I've just returned from a fantastic week in the Canary Islands and am properly sunburnt and extra fat. Anyway, as we flew back it was a seamless flight with beautiful views. The operator was First Choice and the plane an Airbus A320 which is a relatively small "3-aisle-3" jet.
As we head for London Gatwick and make the last turn for final approach the plane started to wobble so I assumed we had a stiff crosswind. The descent wasn't linear either, more yo-yo. We'd lose plenty of height then level, lose plenty more height then level. What with the wobble it was quite unnerving for the majority of the passengers and the cabin crew were doing their best to calm people.
Fortunately I could see clearly out of the window and also had the pleasure of watching the wing working away with flaps, ailerons and speed brakes going mental. As a keen learner pilot this was fun.
As soon as it looked like we were about 10 feet off the ground, the yo-yo effect kicked in and we started to lose height fast. We literally hit the tarmac with an almighty thump, more than any I can ever remember and with the wobble having sent us leaning to the left, that wheel touched down first.
So, we thumped hard into the tarmac and then the fun begins. Because the plane isn't correctly centrelined and we went left wheel first, the captain had plenty of correcting to do once all wheels were down. We snaked down the runway as reverse thrust kicked in and some people started to panic as it initially appeared that the captain wasn't going to be able to clean up the landing.
From midway down the plane you could see the front moving left and right as the captain was trying to steer the beast down the runway in the correct direction.
By far the worst landing I have ever experienced!
I also looked up about hard landings on these machines and it appears they can take up to 2g of force upon landing before checks are required for stress and damage.
Cool!!!!!!
As we head for London Gatwick and make the last turn for final approach the plane started to wobble so I assumed we had a stiff crosswind. The descent wasn't linear either, more yo-yo. We'd lose plenty of height then level, lose plenty more height then level. What with the wobble it was quite unnerving for the majority of the passengers and the cabin crew were doing their best to calm people.
Fortunately I could see clearly out of the window and also had the pleasure of watching the wing working away with flaps, ailerons and speed brakes going mental. As a keen learner pilot this was fun.
As soon as it looked like we were about 10 feet off the ground, the yo-yo effect kicked in and we started to lose height fast. We literally hit the tarmac with an almighty thump, more than any I can ever remember and with the wobble having sent us leaning to the left, that wheel touched down first.
So, we thumped hard into the tarmac and then the fun begins. Because the plane isn't correctly centrelined and we went left wheel first, the captain had plenty of correcting to do once all wheels were down. We snaked down the runway as reverse thrust kicked in and some people started to panic as it initially appeared that the captain wasn't going to be able to clean up the landing.
From midway down the plane you could see the front moving left and right as the captain was trying to steer the beast down the runway in the correct direction.
By far the worst landing I have ever experienced!
I also looked up about hard landings on these machines and it appears they can take up to 2g of force upon landing before checks are required for stress and damage.
Cool!!!!!!
