19980516035449A

On may 16, 1998, about 1315 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 182L, N42770, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at the marlborough airport (9B1), marlborough, Massachusetts. The certificated private pilot/owner and passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under 14 CFR part 91. The flight originated at the portland international jetport (pwm), portland, Maine, about 1200, and terminated at fitchburg municipal airport (fit), fitchburg, Massachusetts, at 1330. The pilot stated that after departing pwm, he flew for awhile, and at 1315, attempted to land at 9B1. He reported that he could not remember the winds that day, but felt he had a crosswind on landing. The pilot stated that he chose runway 14 because he was following an airplane which had just departed from runway 14, which was 1.682 feet long and 50 feet wide. The pilot stated that with flaps full down, and airspeed between 70 and 80 mph, he was a "little high" on short final. He reported that he was also "startled" by a chain link fence butted up against the approach end of the runway. He further stated: "...the airplane suddenly dropped and struck the runway. I added power to abort the landing and flew directly to fit, which had much longer runways." After landing at fit, the pilot took the airplane to a fix base operator on the airport for repairs. The pilot stated that no one was notified because the extent of the damage was unknown. On June 18, 1998, the repair work was pointed out to a federal aviation administration inspector. The inspector determined that the firewall replacement, in addition to numerous other wrinkles found on the fuselage, was substantial damage, and initiated the notification for the accident. (.4) the pilot made an approach to a runway which was 1,682 feet long, with the winds from 080 degrees at 9 knots. The pilot said he was a 'little high' on short final and the airplane 'dropped faster' than he wanted it to. The airplane landed hard and the pilot aborted the landing and landed at another airport uneventfully. (-23) pilot was on a VFR flight form pwm to Marlboro, MA (9B1). At Marlboro the pilot had a crosswind and a short (1700') runway to contend with. He stated that "the airplane dropped faster than he wanted, touched down, and he made a go around." He elected not to try another approach at Marlboro and flew to fjt which had a longer runway more aligned into the wind. He became aware of the damage only after shutdown but was not aware that it was substantial. Therefore he did not report the event that day (05/16/98).