Doubting my flying skills after a bad landing
Posted by Prestigious-Froyo963@reddit | flying | View on Reddit | 155 comments
I got my PPL in October and have about 100 hours to my name in a Cessna 172S. This weekend I decided to go flying by myself and went to the practice area to do maneuvers. It was pretty windy, but I’d flown in those conditions before, just not by myself yet. When I went into land, I was completely crabbed into the wind the whole approach, which went well until touch down. I touched down fine, but a second or two after I completely veered off to the right of centerline and thought I was gonna go off the runway into the grass. I ended up getting the plane under control and taxiid to parking okay,but the whole experience was pretty sketchy even though it lasted for two seconds.
I’m a little confused because the wind was coming from the right, so I’m not sure why I veered off to the right. The only thing I can think of is maybe I subconsciously had my right foot on the pedal? My landings have been nothing, but smooth since my check ride. The last few days I’ve felt nervous about flying again and am doubting my skills. Anyone have some advice? I called my old CFI and he told my I did the right thing by calling and asking about it, and my flying is good so he’s not worried about it at all.
Commercial_Meat_8522@reddit
You have 100 hours. All pilots suck at 100 hours
CFIgigs@reddit
Some of us suck with considerably more hours than that.
DuckHookFore@reddit
Even airline pilots.
Just saw a video on an AA captain who decided to land his B737 downwind during heavy rains. He was queried by the controller twice but he insisted on landing downwind. He touched down half way down a 6000 foot runway and ended up over running into rocks/boulders short of the water. Fuselage split in 3. Fortunately no one was killed but many injuries.
MangledX@reddit
I still sucked at 1000 and venture to say I'll probably still stuck at 10000 if my suckiness doesn't prevent me from hitting it first.
PullinPitchonTwitch@reddit
It could be that attitude that keeps you alive. Never get cocky
fireandlifeincarnate@reddit
Underestimating your skills is a damn sight safer than overestimating them in most cases
CFIgigs@reddit
Well said.
PullinPitchonTwitch@reddit
Just thinking back 🤔 wasn’t Kobe’s pilot 8K+ hours? There was also a guy that hit a tower crane along the Thames a few years back, I think he was in the 10K+ range. No such thing as too much experience
MangledX@reddit
Yeah, man. I keep myself pretty grounded. I don't ever feel like a decent pilot until I fly with other folks who say 'wow, you're actually pretty decent at this." Once they're gone though, it's right back to the suck. lol
mimentum@reddit
And 1000 hrs is usually the first big mistake 😂
EliMinivan@reddit
Good thing I’m only at 96 then.
Ok_Witness179@reddit
Well, there's 2 things that can/probably happened.
First: if you're cabbed into the wind when you touch down, your wheels are going to send you that direction once they gain traction. They can only roll forward, after all...
Second: once you touch down, your horizontal stabilizer is now a giant sail. The wind is now hitting it from the right, which will tend to yaw your nose to the right too.
So in short: more left rudder. Keep the nose pointed down the runway. Speaking of which: also make sure to put in that crosswind correction with your ailerons after touchdown too, or you could find yourself going the OTHER way even more quickly.
DuckHookFore@reddit
Don't let that scare you. You learned a lesson with no damage or injury. My best flying came after I scared the crap out of myself. Why? Because it gave me a reality check that I needed to do more work on my weaknesses instead of boring holes in the sky doing things I'm good at. Like doing touch-n-goes on CAVU days with calm winds.
So grab your instructor and get on out there and do some takeoff and landings to a full stop (not touch-n-goes) in some serious gusting crosswinds within the airplane's (and your instructor's) limitations of course, and become a more proficient and confident pilot.
CatInfamous3027@reddit
Bad landings happen to everyone. I remember once I was flying a plane that had a manual flap control that was like the emergency brake lever in a car. So you could retract the flaps instantly, not slowly and smoothly like the motor-driven flaps on a Cessna.
Anyway, I made what I thought was an incredibly smooth touchdown. I was sure my passengers were impressed. Smiling and cocky I dropped the flap lever and instantly retracted the flaps.
That's when I found out the landing was so smooth because I had bounced and didn't realize it. I retracted the flaps when I was several feet off the ground. Of course the plane dropped like a rock. The impact was memorable. One of my passengers commented on the strength of the landing gear.
That was over 40 years ago and I still remember it vividly.
BravoCharlieZulu@reddit
As you transition from a crab to touching down, you use your feet and rudders to align to the runway, and roll your ailerons into the wind to counteract the drift from the crosswind.
Once you touch down, you actually need to increase that aileron deflection as you slow down, eventually to the full control stops.
