Crosswinds - Nov 5

Working from home today, and it was looking like a long day at both the start and the end of the day - and I made the mistake of looking at the flight school's schedules. They had a bird available in the middle of the day, as well as an instructor to do a checkride.

I did not feel terribly sharp today, and my flying showed it - I sucked. Of course, it was the CFI that I was flying with.

While I have been introduced to Shorts and Softs, today was a day with some crosswind, on which more practice is needed. So we kept it simple.

Started with a soft-field takeoff, which started well. The nose wheel came up and we continued the take-off run, then the plane got off the ground too soon, I got above ground effect, the stall horn blared, I flew level for a while until I accelerated, and then correctly climbed out at Vy=68 knots. I need to barely keep the nosewheel off the ground during the roll, barely climb off the ground when ready to fly, stay in ground effect and accelerate to Vx, then climb. Not an auspicious start.

The first circuit was OK, except for holding altitude. I was up and down like a toilet seat at a mixed party. Suggestion was to do the downwind radio call sooner, get it over with so I can plan the approach and landing, and also give other traffic earlier warning. Good feedback - noted.

We fly left-hand circuits at Carp, and today (on final approach) the wind was from the left. I have not seen the wind from this direction in a month, and I didn't plan for the wind on my turn from base to final so the turn to final was late and resulted in a pear-shaped turn. Three times in a row! This is elementary - figure this out for the first landing - maybe the second. NOT the third! Grrrr.

Handling the crosswind went quite well. In my 'net reading someone suggested to think about crosswinds less, be less analytic, and just fly it like a video game: Look out the window, see things happen, work the controls to make the right things happen, repeat. So I just flew through the crosswind and it went OK. The crosswinds didn't have much of a gust factor which made it easier, though they did change through about 60 degrees from west towards the south during my 1.1 hours.

The first three dual landings were OK. Not slick, and a little bit of flare through cruise to slightly nose-up, but nothing unsafe, no stick pushes, and no drops or bounces. The real nasty sink was again present at the end of runway 28, so power addition during descent was required.

On the second landing I got behind the airplane. I turned downwind to base and didn't have any flaps out, had to get them out in a hurry, chopped power to get down, and generally scrambled. I wasn't worried about not getting it all done, but the secret to a good landing is to have a good approach. And one of the secrets for a good approach is to not be rushed. The landing was so-so, primarily because I was doing a lot of stuff too late.

Full stop after the third circuit. Advice from the CFI was to work on the crosswinds (it was a great day for that), and to work on flying with precision - track the altitudes, don't get pear-shaped on turns, and so-forth. CFI got out, I started up and went out solo for four circuits.

First circuit was OK for altitude precision, but I had to be really patient about getting the aircraft down on the ground. The last flights either had nasty gusty crosswinds, or were dual, and so I had forgotten that when flying solo in this aircraft you need to start shedding speed and altitude early. I wasn't feeling sharp enough to put in a side slip, and I had not recently practiced it, so I just rode it out. Slowing slightly to 55 knots instead of 60 knots helped - the further one gets from best glide speed of 73 knots, the shorter a distance you will glide. In short final I brought the speed back to 60 knots for the flare.

Traffic was busy most of the day, which was no issue. We sorted it all out. I can handle the situational awareness.

Handling the crosswind was OK - it was there (7 knots 60-80 degrees from the left) but the side slip handled it easily, and there was minimal gusting. I'm glad I had a chance to practice it.

Sink at the end of runway 28 was nasty, as it always is when the wind is from the south. I flew over it twice (crowbar descent), and through it twice (adding lots of power and still going down). Handling sink and shear is now routine.

I have noticed that I generally barrel in the general direction of the runway threshold, I don't really have a set pattern for making landings - a target altitude for the turn to final, a planned RPM for the approach, etc. I must ask an instructor for suggestions, to make the approaches less of a contruction, and more like the execution of a set play.

On the fourth circuit I just decided I wasn't feeling sharp. It was a warm day for November, and the haze was out with a vengeance. There was no horizon, and there was perhaps 5 statute miles visibility. I called a full stop, and came home.

The flying last Sunday morning was exhilarating. Today was a muddy struggle. I'm pleased that I can fly adequately and safely when not at the top of my game, but today wasn't an educational outing, it was a mental grind.

I have two lessons booked for next weekend. Rain is forecast, but if we can fly then I think we'll go to the practice area and practice the basics - straight&level, climbing turns, slow flight, etc. A periodic refresher on the basics is a good idea - and when things are not working right then often there is a fundamental reason, not a complicated reason.

Time: 0.5 dual, 0.6 solo
Landings: 3 dual, 4 solo