History of the Flight
The pilot, aged 56, and a passenger who was also a pilot, departed from Wickham, Hampshire, to fly to a private airstrip at West Tisted, approximately 13 miles to the north-east. The purpose of the flight was to conduct practice forced landings. West Tisted has a 700 m grass strip oriented approximately 06/24.
After arriving, the pilot completed several successful practice forced landings on Runway 06, which was into wind. He then decided to perform a normal approach to land from the opposite direction, on Runway 24, to gain further experience. The pilot was aware that there would be a slight tailwind component, but considered his airspeed on the approach to be sufficient.
During the flare, at a height of about 8 to 10 feet, the aircraft stalled and came down on its nosewheel. The nosewheel buckled on impact, and the propeller was damaged from contact with the ground. The aircraft then slid along the ground for about 30 m before coming to a halt.
Meteorological Information
According to the aviation weather brief obtained by the pilot at 11:00 hrs, the forecast wind speed/direction was 030°/5 kt. At the time of the accident, the actual wind was 030°/5 kt, gusting to 10 kt.
Pilot's Comments
The pilot felt that he had been caught out by the tailwind, which he had not expected to be gusting, and that his airspeed in the latter part of the approach may not have been high enough for the given conditions.
Damage
The nosewheel and propeller were damaged. No other damage was reported.