Typically when something starts drifting off the runway it's because they stopped flying the plane. Keep the aileron inputs in, stay on the rudders, and you'll be fine. Once it clicks, it clicks. What's surprising to me as an instructor is that for many, it doesn't click until long after they get their PP because many PP students just don't get that much crosswind practice.
EpicDude007@reddit
You know you can land. You landed well enough to walk away. Learn from it and know you may get another not good landing one day. I’ve flown 24 years and still on some days, even though I do everything right, it just didn’t work out. It was safe, but it wasn’t pretty.
TemporaryAmbassador1@reddit
My 777 captain just told me a story about how he almost sunk Miami with a hard landing while royals were on board. Bad landings will be with you until death.
observ34@reddit
Did you die tho
AggressiveAnt7613@reddit
I had to truck a training helicopter back to base after rocking the transmission— navy th-57 has a drive shaft connected to the transmission and if you pitch it too much it grinds a isomount like a chainsaw. Hit trees with a H60 main rotor blade. If you walk away, you learned something and will get better. Some guys in my squadron crashed in Iraq during missions. Get back on the horse. You passed your checks this is how you gain experience. That you are humble and can doubt a little is a good sign you aren’t over confident and cocky. Doubt and humility will keep you alive and learning
churningguts@reddit
Only passengers judge pilots based on one landing only. 😉
CFIJOE@reddit
You veered right because the plane was still grabbed into the wind when you touched down causing it to swerve right since that's where it was pointed. You needed more left rudder to make sure the nose was pointing straight down the runway and just enough aileron to stay on centerline which would automatically lower the right wing. If there's a crosswind and youre not touching on one wheel but touching down with wings level, you not correcting enough for wind. Of on the ground, you start losing control and it is swerving around, immediately focus on staying off brakes and getting the plane rolling straight with light rudder inputs. Even if you are off the runway, dont try to swerve back quickly. Also, immediately turn the yoke into the wind all the way. Once you're tracking straight then gently work your way back to centerline.
Disastrous-Isopod626@reddit
This is the nature of aviation. We learn from our experiences.
PutOptions@reddit
Sounds like you just kept the crab angle all the way into the landing. The boys & girls flying the big metal seem to hold the crab 'til the absolute last second then kick the rudder to align with the runway.
I was taught it is fine either way, but I prefer to take the crab out pretty much at the fence. Put that left foot in, and use aileron to keep the upwind (right) wing down in your case. Play with it a little to see how much authority each control surface has.
LTZheavy@reddit
If it wasn't for wind, there'd be hardly any go arounds or runway overruns, etc. You're fine, it's still early. Just remember that you tell the aircraft what to do, not vica versa.
DanThePilot_Mann@reddit
Brother, i made a panel fall on a passenger for my first landing in a CRJ. Don’t sweat it
Cascades407@reddit
Alaska air has a job offer pending for you good sir.
Dolan977@reddit
I’m a good few cm shorter after my last landing I did in the 737-800
SimilarTranslator264@reddit
Did you leave the cockpit door shut until everyone was off the plane like a professional?
two_minutes_out@reddit
I actually lol’d at this one. The mark of a true airman.
Oregon-Pilot@reddit
My line check airman had to grab and yank the hell out of the yoke during my first ever 757 landing because I almost shoved Denver a few feet closer down to sea level that night. Biggest thing I had ever flown up until then was a Challenger, so my sight picture was super under-developed. Definitely took some time to get used to it!
Zapatos-Grande@reddit
I went from the CRJ to the A320 and pretty sure they had to adjust the published elevation of 27 at Boston on my first landing.
Gsmith827@reddit
😂😂😂 ❤️
AFBUFFPilot@reddit
Yeah….it hurt! And now I’m gonna sue your employer and you’ll be working for me
OriginalJayVee@reddit
“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is the Captain speaking…our First Officer is flying the airplane and no one on board purchased the Buttered Landing package so…may God be with you all! Flight Attendants please prepare for landing.”
poser765@reddit
Dude, I’m pretty sure I’ve knocked of a panel as a senior legacy FO.
Biker1124@reddit
That’s hilarious 😂
Flyward_Aerospace@reddit
100 hours is genuinely when things start feeling shaky tbh. You're past the structured student phase where your CFI is constantly catching stuff, but you haven't built the muscle memory yet for weird crosswind edge cases. The fact that you held it together and taxied in fine means your instincts kicked in when it counted. Definitely worth doing some dedicated crosswind practice when conditions are mild though, not just waiting for it to come up again.
HSVMalooGTS@reddit
Just because you had 1 bad landing doesn't mean you will always have bad landings. Its not a curse.
SergeyKataev@reddit
Find a CFI who's good at x-wind landings, ideally a tailwheel enthusiast.
