STUDENT OF A CESSNA 172 EXPERIENCED A PARTIAL PWR LOSS ON INITIAL CLB AFTER TKOF RESULTING IN RETURNING TO LAND AND A 'HARD BOUNCY LNDG' CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE PROP.
Synopsis
STUDENT OF A CESSNA 172 EXPERIENCED A PARTIAL PWR LOSS ON INITIAL CLB AFTER TKOF RESULTING IN RETURNING TO LAND AND A 'HARD BOUNCY LNDG' CAUSING DAMAGE TO THE PROP.
Narrative
THIS IS A RPT ON A PARTIAL PWR LOSS ON JUN/XX/96 IN A C172 I WAS FLYING AT HOLMEN FIELD IN ST PAUL; MN. I AM A STUDENT PLT WITH 80 HRS; VERY CLOSE TO MY CHK RIDE. AT ABOUT XA45 JUN/SUN/96; WAS RETURNING FROM SOLO FLYING; HAVING PRACTICED MANEUVERS IN THE PRACTICE AREA; AND SOFT FIELD LNDGS AND TKOFS AT LAKE ELMO (21D) ARPT. PWR WAS NORMAL DURING PRACTICE; AS WAS EVERYTHING ELSE. ST PAUL ATIS RPTED WINDS FROM 250 DEGS AT 7 KTS. ATC AT ST PAUL ASKED ME TO RPT A STRAIGHT IN 4 MI FINAL FOR RWY 26 FOR MY TOUCH AND GO; WHICH I DID. EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL ON THE APCH. I TOUCHED DOWN; RETRACTED FLAPS; TURNED OFF CARB HEAT AND APPLIED FULL PWR. AS THE PLANE ROTATED I ENCOUNTERED SOME TURB AND IMMEDIATELY REALIZED THE PLANE WAS NOT CLBING CORRECTLY. AIRSPD WAS TOO LOW; BARELY ABOVE 60 KTS; AND PWR WAS LESS THAN 2100 RPMS. I CHKED THE CTL SETTINGS AND COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. I KEPT THE NOSE DOWN TO GAIN AIRSPD. WITHIN A FEW MORE SECONDS I INFORMED ATC THAT I NEEDED TO RETURN TO THE FIELD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THE CTLR CLRED THE FIELD AND GAVE ME MY CHOICE OF RWYS. WHEN I HAD GAINED ABOUT 500 FT I RETURNED TO THE FIELD. I WAS CLOSEST TO RWY 8; SO I HEADED FOR THAT AND PREPARED FOR LNDG. BUT A STRONG TAILWIND AND HIGH AIRSPD DICTATED A GAR. THE CTLR CALMLY KEPT THE ARPT CLR WHILE I HEADED FOR A DIFFERENT RWY. I STILL COULDN'T GET FULL PWR. AT LEAST I WAS NO LONGER OVER A CONGESTED AREA OF ST PAUL. I HOPED TO MAKE MY NEXT TURNS OVER THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER; AWAY FROM PEOPLE OR BUILDINGS. AS I SLOWLY CLBED OUT; STILL WITH ABOUT 2000 RPMS; PWR RETURNED AND AIRSPD INCREASED. I TURNED R TOWARD RWY 30 AND MADE MY APCH. I POWERED DOWN; BUT STILL CAME IN FAIRLY FAST. I HAD 10 DEGS OF FLAPS DEPLOYED FOR LNDG. IT WAS A ROUGH LNDG. I HAD TO STRUGGLE TO KEEP THE PLANE UNDER CTL. THE PLANE BOUNCED; SKIDDED AND TIPPED TO THE R. THERE WAS A PROP STRIKE; WHICH SURELY HAPPENED BEFORE I GOT THE PLANE UNDER CTL; HOWEVER; I DIDN'T HEAR OR FEEL ANYTHING. I TURNED R ON THE FIRST TXWY; CLRED THE RWY; STOPPED; AND WENT OVER THE AFTER LNDG CHKLIST. I RETRACTED FLAPS; PUSHED IN THE CARB HEAT AND CALLED GND AS INSTRUCTED. THE CTLR ON DUTY GAVE ME EXCELLENT ASSISTANCE; FOR WHICH I AM GRATEFUL. I ACCOMPANIED MY INSTRUCTOR WHEN HE WENT TO RUNUP THE ENG AFTER I HAD SHUT DOWN. WE DIDN'T FIND ANYTHING UNUSUAL. DURING MY RUNUP AT ABOUT XA30 BEFORE MY DEP; THE R MAGNETO HAD RUN ROUGH. THAT WAS THE ONLY OUT-OF-THE-ORDINARY THING THAT HAPPENED IN PREFLT; RUNUP; TKOFS; LNDGS OR PRACTICE UNTIL THE TOUCH-AND-GO AT HOLMEN AT XB45. THE PROB WAS PROBABLY CARB ICE. SPECULATION AT MY PLT SCHOOL ALSO INCLUDES WATER IN THE FUEL LINE; A FOULED PLUG; OR SOMETHING UNKNOWN. THE SMALL DEWPOINT-TEMP SPREAD POINTS TOWARD CARB ICE. THE PLANE IS STILL BEING SERVICED; BUT NOTHING NEW HAS BEEN DISCOVERED. WHAT DID I LEARN? THAT YOU CAN'T LEARN YOUR EMER PROCS TOO WELL; OR REVIEW THEM TOO OFTEN. YOU WON'T ALWAYS HAVE TIME TO PICK UP A CHKLIST. I WAS TOO CLOSE TO THE GND TO TAKE MY HANDS OFF THE CTLS OR MY EYES OFF THE RWYS FOR VERY LONG. I ALSO LEARNED THAT IT AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER. I WAS SO HAPPY TO MAKE IT AROUND TO RWY 30 UNDER SOMETHING LIKE CTL THAT I BREATHED A SIGH OF RELIEF BEFORE I LANDED SAFELY -- AND THEN HAD A ROUGH LNDG. SINCE THIS INCIDENT; I'VE HAD ONE LESSON WITH MY INSTRUCTOR. THE FAA SAYS I CAN'T FLY SOLO UNTIL I'VE FLOWN WITH THE CHIEF INSTRUCTOR AT MY SCHOOL. I CERTAINLY CAN'T ARGUE WITH SUCH A PRUDENT COURSE OF ACTION; AND AM IN FACT LOOKING FORWARD TO HIS OBSERVATIONS.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.