I took the aircraft on a cross country from MYF to Catalina (AVX). Cloud cover was around 2000′ just prior to the approach end of 22 and prevailing winds were from the NE, prompting a left downwind to runway 04. Following a hard landing around 1000 local, the left main tire blew on landing rollout on runway 04. Taxi response and ride was rough going to the FBO, allowing me to identify the left main tire was abnormal prior to shutdown. At no time did the aircraft depart the prepared surface. All material from the tire remained attached to the hub. The airfield had a spare tire of the same size and tools but no services available. Using the borrowed tools and the spare, my friend and I were able to remove the blown tire and replace and inflate it to the recommended pressure in the aircraft manual. We monitored the new tire to ensure it held air for 40 minutes (the duration of the return flight). At 1700 we took off and flew safely back to MYF, landing on 28R. I called the owner at 1035 but he did not pick up. I called again at 1758 after we had returned to MYF, left a message, emailed a summary, and wrote squawks on the main tires. The owner performed repairs on the aircraft on Tuesday, which involved removing the tire we installed on the aircraft and replacing it with a new tire.
When winds are light and variable, or even a stated direction but less than 10 kts, the performance numbers show that landing on an up-sloping runway would be a better decision vs landing on a down-sloping runway. In Catalina specifically, the optical illusions from the runway slopes and the fact that the runway was built on top of a mountain, make the landing runway decision especially critical.
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