Wait for a day with a good x-wind, or fly to an airport that has it. I'm talking 10-15kt cross-component.
Enjoy wing-down approaches and one-wheel landings, alternate between left and right x-wind if possible.
Once you get it, they become fun rather than terrifying.
ryancrazy1@reddit
Well I for one have NEVER had a bad landing. Maybe you should just stop /s
If you shook your confidence, go up with your CFI in some wind. You got it.
studente_telematico@reddit
Probabilmente dovevi dare un po’ di barra al vento quando hai toccato terra.
Honeybadger78701@reddit
It won’t be your last.
Carry on👍
Working_Football1586@reddit
It’s just your worst landing yet, don’t worry you will have way worse than that. I have 2500 hours and still have landings Im not proud of.
Pjsrule57@reddit
When you landed, you stopped flying the airplane! When you touchdown, you need to put more control input in because you have slowed down and you have less effectiveness of the controls, but the wind did not stop! Go get a few lessons in a Taildragger and you will become a real pilot!
wurleyburdk1ng@reddit
Big dawg, I've never crashed an aircraft, but I have absolutely smacked the shit out of a UH-60 into both soft and hard terrain, with and without passengers. Shit happens sometimes. You have off days, you have nervous days, you have wind and weather do weird shit sometimes. Things happen, especially at 100 hours. As your experience increases, your ability to both be prepared for and react to the unexpected increases. Blue skies and tailwinds, shake it off. Learn from it. Let it rip.
Kemerd@reddit
Good, the doubt means you are a good pilot. Keep training.
Imaginary_Amoeba3461@reddit
I was flying with a very senior line check CA, and he absolutely cratered the landing. The FA’s were not happy. Guy probably had 25,000hours at least. In fairness to him he owned it and immediately apologized to them.
Happens, just keep critiquing yourself and get more training in.
Headoutdaplane@reddit
I quit apologizing for my bad landings and congratulating myself for good ones (although I did encourage my passengers to clap /s) after about six months on the line at an air taxi in Alaska. Shit happens
Nearby-Medicine9484@reddit
I resemble this remark 🤣
Fit-Club239@reddit
What I always taught my students. There is 3 types of landings. Good landings, bad landings, and landings you can learn from. Good landings is self explanatory. Landings you can learn from you can bounce, lose directional control or any other scary thing you can think of. The only time you land bad is when the plane is no longer airworthy. You are a human being everyone makes mistakes even pilots! If you are scared to landing. I can’t remember the exact number but I think it’s around 80% of GA accidents take place on the take off and landing phase of flight. Go up with an instructor and bang out some laps in the pattern build that confidence back and fly safe!
SSMDive@reddit
Meh ,we all screw one up from time to time. I PLANTED a Cessna 180 once so much that the owner talks about it 6 years later.
What likely happened is since the wind was from your right as you slowed down you weathervaned into the wind with the wind pushing your tail to the left and pointing your nose to the right and when you touched down the wheels made you go right.
As you slow down you need to put more control inputs in to get the same result. You likely did not, so you turned into the wind and went for a bit of a ride.
Good news is you didn’t panic… ok, you might have panicked… but you didn’t panic so much that you froze. No, you FIXED THE PROBLEM.
You didn’t break or bend any metal did you? Id call that a win.
ltcterry@reddit
Did you touch down crabbed into the wind from the right? You could have weathervaned to the right in a gust.
Sometimes they are beautiful and sometimes they suck. The ratio slowly improves, but it never goes to zero.
AIMIF@reddit
This was your worst landing so far
Don’t sweat it too much. No metal bent and you kept it under control when things went sideways. Bad landings happen, and it’s good that you’re reflecting on it so you can learn and do better next time.
JustDaveIII@reddit
What other have said about using rudder and ...... I use the rivet lines on the cowling to help my sight picture get the plane straight. While they may be offset to the right a tad on some Cessna's I can either move my head a few inches or compensate by knowing the angle in relationship to the end of the runway.
clon2645@reddit
100 hours isn’t anything, after 250-300 is when you start having very consistently great landings
LR_1986@reddit
What you are describing is weathervaning brother, your instructors should have taught you about it, wind hits your rudder and it makes you turn into the wind. You counteract this with ailerones into the wind and opposite rudder…(but you know that already)
Buy a weathervane and a fan, observe how the air mass affects it…
You’ll be just fine, it’s experiences like this that make you better.
FAA AIRPLANE FLYING HANDBOOK
Refer to chapter 9, page 15 (9-15).
It’s all there…
Soon you will enjoy flying in crosswinds!
