Cheetah; Tiger; Traveler AA5 Series
Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 35; Flight Crew Total 425; Flight Crew Type 8
Training / Qualification
Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft; Ground Excursion Runway; Inflight Event / Encounter Unstabilized Approach
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
Return flight to home airport with newly purchased AA5B.  Went around twice when approach to land was too high with too much airspeed.  On third try got airspeed and height to appropriate levels. Descended to runway between 65 and 70 knots.  Crossed threshold and cut power to idle.  Began flare to keep nose up and stalled about 10' above runway.  Bounced on main wheels and a second time in a nose down attitude causing a prop strike.  There was a third bounce on mains that was not as severe as the first or second.When first bounce occurred I added power.  After plane had settled on the runway it became obvious that it was not gaining sufficient speed to get airborne.  Applied brakes but went off the end of the runway approximately 50' (well short of any obstacles or hazards).Communicated with tower and then ground to taxi back to hangar.  Tower asked me to copy a number to call.  Copied number after shutdown and called number shortly thereafter.  Spoke with someone in the tower and gave them name; address; phone; tail and pilot numbers.Inspected plane after shutdown at the hangar.  Both prop tips were bent back about 5' from their ends.  No other apparent damage to the aircraft.The situation was the result of approach to landing and flaring too high (I was especially careful to get the airspeed right as I knew there was a tendency to land long with the AA5B).  Previous plane was a Piper Cherokee that was far more forgiving.  There had been several times when I flared too high in the Cherokee and landed hard.  But; as the landing gear on the Cherokee absorbed the hard descent; a similar landing in the AA5B resulted in a bounce.  More time should have been spent in my initial training and in the three biennial reviews that I've had on landing.  In all those cases it was more or less assumed that I knew how to land and not much time was spent on that aspect of flight.
AA5B pilot reported a hard landing that resulted in a prop strike and runway excursion.