Flight 95

04-30-00

C172 N8906G

N07-local

"0.9 solo; 5 landings

"practice to & ldngs; gusty winds... not too rusty!"


sct hi clouds, wind N 12-20, 60F

An interesting wx situation: the wind is blowing mostly out of the north, but it's been gusting all morning, and as I stand for a minute watching the sock, I see that every now and then, as a gust blows through, it swivels up to 40 degrees. Could be tricky.Good.I'm strictly working on landings today.

First takeoff goes well, but I find myself struggling to keep the wings level. First landing is quite good for the first of the day, esp. after 6 weeks!
Second circuit is much the same, but on #3, the wind shifts as I flare, and things get interesting. The wind has been generally from the left, so I've got good left aileron in there. After touchdown, just as 06G starts to roll and lose speed,very smoothly I notice, she begins to drift left before I can even think about neutralizing aileron. But wait... damn, we're not down yet, I had thought that seemed too smooth a landing... floating now... I'm out of rudder, the cogs in my head click just one more time, and a sign pops up in there. It says: APPLY RIGHT AILERON. 06G's left main approaches the grass... I haul the yoke over, and she holds, then drifts right, still wallowing in the flare.

  I sneak back onto the centerline just as she really touches down, a bit long to say the least, and the wind suddenly settles back down. The whole thing takes probably 5 seconds, but it seems like a whole morning's worth of landing practice.
A few deep breaths as I run my checklist, then taxi back for more.

The last two circuits go well, but on the last takeoff, the right wing drops perilously close to the runway just as I rotate.
Devilish, capricious wind... it has quite a time here at this funny little airport.