Dolust@reddit
Airplanes are extremely lousy wheeled vehicles. And the worst is exactly when it happened to you, on the transition between flight to ground, at speeds where there's enough speed for the lift of a gust to create problems but not enough for flight controls to be fully effective.
What happened to you is that you forgot to turn and hold the controls into the wind. A gust lifted one of your semi-wings and assymetric friction turned you.
I'm sure that's the last time you forgot.
Creative-Grocery2581@reddit
A little practice should take off any rust. Also you could add into your personal minimums about a timeframe after which you must fly with someone before doing solo.
PullinPitchonTwitch@reddit
As my CFI said to me, “I’m not teaching you to fly, I’m teaching you not to crash. Come back at 2500 hrs and I’ll teach you to fly”
_TheS0viet_@reddit
You’ll be fine. Did my first solo last week and on the second lap the wind doubled. Landing was good but then the wind picked up my left wing and I wheel barreled pretty bad with my CFI watching. I recovered just fine but now I know to anticipate it rather than just being able to recover. We all have those days my friend.
c402c@reddit
Just sounds like a little side loaded in touchdown. Wind from the right pushes your tail left and your nose to the right. Perhaps needed bit more left rudder and right aileron down int the wind to hold it on centerline. Just a bit more crosswind correction. Good job recovering.
21MPH21@reddit
They happen. We dropped one so badly a few weeks ago I kept the door closed till everyone was gone. Still had to deal with the FAs lol
MangledX@reddit
When I was younger, hard landings when traveling airlines used to scare me. These days, I find great humor in them.
21MPH21@reddit
If I'm PM I find them funny too lol
Twarrior913@reddit
I would bet my next pay check you didn’t have enough rudder in when straightening the plane’s longitudinal axis. I don’t think I’ve ever not had that issue with every plane I’ve flown at some point or another. Don’t sweat it, see if you can go up with your CFI the next windy day and really practice those.
MangledX@reddit
Wind hitting his tail from the right side probably had more to do with it than rudder. Hitting the tail from the right = weathervane to the left which moves nose to the right along the vertical axis = right turning tendancies.
MangledX@reddit
One of the key things I teach early in crosswind landings are to SLOWLY integrate your crosswind correction so you don't veer the airplane into the wind and to GENTLY add inputs on the rudders. If you're landing in crosswinds, the vertical tail has a lot more authority than normal because the wind is trying to weathervane it in weird directions. Couple this with winds trying to play favorites with one side or the other and things can get away from you fairly quickly. You most likely just got a little too sporty with aileron or rudder inputs while the plane was still generating a fair amount of lift. You fixed it, didn't bend or break anything on you or the airplane and live to fight another day. I'd say that's a good argument for doing pilot shit. Carry on, bro.
BrtFrkwr@reddit
Don't worry. Someday when you have 10,000 hours you'll do a real smak-r-oo and have to tell the passengers something.
G91G28X0Y0Z0@reddit
Deploy the oxygen! I can't breath I'm laughing so hard.
durandal@reddit
Heard of an oxy panel opening from a positive landing.
keenly_disinterested@reddit
It's the weather-vane effect. Wind from the right pushes your vertical stab to the left, which makes the nose move right. If you make a full-stall landing your nose wheel should be in the air as the mains touch. The aircraft is particularly susceptible to weather vane until the nose gear is on the ground.
redcurrantevents@reddit
The wind was coming from the right. The biggest surface perpendicular to the wind direction is your tail. When the wind from the right comes, it hits your tail, pushing your tail to the left, which pushes your nose…to the right.
If every pilot who had a bad landing quit flying, there would be no pilots. You saved the situation when it went wrong. You have the skills needed, now you just need the experience. Stick with it.
Ok_Honeydew_627@reddit
@OP I’ve taught a lot of people to fly. I’ve seen a lot of people do this because of the above mentioned phenomenon. At some point you need to transition to a sideslip and longitudinally align the plane, and its wheels with the direction of travel upon touching. If the wheels touch and the nose isn’t parallel to the centerline (ideally your direction of travel) the plane will veer where the nose is pointing once the wheels gain traction. You’re not alone and a lot of people have difficulty in making sure the plane is well aligned longitudinally in a crosswind. One thing that can help is transition to a sideslip earlier, and use the control column as a quick reference. Control column PARALLEL to the centerline for longitudinal alignment (NOT pointing at the centerline). If you’re not on centerline, adjust ailerons for your lateral drift correction as needed.
