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There's nothing wrong with some wind. Until it almost ruins your day.

The flight was typical by Hawaii standards. Sunny. Clouds over the jagged Ko'Olau mountains of Oahu. And wind. A healthy dose of it, running the typical 15-20 knot race across the tips of those peaks and down onto the leeward side of the island.

With Honolulu Approach juggling its usual mix of heavies from Asia & the US Mainland, inter-island flights and sightseeing choppers, I was told to expect runway 4 left and contact the tower. Typical.

Over Pearl Harbor, I dialed in 118.1 and waited for my turn. "Honolulu Tower, Cessna 2DJ, with you 1,500 feet for runway 4L."

My rented Skyhawk SP bounced around in the rivers of air as I crossed over a Boeing 767ER that had just touched down on the crossing runway. Typical.

"Skyhawk 2DJ, enter a left base, runway 4L. Cleared to land. Traffic landing on the parallel, a Boeing 717."

Power off. Nose down. Flaps out. Turn final. And there it was. The very long and wide runway 4L, set amid the turquoise water, green mountains, white clouds, and blue sky. Typical. (And beautiful!)

500 feet. A few bumps. Steady on the airspeed. 70 knots. The latest wind: 12 knots almost straight down the runway.

300 feet. Loss of airspeed. A touch of power. Steady, now.

100 feet, slowing to 60 knots over the threshold. Then thump!

As if the airport wasn't quite ready for me, its giant hand reached for my left horizontal stabilizer and pushed up. Suddenly a lot of runway came into view at 70 feet. My airspeed sank to 45 knots. Too high to stall, I thought.

I instinctively added a healthy dose of power and fought the yoke to keep my nose wheel from gnawing at the pavement. Sinking. Still sinking. More power. Then, oh boy, now floating back up to 110 feet. Not typical.

Now past the numbers and stabilized, I eased the Cessna back towards the runway. Power off. Power on. Back, and forth. Seconds later, we were down. Not softly. But certainly not as firm as the wind had wanted.

Just another reminder that no two landings are the same - and some are simply out to get you.

Article by Chris Archer; Send him an email