Tailwheel Guide
Chair flying / Bounce and Skip Recovery

Bounce and Skip Recovery

Tell a small skip from a real bounce, fix the small one by re-flaring, and go around from the big one before the airplane runs out of energy or you start a pilot-induced oscillation.

Guided rehearsal is Premium

Pre-Landing Wind & Surface Check

  1. Wind — direction and velocity from ATIS/AWOS, windsock, and surface signs
    Resolve it into headwind and crosswind components for the runway you intend to use. Gusts matter as much as the steady value — a lull on short final is what leaves you out of control or stalled.
  2. Crosswind component vs. limits — the airplane's demonstrated value ({n:maxDemonstratedCrosswind} kt) and your own
    AFH ch. 14: pilots should be familiar with the crosswind component of each airplane they fly and avoid wind conditions that exceed the capability of the airplane or their own limitations. A tailwheel weathervanes harder than a nose-wheel because more side area sits behind the main gear.
  3. Pick the technique — three-point or wheel landing — and commit before the pattern
    Wheel landings touch down at a higher speed, which keeps the flight controls more effective; many tailwheel pilots prefer them in a crosswind. In some airplanes rudder effectiveness is also reduced with the tail low and on the ground, where the fuselage and flaps blank the tail.
  4. Surface — length, width, slope, condition, and what it does to the rollout
    Soft or rough surfaces slow you without brakes and may need power to keep moving; a soft spot that retards one main wheel can start a swerve. Short/firm surfaces mean a held three-point attitude for aerodynamic braking plus even, firm braking.
  5. Go-around decision set: what you will not accept, and the point you stop trying to salvage it
    Decide now — a large bounce, a drift or crab at touchdown you cannot remove, or a developing swerve means full power and go. Deciding in the flare is deciding too late.
  6. Landing checklist complete; feet on the rudder pedals, heels on the floor, off the brakes
    Heels on the floor with the balls of the feet low on the rudder pedals lets you slide up to the brakes without giving up rudder. Braking during touchdown is how a tailwheel gets on its nose. Once rolling, a swerve is countered with firm rudder first — and in stronger swerves differential braking is essential, since tailwheel steering proves inadequate.

Setup

  1. Know why it happens: the CG is behind the mains, so when they touch early the tail drops, AOA increases, and the airplane flies again
    This is structural, not a technique failure — a tailwheel airplane touching mains-first with the tail up is being commanded to increase AOA by its own geometry.
  2. Brief the decision before the pattern: what you will re-flare and what you will go around from“Go-around briefed”
    The AFH gives a clear split — a skip is easily managed by re-flaring; a large skip or bounce that leaves you high above the runway with insufficient energy calls for a go-around.
  3. Hand stays on the throttle through touchdown and rollout

Execution

  1. Contact — identify what just happened before moving anything“Assess”
    Two questions: how high am I now, and do I still have flying energy? Attitude and height, not startle, drive the next input.
  2. Skip — a small rebound, still low, energy intact: re-flare and hold it off to the three-point attitude again“Skip — re-flare”
    Add or hold power as needed to arrest the sink, re-establish the hold-off, and again try to hold the airplane off until it reaches the three-point attitude.
  3. Bounce — high above the runway with insufficient energy: go around now“Going around”
    The AFH is unambiguous: in these circumstances the pilot should execute a go-around. There is no salvage technique for an airplane that is high, slow, and out of ideas.
  4. Bounced wheel landing: go around, or convert to a three-point landing if conditions permit“Wheel bounce — go around”
    Never push forward to force the mains back down. Pushing after a bounce is what develops the potentially dangerous pilot-induced oscillation the AFH warns about.
  5. Go-around: full power smoothly, pitch for the go-around attitude, arrest the sink, climb at {n:goAroundClimbSpeed} KIAS“Full power, positive rate”
    Expect left yaw as power comes in and as pitch changes — gyroscopic precession and the usual left-turning tendencies. Feet lead.
  6. Flaps per POH in stages once climbing; hold the centerline and crosswind correction

Recovery

  1. Climbing away: clean up, re-enter the pattern, and decide what you will change next time around
    Usually one of: round out height, sink rate at contact, alignment, or technique choice for the wind. Fly the fix, not the same approach again.
  2. If instead you salvaged it: stick full aft at tailwheel contact, feet alive, aileron into the wind through rollout
  3. Any swerve after an ugly touchdown: firm rudder immediately, brakes if rudder is not enough, then remove the input
    A ground loop starts with a swerve allowed to continue too long — and a bounced, side-loaded arrival is exactly how the swerve gets started.

ACS tolerances

  • Recognition before reaction — the correction matches the height and energy actually present
  • Small skip recovered by re-flaring to the three-point attitude, no forward stick
  • Large bounce, or any bounced wheel landing, resolved by a go-around (or a three-point conversion when conditions clearly permit)
  • Centerline and crosswind correction maintained throughout the recovery

Common errors

  • Pushing forward to chase the runway after a bounce — the start of a pilot-induced oscillation
  • Trying to salvage a landing from high above the runway with no energy left
  • No power added during the re-flare, so the second arrival is harder than the first
  • Freezing on the controls and letting the airplane land itself
  • Feet going quiet during the recovery, letting a swerve develop into a ground loop
  • Going around without expecting the left yaw from power and pitch change