BathFullOfDucks@reddit
Let he who has not flat spotted a tyre throw the first stone
Maple-Mayhem@reddit
The experience to anticipate it is a great way to look at it. Know it can happen, and know you can handle it.
slpater@reddit
I have as a cfi with 1800 hours pancaked plenty of landings. Ya gotta just go well fuck that was embarrassing and move on. Learn what you can and go to the next
ProcyonHabilis@reddit
A sketchy thing that lasted a couple seconds and turned out fine sounds like a super normal experience for learning to control a vehicle. I'd wager that is extremely common whether it's a plane, boat, car, motorcycle, etc.
kojak68@reddit
any landing from which you (and your passengers) can walk away from the plane with your own legs…is a good landing
EsraYmssik@reddit
Did you walk away? It wasn't a bad landing.
VileInventor@reddit
Brother in a life time of flying you’ll have more bad landings or okay landings than good or great ones. My BEST two landings I remember because of how it felt to fly them. Every other landing i’ve done is drops in a bucket. Tens of thousands in a life time of flying and you’re doubting yourself at 100 hours? That’s what? 50 landings?
DudeIBangedUrMom@reddit
Aileron into wind. Rudder to straighten then airplane axis parallel to the runway.
You can crab to touchdown, sure, but in a really stiff wind, you still have to transition to aileron into the wind and rudder to counter: You have to keep flying until the airplane slows way down. Use those control surfaces until they aren't recent anymore.
You touched down and stopped thinking about the airplane as if it were flying. Don't do that. If you're pointed right and just land in the crab doing nothing else, then you're going to weathervane when the mains touch and then really go hard right as soon as the nosewheel touches down.
From the Airplane FlyingHandbook:
Ans concerning crosswind landings:
swakid8@reddit
Closing in on 6,000 hours, I too will have a stretch of bad landings where I sometimes will question my flying skills….
After a dark night, there’s always a bright day. I will then have a stretch of great to solid landings.
Then night comes back around and humbles me…..
You catch my drift….
You are going to have great landings and you will have many bad landings…
Just make sure they are safe and within standards… Centerline, Touchdown zone, no bent metal.
Warrior_witha_Garden@reddit
Any landing you can walk away from is a good one. The ones you don’t have to fill out paperwork for are even better. It’s a journey, it’s a feeling you don’t have enough time to recognize the feedback yet. Keep at it.
Bill-T-O-Double-P@reddit
I once landed so hard that the ELT went off… You’re fine.
Sharp_Experience_104@reddit
Ha! Butter butter slam. Rinse and repeat.
Every time I check the ELT before engine shutdown and it hasn’t gone off, I’m slightly amazed.
Inside-Deal-3821@reddit
Brother I once put down a vision jet down so horribly you’d think I was trying to emulate a pogo stick at PGD
Mike93747743@reddit
You’re a new pilot. You have a luck bag and an experience bag. Your job is to fill the experience bag before the luck bag is empty. A pilot who flies on fair weather days and has nothing but greasers isn’t going to have much of an experience bag. Sounds like you worked on your envelope a bit. Good job.
BigJellyfish1906@reddit
You held the crab in the touchdown? You veered off to the right because the tires (which are now gripping the runway) were all cocked to the right. Combine that with the plane’s tendency to weathervane, and that’s what happened. You have to take out most of the grab just prior to touchdown.
Muted-Rhubarb2143@reddit
Yeah contrary to the typically worthless humble bragging advice of this forums extremely mediocre jet pilots who cant even land a Citabria OP’s case is one of poor airmanship and technique and not an oops whoopsie.
JumboTrijet@reddit
You mention that your landings have been smooth since your last check ride. A “smooth” landing doesn’t necessarily mean competent. On speed, center line, on the mains (no side load if applicable) and touchdown zone is what matters. These matter first. If you make a smooth landing with all of these boxes checked, smooth is just a bonus.
quik916@reddit
@110 hours you still have quite a few "am i good enough for this" moments left to come. Flying is much harder than sitting on the couch watching tv... so yeah you're not gonna be perfect at everything in every situation... sounds like you made back safe, and overcame the less than ideal situation. You did fine. Continue on... its the only way you'll learn how to handle abnormal situations.
vtjohnhurt@reddit
You were still crabbed slightly to the right when you touched down?
Most glider pilots keep wings level during crosswind correction by crabbing. Crab done correctly, the rudder is neutral. At some point flying in ground effect, one kicks the downwind pedal and yaws the plane to point straight down the runway. Now the plane is uncoordinated so lift decreases and it touches down (remember to neutralize the rudder). Use the rudder to hold the centerline during the roll out.
Note that once you're on the ground, the plane will 'weather vane' into the wind, and that would be another reason why you started to point to the right. You need to use the rudder to counter that tendency.
