Skylane 182/RG Turbo Skylane/RG
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Commercial
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25; Flight Crew Total 2737; Flight Crew Type 1509
Training / Qualification; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control; General Maintenance Action
Weather; Aircraft; Human Factors
On a long cross-country flight last week; I found myself continuing to fly my airplane with known mechanical issues. I told myself that they were not airworthy issues but I did not get a mechanic to look at them despite multiple opportunities. The flight was completed safely; but at the end it was found that the issues required maintenance and I feel that I had made poor decisions throughout the flight.A pilot friend and I were on a cross-country flight of multiple legs in my airplane. We took turns piloting the airplane for each leg. During all legs of the flight; we were carefully monitoring the engine temperatures and fuel flow. We preflighted at the start of each day and were cleaning the airplane between legs. At the end of the fourth leg; we tried to land when a heavy shower was near the field. By the time we were over the runway; so was the shower and it's associated wind gusts. After several hard bounces; we went around and waited for the storm to pass before coming back and landing safely. The next day; we found that the nose wheel fairing was scraped along the bottom in the back; indicating that it had hit the ground during the hard landing the evening before. We found no other signs of damage to the airplane and continued to fly the airplane.Several legs later; we found a small chip in the end of one of the propeller blades. It seemed small to us and we continued the flight. After the next leg; we found that a crack in the spinner that had been stop-drilled at the last annual; had cracked beyond the drill hole. We did talk to our Mechanic at home about it and he suggested we get it stop drilled again but said that it would not fail catastrophically. We did not talk to a mechanic; and continued the flight. By the next leg; it had bent out and was clearly damaged. We worked with the local shop to get the spinner replaced; waiting for an overnight delivery. Then we continued to fly the last leg to our destination. If the Mechanic saw either the scraped nose wheel fairing or the chipped propeller; he didn't say anything.After the last leg of the flight; we asked a local Mechanic to change the oil. He found the chip in the prop and said that it required repair and that the repair would need to be done by a prop shop. He indicated that it looked like a propeller strike to him and is recommending having an engine inspection; and that is being coordinated now.Throughout the trip; we talked through all of these incidents and felt like we were being safe. During the hard landing; we landed solidly on the mains and the nose was not pitched down; we felt no change in engine RPM or noise level; and we didn't see the prop chip or the spinner stress until a few legs later. We saw no damage to the tip of the other blade and didn't think it could have been a prop strike during the hard landing. But now that the event is over; we put the story together. It seems that I was not looking at the big picture very well. Any one of these incidents should have caused us to get a mechanic to look at the airplane right away. Part of it was the desire to finish the flight (it was an air competition which we were doing well at; and we had a support team that would be disappointed if we had to stop the flight). Also; it was the desire to have my mechanic do the work; back at my home airport. We were not comfortable getting maintenance at unfamiliar and distant locations where it is difficult to oversee decisions and activity or know the people involved.Note that this form does not support an extended situation like this. Although I was not the pilot flying during the hard landing; I was PIC during several of the legs after the hard landing.
Two pilots flying a C182 in a multi-leg competition experienced an aborted hard landing during gusty rainy conditions.  After inspecting and finding only a scrape on the bottom of the nose gear wheel pant; a small chip on one prop blade and a crack extending beyond a previous stop-drill they decided to continue the competition.  Upon later consulting maintenance they learned that the apparently minor damage presented issues that should have been examined by maintenance prior to flight; in particular the prop damage that will probably require an engine inspection.