Bellanca 7ECA pilot and instructor attempting a wheel landing; bounced and subsequently suffered a p...

Attributes
ACN	861390
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Champion Citabria 7ECA
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Landing
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Trainee Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 20 Flight Crew Total 270 Flight Crew Type 7.5
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control

Narrative:

Landing practice on a bellanca citabria. Last landing of the day; power-off short approach to a wheel landing. Approach speed was 80 mph. All prior landings of the day were on runway 33; a narrower runway. During the landing phase; the aircraft initially experienced a hard bounce; which forced us back into the air. As the aircraft settled back into another touchdown; the propeller contacted the runway surface briefly. The aircraft bounced a second time; and finally settled into a stable touchdown attitude on the third touchdown. I was at the controls during the touchdowns; but my instructor took over the controls as soon as the prop strike was detected. Cause of initial hard landing: rounding out too high above the runway surface; causing an increased sink rate prior to touchdown; changing runway widths and lighting conditions possibly contributed to the misjudged altitude. Cause of prop strike: inadequate pitch attitude while porpoising. Result of event: aircraft grounded for maintenance. Corrective actions: continue practicing wheel landing technique; avoid get-there-itis syndrome by being ready to execute a go-around when appropriate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Bellanca 7ECA pilot and instructor attempting a wheel landing; bounced and subsequently suffered a prop strike.

Narrative: Landing practice on a Bellanca Citabria. Last landing of the day; power-off short approach to a wheel landing. Approach speed was 80 MPH. All prior landings of the day were on Runway 33; a narrower runway. During the landing phase; the aircraft initially experienced a hard bounce; which forced us back into the air. As the aircraft settled back into another touchdown; the propeller contacted the runway surface briefly. The aircraft bounced a second time; and finally settled into a stable touchdown attitude on the third touchdown. I was at the controls during the touchdowns; but my instructor took over the controls as soon as the prop strike was detected. Cause of initial hard landing: rounding out too high above the runway surface; causing an increased sink rate prior to touchdown; changing runway widths and lighting conditions possibly contributed to the misjudged altitude. Cause of prop strike: inadequate pitch attitude while porpoising. Result of event: aircraft grounded for maintenance. Corrective actions: continue practicing wheel landing technique; avoid get-there-itis syndrome by being ready to execute a go-around when appropriate.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.