Ornery-Ad-2248@reddit
In the Q400 (mind you 5 years into my professional flying career) I landed so hard my Apple Watch gave me the hard fall detected, don’t sweat it
holl0918@reddit
Wow, that's impressive
Zvenigora@reddit
If you land crabbing into the wind, you will veer that way when touching down. The trick is to transition to a slip at the last moment which allows the wheels to point straight ahead.
WA4WTF@reddit
Why not just slip it all the way in? Makes for a more stable approach, and honestly easier all around with a high wing airplane.
WA4WTF@reddit
Just went out and did pattern yesterday. 34009g18kt on runway34. Had 2 awesome smooth buttered landings and 2 more landings. 110 hours. Makes you question yourself, but this is why we practice.
KITTYONFYRE@reddit
you know, even prime tiger woods still occasionally shanked a drive
DFWmovingwalkway@reddit
For reference I have 6,000+ hours, fly for a job and my landings still suck sometimes.
kiwi_love777@reddit
Nothing like cratering one in after buttering them on. 😂
DFWmovingwalkway@reddit
Dude I will go months with like perfect landings and then out of nowhere for some reason one just kinda slams on. Not even gross, but like god damn, how is it possible to still screw this up at this point.
kiwi_love777@reddit
Right?!
I just hope my last landing is butter.
When I left my regional I buttered it on the second landing and the rest of the landings from the on our belonged to my copilot 😂
Weasel474@reddit
The 737 giveth smooth landings, and it taketh them away just when you think you've got it nailed.
FlyingDog14@reddit
Next time you land runway 1 in DCA, just ignore those potholes about 800 ft from the threshold that are exactly the width apart of a 737 main landing gear. Definitely wasn’t me.
DFWmovingwalkway@reddit
Ahmen.
DingleBurg2021@reddit
Reminds me of one last year. The sun beat me to the ground and landed well past twilight.Reminded myself it’s different and to watch my depth perception. Stalled her in from probably 6 foot up. Luckily nobody was watching.
ma33a@reddit
12k+ same.
kkcfi@reddit
Welcome to your worst landing "yet"! Go get some XW practice with your CFI!
Here's a quick fill in the blanks to help think through the correct landing technique. Take a gander, I'll reply with the answer.
With a right XW, the wind strikes the vertical stabilizer from the _ , pushing the tail to your _ which then yaws the nose to the ____ .
The correct control position as you land with a right XW is to put the _ aileron into the wind causing the aileron to deflect _ and __ rudder to maintain centerline. This is called a ___ .
This causes the _ main gear to touch first then the _ main gear followed by the nose. As the airplane begins to slow down the aileron goes all the way to the _ and this in turns results in _ that yaws the nose to the __ and _ the nose.
Prof_Slappopotamus@reddit
You started on the runway, recovered safely, and the plane can fly again. You also learned something.
Only other thing I would investigate is if the right brake was sticky, but you'd figure that out pretty quickly on the taxi in.
You done good, you'll do better, and you might want to grab an instructor on a nice windy day and go practice those crosswind landings.
manlilipad@reddit
Dude, you’re just fine. You’re going to have bad landing for as long as you are going to fly. I still have them after almost a decade of flying, and have flown with 35 year captains who have had a bad landing. It’s inevitable and as long as you can learn from/understand why it was poor, you are good and can just move on to the next.
moxiedoggie@reddit
Beat yourself up for a few days, then go back out there.
I'm at about 350 hours. I bought into a Skyhawk club about 50 hours ago. Everything had been going great. but 2 out of my last 10 landings were so horrendous that I have doubted my entire life and why I even bought into this club if I can't land a friggen plane. After brushing it off for a few days I realized I was overreacting. You probably are too.
ywgflyer@reddit
I'd say the fact that you kept such a landing on the runway and stopped it from going into the rhubarb shows a clear amount of skill, not a lack thereof.
Mazer1415@reddit
I have heard this in the past and these are words to live by. The day I have a perfect flight I’m gonna retire and never touch an airplane again.
FeatherMeLightly@reddit
Planes not bent, you got some excellent experience, keep on flying.
Bunslow@reddit
Weathervaning into the wind is typical. It probably means you needed more left rudder to hold the slip.
Typical crosswind landing technique is aileron into the wind, to prevent the wind blowing the upwind wing up. Then, to keep the nose uncrabbed, you need rudder away from the wind. If you don't apply opposite rudder, the wind will push on your vertical stabilizer... so your tail goes downwind, swinging your nose upwind.
Perhaps you were a bit out of practice with crosswind landings, with the slip technique. You'll be fine. If you're really concerned, take an instructor for an hour in the pattern and you'll be right as rain.
