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Yours truly attempts a crosswind landing (Read 472 times)
Dec 29th, 2007 at 3:26am

llamedos   Offline
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Turns out it is for me
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This is during my seventh hour of flying lessons.

It may not look like it, but the wind was pretty strong.

Believe it or not the instructor was happy with my landing

Who would be an instructor with idiots like me in the left seat. He didn't have grey hair until he met me.  Shocked

Pre solo exam next week.

Thanks for looking.
 

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Reply #1 - Dec 29th, 2007 at 4:12am

Mictheslik   Offline
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ummm...nice...slightly wobbly though Wink

.mic
 

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Reply #2 - Dec 29th, 2007 at 4:46am

beaky   Offline
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I can see why he was happy- you touched down straight. Side-loading the gear is not a good idea; it may not do any damage, but if you bounce from a sideways landing you will be in a most unpleasant situation. Overall I'd say your crosswind technique was good. You seem to understand what's needed. Grin

Off-center is OK if you have room, but sideways? Bad... people often screw up by trying too hard to nail the centerline; it's more important to touch down straight in a crosswind, as long as both wheels are on pavement and the wings are clear of obstacles.

It's hard not to wobble in a 150- it's a light airplane, and it's easy to over-correct until you get more experience. That's part of what  makes it such a great trainer- it keeps you awake.

Was it sort of gusty, or were you just over-correcting a little? I'm not saying I did any better at 7 hrs, but the nose was wandering a bit...

And as long as I'm nit-picking, I'd advise you to not come in quite so shallow, especially with wind that is not 100% steady. First time you make a really fine short-field approach you'll see how simple it is to come in steeper without descending too rapidly or slowing down too much... it's nice to have more air between you and the ground on final; it's not just for approaches with obstacles very close to the runway, it's a good general practice, IMHO.
First time your little 150 gets a good downdraft or enters a shear zone on final you'll see why I believe that. Wink
Turning to base a little early helps, too- even with no wind, in a 150 you can pull the throttle all the way out abeam the numbers, dump 20 degrees of flaps, and make a 180 to the runway to touch down on the numbers at most airports. That's an excellent engine-out practice exercise; if your CFI hasn't shown you that yet, ask him to.

I don't normally do that, but my typical approach in a 150 is somehwere between that extreme and "dragging it in", wwhich I try to avoid.

It's surprising what the humble 150 can do sometimes... you've made a good choice with that trainer.  Smiley

Good throttle management, BTW... all the way down you were thinking about what was needed, and that last little shot of power was a good idea, with all that runway ahead.

Good job!!  Grin
 

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Reply #3 - Dec 29th, 2007 at 5:11am

llamedos   Offline
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Thanks for the comments Rottydaddy, you sound a lot like my instructor.  Wink

The wind was very gusty and inconsistent 10 - 20 knts,really bumpy air aswell my instructor didn't want to do circuits in this weather in case it scared me off, but was very happy with how well i did in the end. Next time i go flying in normal wind, landings should be a breeze. (Pun intended)

On final, just over the trees there was a lot of wind sheer and i kept loosing altitude around there, i think that is why i ended up a bit low. As i get to about 20ft the crosswind dies and the plane wants to keep flying in the direction it is facing so i tend to drift to the right, but i am surprised when the front wheel touched i was back on the centre line ,don't know what i did right but it worked.  Grin

I don't mind using all the runway at the moment, i guess the airport is getting there money's worth out of it if i use the edges.  Grin

My instructor says the same thing about my throttle management. Although, that was the first time he asked for a bit of power just before touchdown, it was nice to see how it held us up for a bit longer.

Thanks for the input.
 

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Reply #4 - Dec 29th, 2007 at 1:42pm

Dr.bob7   Offline
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good landing, lol 45 views on your vid and you have 4 honors in youtube already = 0
 
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Reply #5 - Dec 29th, 2007 at 4:40pm

beaky   Offline
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llamedos wrote on Dec 29th, 2007 at 5:11am:
My instructor says the same thing about my throttle management. Although, that was the first time he asked for a bit of power just before touchdown, it was nice to see how it held us up for a bit longer.


Yeah, he no doubt figured you had enough runway to basically try to flare again, closer to center and with more control. A 172 will float more for you without power, but a 150 needs a little help sometime.
 

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Reply #6 - Jan 7th, 2008 at 1:57pm

Brett_Henderson   Offline
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Wow.. I gotta check the video forums more often. You did just fine  Wink

Video cameras in small airplanes tend to exagerate over-controlling, and don't show the true strength of crosswinds, or gusts. I could tell you had your hands full there, and at no point were you near where I'd have barked, "My plane"  Smiley

In fact, at first watch, I was certain that your instructor had added that power during your little balloon, and was about to take the plane. He did fine too, in knowing you weren't going to get that plane into a mess that he couldn't get it out of.

I wish my X-wind landings were that good, at 7 hours  Embarrassed

Just remember to carry a little more airspeed and a little more altitude into a nasty x-wind...

Edit..  That will allow you to use "my" X-wind technique...  Get on the rudder early and you'll instinctively keep the upwind wing low (x-controlling without thinking about it) as you keep it on center-line..  Soon.. you'll be puting it down, one wheel at a time..
 
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