Introduction
On 25 September 2001 at 1040 hours UTC, a Grob G115E aircraft, registration G-BYUE, was involved in an incident during a training flight at the Royal Air Force College, Cranwell. The aircraft was powered by a single Lycoming AEI0-360-B1F piston engine and was manufactured in 1999. The flight was conducted as a basic instructional exercise with a student qualified flying instructor (QFI) and an instructor on board. There were no passengers. Neither crew member sustained injuries.
Flight Details
The weather was fine with a calm surface wind. The student pilot flew a normal visual circuit and approach to land on the right side of grass Runway 09. The final approach was slightly steeper than usual, with an airspeed 3 to 5 knots above the target speed of 70 knots. By the time the landing flare was initiated, approximately 500 feet beyond the runway threshold, the speed had reduced to 70 knots.
Incident
To avoid ballooning, the pilot delayed raising the nose into the landing attitude. As a result, the aircraft touched down simultaneously on all three wheels and bounced. The pilot instinctively moved the control column forward, causing the nose wheel to strike the ground. He announced "PIO" (pilot induced oscillation), smoothly applied full power, and initiated a go-around.
Believing that the propeller had struck the ground during the bounce, the instructor took control of the aircraft at a height of about 5 feet. With approximately 1,600 feet of grass runway remaining, he closed the throttle and performed a straight-ahead landing. The aircraft decelerated to taxi speed with 500 feet of runway remaining.
Aftermath
The aircraft cleared the runway and taxied to dispersal without further incident. Inspection revealed damage to the propeller blades, nose landing gear, engine mounting frame, and fuselage.