BlimpDriver1@reddit
I could give you an example or two of my own, in stead I'll tell you to stop flying the airplane after it is in the hangar. Low time, high wind, you were tickled pink that you had it on the ground, and stopped flying the airplane. It will happen again, get back in the saddle as soon as possible.
Character-Shoe-7803@reddit
You should be doubting your decision making skills not your flying skills. Let me be the first to tell you your decision making abilities will end you in trouble, the grave, or put others in graves before your flying ability. So it’s important not to rely on our flying ability alone. Your skill isn’t weak, it’s incomplete. It’s your decision to fly in conditions you’ve never flown in alone based on weak evidence you can complete the landing that made it a bad landing. Let’s not forget YOU decided to go out in winds that YOU weren’t able to handle. What should concern you is WHY you thought you could handle them.
Look at your last paragraph. If you can’t explain to yourself why your landing was bad, you’re not experienced enough for that situation. Just because you’re a PPL and you’ve done windy landings before doesn’t mean you’re windy landings qualified. You’re gaining experience. You proceed from mastering calm winds to mastering the 5kt crosswind, then 7kt, 10kt, then maybe 10kt with light gust and so on. I suggest next time you decide to do something yourself you’ve never done before alone, you do it with a CFI first, or you practice the basics of crosswind landings on calmer winds.
Attackpilsung@reddit
One night I landed at LGA so hard a we had to call the paramedics for a “back injury” in 1st class.
scottyh214@reddit
You learned something, right? I know you did. Take the lesson and you’ll be better for it. I’ve had crap landings in lots of planes. Hell I had a completely shit landing this morning going into Palm Springs and the winds were calm. Right of center, bounced a little and dropped the nose on. But then my landing in Winnipeg this afternoon was beautiful and it’s blowing pretty good.
mister_based@reddit
My dad filmed one of my first landings in the airbus. My landing shook the camera into focus.
thegolfpilot@reddit
You stayed on the runway. That’s literally all you have to do. You’re going the f something up every single time you fly. Soemtimes it’s more obvious that others learn from it and do better next time
SecretPersonality178@reddit
I once got hypnotized by the runway lights and forgot to apply the brakes. Saved it from going off the end of the runway…by about a foot.
We all have fuck ups. They make is better pilots if we learn from them
ElPayador@reddit
I did a yearly checkout (insurance requirement) for the C182 in which I have 120 hours out of my 330 total but recently I have flown the C172 working on my IFR … It didn’t go as smoothly as I was hoping (windy with some crosswind) and after we landed the CFII said: You are OK to go flying but let’s go up one more time next weekend 😊 You are OK… one more reason go to flying again!
ckb1988@reddit
It’s a batting average…
NYPuppers@reddit
there's a reason the runway is that wide.
stop getting flying advice from reddit. the number #1 thing you can learn is that you dont know that much even if you have a license, so go get a CFI and work on cross-wind landing techniques.
dsmith3689@reddit
You walked away, the plane is in good shape, and the FAA isn't calling. It was a fine landing.
angryshark@reddit
It happens. I changed to the one wing low method after a crosswind landing like yours. Made a ton of difference. Take a CFI with you on the next windy day and do a few landings with the one wing low into the wind. It will get your confidence back.
Karl24374@reddit
Sometimes u gotta set her down, your bad landing doesn’t still think about you
flyghu@reddit
The best part of crappy solo landings is the lack of witnesses. That means all of my solo landings are perfect. I also catch record breaking fish and release them when fishing alone.
Usual_Drawing8885@reddit
Kick the crab out while on short final. The earlier you straighten the nose out the easier it will be to judge how much rudder/ aileron input to use.
CATIIIDUAL@reddit
My second landing on A320 was 1.8gs. My instructor who was also the chief pilot kept telling me constantly tried to cheer me up and kept telling me not to worry about it as it was not a hard landing. Airplanes can take a lot. Sometimes a firm landing is safer than a smooth one. Don’t sweat it.
Fd2k1@reddit
Funny. I have just over 10,000 hours in a 737, and I just left the cockpit door closed while deplaning so I didn’t have to make eye contact with any of the passengers. You win some you lose some, and the losses will always happen but will be rare and easier to shake off as the years go by.
DingleBurg2021@reddit
Almost went off the grass? Psssh I took a wheel off the runway last year and nearly had to change my drawers. I do 20-30 landings a day sometimes on a work day. Nobody is perfect.
Tman3355@reddit
If you figure out how to never have a bad landing ever again be sure to let us know.
Comprehensive-Try430@reddit
Happens to everyone no matter the experience 🤣
ntroopy@reddit
The only pilots who never have bad landings anymore are the retired ones.
huertamatt@reddit
8000 hours here, still dent the runway on occasion. Just laugh it off and learn from it.
ntroopy@reddit
The only pilots who never have bad landings anymore are the retired ones.
