about those winds. Yeah, this time of the year it’s a challenge. Plenty of opportunity to hone your x-wind landing skills. At 45 hours, they are still challenging me - and from what I understand, they are always going to be the hardest element of flying. The other day I was coming in with a pretty stiff cross wind, probably close to 10-15kts component. Had the crab perfectly all the way down, like it was on rails. Then as I came over the fence, the wind was gone (because there are trees breaking the wind), didn’t anticipate, ended heading for the right side of the runway, over corrected to the left (because I’m working on “being more active with the rudder during landing), straightened it out had a good solid bounce (maybe about 4-5 feet) and then came down firmly. I was disappointed that I didn’t nail that landing. Was doing sooo well all the way down. Was beating myself up about it and my instructor said.. “ya did good. Could you have done that 10 hours ago?” The answer - NO WAY. I had to look at it in perspective. Yeah, we KNOW what to do. It’s all about practice, getting our feet to do things they have not been trained to do.
About ground effect. That’s something that I’ve never had a problem with. I can sense it, can almost visualize it. But keeping the plane aligned with the runway - dang, I just can’t get that right. You see, everyone has different learning speeds for the different components. Something you take for granted, someone else is probably struggling with. In the end, after 50 or 60 hours, we all kinda catch up and are in the same place.
Two ground effect experiences that probably helped me better appreciate, understand ground effect. The first was a summer day. My instructor and I were at KPOU. The controller was kind enough to give us a heads up that a thunder storm cell had just formed to the west and was heading this way. It was almost the end of the lesson so we hightailed it home. Coming into the pattern for 44N, my instructor said “my plane” and we did a long fast final approach. He “dove” to the field. Was about a 1000 ft/min decent. My eyes were wide open. He flared nicely. Greased the landing and we quickly made it to the hangar before any t-storms arrived. Looking back I was amazed how much ground effect cushioned the flair.
Another is when I was doing some solo work, practicing x-wind landings. I decided not to use full flaps, (and forgot to compensate for the increased speed) so I came across the fence pretty hot - about 75 kts. I was realized I was fast (the runway blasting under me) I was anticipating ground effect a long float and I just let it play it self out. I used a good 85% of the runway that time - instead of the usual 30 or 40%
Now, advice, from a “seasoned” student (laugh please). Sounds like you are flaring too hard. Ballooning 20 feet? Really? That’s sounds like you still have A LOT of energy (read: speed). Sounds like you’re still going quite fast. When I balloon, it’s maybe 5 feet. A couple of times early on - say in the 15-25 hour range, if I ballooned more than 5 feet, I’d punch the power and go around (though my instructors have been showing me how I can add a schooch of power to let it down gently). I’ll take the go around. When I do balloon, I find that I pulled back the yoke too hard. I have to learn to flare, hold, and as the speed bleeds (ground effect lessens), THEN gently pull back all the way.
Hope that helps.
By gaulardcom on Oct 24, 2006 | Reply
Bob,
Thank you so much! This is EXACTLY why I asked you to comment. I am going to read your last paragraph a few times. Yes, one time today the balloon was huge, so it definately called for some more power to land smoothly. I need to learn how to recover from ballooning as well as how not to do it in the first place, since it can be prone to happening. As I understand it, landing is the toughest thing to do, but what I don’t like is how the books and videos can’t give you the “feel” like the actual airplane can, because I do a lot of reading.
Thank you again for the effort you put into this comment and the “spirit lifting.”
Jay
By gaulardcom on Oct 24, 2006 | Reply
PS - A funny thing my instructor said today…he told me about all the pilots that fly to Block Island with their kids and can’t land because of the wind at the airport. Poor kids have to look out the window as they are flying back home…
By Tim on Oct 24, 2006 | Reply
I found this article. Hope it helps -
BALLOONS AND BOUNCES
Sometimes in the final stages of the approach, the pilot has the sensation that the ground is coming up faster than it in fact is. He increases the pitch attitude too rapidly and causes the airplane to climb instead of descend. This climbing during round out is known as ballooning. It is also caused when the flaps are lowered too late in the landing sequence.
A bounce will almost certainly occur if the round out is made too slowly or too late so that the nose gear (in the case of tricycle geared airplanes) or the main gear (in the case of tail wheel airplanes) touches first. A bounce will also occur if the round out is completed too high and the airplane is dropped onto the runway.
A bounce or a balloon each produces a critical situation. Not only is the airplane gaining height above the runway but it may also be approaching a stall. As well, the cross wind correction may have been lost and the pitch attitude of the airplane may be in excess of that of the normal landing attitude.
The best corrective action for a severe balloon or bounce is to apply power and execute a go around. If the balloon or bounce is low in height and the pitch change is not extreme and there is sufficient runway left, a landing may be made by establishing directional control, applying power to cushion the landing and adjusting the pitch attitude to that landing attitude proper for touchdown.
By gaulardcom on Oct 24, 2006 | Reply
Tim, Thanks very much.