AAIB investigation to Streak Shadow, G-WESX
Hard landing, Rhedyn Coch Airfield, 10 July 2015.
Summary:
The pilot planned to visit Rhedyn Coch Airfield for the first time and called ahead to obtain permission and discuss local procedures. After departing from Lleweni Parc Airfield, he routed directly overhead Rhedyn Coch and performed several orbits to familiarise himself with the airfield. He then conducted a local flight, before returning to Rhedyn Coch and landing uneventfully on grass Runway 36. After a short time on the ground, the pilot took off again with the intention of flying circuits. After the first circuit, during the latter stages of the approach to Runway 36, the pilot became distracted by some livestock movement in an adjacent field. Upon returning his focus to the landing he found the aircraft was much lower than he had expected. The pilot flared, but was unable to arrest the rate of descent sufficiently to prevent the aircraft landing heavily on its main landing gear, followed by the nose landing gear. He was uninjured, but the aircraft sustained damage to the tail boom and nose landing gear. The pilot attributed the hard landing to his distraction, which resulted in a late flare.
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