Distinct_Pressure832@reddit
My guess is you didn’t hold your crosswind correction in through your rollout after you landed. I was terrible for that when I first started, to the point that I’d ask my wife to call out “hold the correction” when the mains touched down. Don’t sweat it too much, go up and practice crosswind landings to a full stop the next time conditions warrant.
SimilarTranslator264@reddit
Dude don’t sweat it. If you never have a bad landing you aren’t flying enough.
Avia_NZ@reddit
It was your worst landing… so far!
BagOfMoneyNoChange@reddit
I just got lectured by a grandma for landing too hard.
You'll be fine, buddy.
Rainebowraine123@reddit
You go to the right because the wind pushes the tail left, which makes the nose go right.
FinalApproachGuy@reddit
Agree with everyone else here, we’re humans and we make mistakes, but did you account for aileron inputs into the wind?
Wemest@reddit
Next time there’s some crosswind. Book an hour of touch & go’s. Crabbing down final is ok but you need to get better at transitioning to the wing low crosswind Configuration. It sounds like you were still crabbed when you touched down.
Wr3ckless13@reddit
Doesn't matter if you have 40 hours or 40,000. Every pilot has a bad landing here and there. What matters is learning from the experience. Dust yourself off and get back in the saddle. Happy flying bud.
Plus_Goose3824@reddit
If the right brake isn't sticking then it was on you, but I think we've all done it.
Imaginary_Run4354@reddit
As most say yes landing is an art and no matter your experience level you’ll end up planting a few. But I read this a wonder if you fully understand crosswind landings. You crab into the wind, but before touchdown you transition to a side slip so that the nose (and tires!) are pointed straight down the centerline. You only do this correction, the wind will blow you off centerline, so ailerons into the wind enough to maintain centerline. The result is landing on one main tire before the other in a strong enough crosswind. If you don’t do this, your tires are pointed in the direction the airplane is going to go when the wheels touch. If it’s not straight down the runway, this can get squirrelly and what you described can happen. I’m a visual learner, this YouTube video by ERAU on normal and crosswind approach and landing has great visuals that will explain what I’m saying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxbcyBjFiSg
You probably know this stuff, but what you described really seems like you landed in a crab without a side slip and don’t know why the result.
RealGentleman80@reddit
You ended up right because aircraft weathervane INTO the wind. The vertical stabilizer is the broad part that the wind hits…which moved the aircraft nose into the wind.
And now you know……
The SAME thing happened to THIShttps://www.flightglobal.com/jetblue-airways/2025/06/jetblue-a220-leaves-runway-after-landing-in-boston/ A220 when a gust exceeded the max crosswind component by over 10 knots.
RiccWasTaken@reddit
For a crosswind landing in a C172 using the decrab method you should decrab before touchdown somewhere when flaring, but don't forget to also bank into the wind. It's normal to land on one wheel first.
_FROOT_LOOPS_@reddit
You’re alright- any landing you can walk away from… If you were crabbed for a right crosswind and didn’t use rudder to straighten out the wheels before touchdown (transition from a crab to a kind of sideslip), that may be what caused you to veer off. I wouldn’t lose sleep over one clencher of a landing- just take it as a learning experience
OverallConference940@reddit
As you tran as ition from approach to flare, you let the nose come back to point straight down the runway
ryan0157@reddit
Professional pilots still mess up landings after years of experience and thousands of hours behind the controls. Don’t overthink it but try to learn from it and identify what went wrong so you can try and avoid it in the future!
Gorn_DNA@reddit
When you’re solo, you’re your own worst critic. Don’t sweat it, you know how to fix it.
rFlyingTower@reddit
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I got my PPL in October and have about 100 hours to my name in a Cessna 172S. This weekend I decided to go flying by myself and went to the practice area to do maneuvers. It was pretty windy, but I’d flown in those conditions before, just not by myself yet. When I went into land, I was completely crabbed into the wind the whole approach, which went well until touch down. I touched down fine, but a second or two after I completely veered off to the right of centerline and thought I was gonna go off the runway into the grass. I ended up getting the plane under control and taxiid to parking okay,but the whole experience was pretty sketchy even though it lasted for two seconds.
I’m a little confused because the wind was coming from the right, so I’m not sure why I veered off to the right. The only thing I can think of is maybe I subconsciously had my right foot on the pedal? My landings have been nothing, but smooth since my check ride. The last few days I’ve felt nervous about flying again and am doubting my skills. Anyone have some advice? I called my old CFI and he told my I did the right thing by calling and asking about it, and my flying is good so he’s not worried about it at all.
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