AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021 - 106

FLY WITH AOPA
ASI TIPS /
Bounces and
porpoises
The key to avoiding prop strikes
BY ALICIA HERRON
ENERGY MANAGEMENT THROUGHOUT all phases of flight is critical,
and especially so during landing. Too slow and you might be met
with a hard touchdown that unnecessarily stresses the airplane.
Too fast and you might start a bounce-and that bounce might
turn into a porpoise if you don't correct for it properly. And after
the porpoise starts, you can easily get yourself into a prop strike.
Prop strikes are expensive, and in most cases, they require
a complete engine teardown and often an engine overhaul. A
" minor " prop strike might not look like a big deal, but even
a seemingly minor ding is potentially serious and should not
be taken lightly. Propeller strikes, like gear-up landings and
loss of control on the ground, are typically avoidable and the
result of pilot error. And while porpoising is one potential factor,
there are other causes as well.
In Avoiding Prop Strikes, The AOPA Air Safety Institute
examines why prop strikes happen and offers practical tips
that will save your propellers, engine, and firewall. Sponsored
by AssuredPartners Aerospace and USAIG.
alicia.herron@aopa.org
airsafetyinstitute.org/insurance/avoiding-propstrikes
CHECKR IDE CHECKL IST:
Answers from designated pilot examiners
Q If you know you are going to botch a short-field or
power-off, 180-degree landing, should you go around?
Would that decision fail you?
NEW FROM ASI /
'There I Was': Tracing the air race /
Former Washington Post reporter John Lancaster shares
the story of flying across the United States in his Flight
Design CTLSi light sport aircraft while researching the
1919 Transcontinental Air Race. As he traced the route
flown by pilots in the Air Race 100 years ago, Lancaster
faced challenges with weather, congested airspace,
mountainous terrain, and more.
Backcountry flying in South Africa /
While flying out of a backcountry airstrip near Johannesburg
in South Africa, pilot and YouTube personality Thomas
Marrow experienced a prop strike in his Safari Kitplane.
airsafetyinstitute.org/thereiwas
106
AOPA PILOT /October 2021
A Yes, you should go around. But if that will result
in a failure depends. It is always a best practice to
go around if you are going to make a bad landing.
Never force the aircraft down just to hit a point or
get the landing done. This can result in damage or
worse. When you make the decision to go around
on a short-field landing and then come around and
do a good landing it will most times result in passing
that maneuver. On a power-off 180-degree landing, a
go-around has been interpreted by the FAA to be only
allowable without failure when the conditions or need
for the go-around were out of the applicant's control.
For example: an abnormal wind gust, ATC calling
for a go-around, or perhaps an aircraft pulling out in
front of you. The FAA views the power-off 180 as a no
go-around emergency procedure demonstration to a
performance maneuver standard. It really is a one and
done maneuver on a commercial practical test.
Get more tips from DPEs as well as tips and tricks for
flight instructors, students, and all pilots in the free CFI
to CFI newsletter.
airsafetyinstitute.org/cfi-to-cfi
http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/insurance/avoiding-propstrikes http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/thereiwas http://www.airsafetyinstitute.org/cfi-to-cfi
AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2021
