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I have read some articles, and to tell the truth, I could not clearly see the differences. I would like to know if there are differences or not.

eduardoguilherme
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1 Answers1

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  1. If the nose landing gear (NLG) makes contact first, but the plane settles down on the runway, that's a nose-down landing.

  2. If the landing is normal, i.e. the main landing gear (MLG) touches down first, but the plane bounces, only to settle down on the MLG, that's a bounced landing.

  3. If the plane bounces, after scenarios 1 or 2, but proceeds to land on the NLG, leading to multiple bounces on the NLG, that's a porpoise landing. Risking structural failure.

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Source: boldmethod.com

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    A porpoise landing doesn't necessarily have to break something for it to be called a "porpoise", but the timeline you posted shows how it can get out of control quickly. – Ron Beyer Aug 22 '16 at 13:10