METAR: KXXX 021917Z AUTO 25011G20KT 10SM CLR 08/00 A2954 RMK AO2 T00970005
So far, Mother Nature has had two modes with me – terribly gust winds or low ceilings. Today turned into the former, but when I arrived at the airport it did not look that bad. Originally it was 11 to 20 knots mostly down the runway. The idea was to do short field and soft field takeoffs and short-field landings. Just for a warmup in these winds I wanted to do a lap to get used to things. It became quickly apparent that this wind report was not right. Apparently, at my home airport, the weather station is in the leeward side of a tree line, and on particularly gusty days aligned with the runway it can be incorrect. Let’s take a look at the three METARs in the area right now:
METAR: KXX1 022055Z AUTO 27013G24KT 210V290 10SM CLR 10/01 A2958 RMK AO2 T00970005 (home airport)
METAR: KXX2 022052Z 27018G27KT 10SM CLR 08/01 A2958 RMK AO2 PK WND 24034/2001
SLP022 T00830006 53011 (nearby Class D)
METAR: KXX3 022051Z 26017G30KT 10SM BKN250 11/01 A2956 RMK AO2 PK WND 27038/2024 SLP014 T01110006 53015 (nearby Class B)
Peak winds 34 knots at one airport heading 240, peak winds 38 knots at 270 at the other.
This was a challenge. Right away on the first takeoff a crosswind gust started blowing me left and there were a lot of bumps. It was hard to stabilize the takeoff over the runway. I also let the speed get too high. Part of this was my peripheral sight picture. Being so close in to the runway I think I subconsciously wanted to stretch the takeoff to a shallower climb to be over my target landmarks instead of just trying to reach altitude. Being so worried about the variable nature of the wind, I did not put in the correct correction for the heavy downwind air. I tried to stabilize the airplane in crosswind and the downwind leg was a bit far from the airfield. The variable crosswind gusts were pushing us back to the runway and it took a moment to correct for this. On the descent, my mental checklist of getting the PAPI lights correct does not work. I kept on ending up too low. I tried correct for the gust factor with a little extra. We were trying to make the approach at 70 KIAS to correct for the wind, but 85 was probably the more correct thing to do. The plane was dancing all over and I couldn’t get my airspeed and descent rate stabilized. I was pretty good about being light on the controls, but it was rough. I was already sweating.
Apparently, I was so concerned before the second takeoff I forgot to turn on the fuel pump – I’m still very upset with myself over that. The second landing was equally taxing but I think the wind was getting worse. I was so mentally out of it by the second landing, and working so hard trying to stabilize the airplane that the windows started to fog up with sweat. I needed to take off my fleece to get cool once we taxied off the runway. Before the third takeoff we held short to let one of the 172s finish their base to final. I watched as it struggled to stay stable on the landing. It dropped, stabilized, crabbed, un-crabbed, crabbed again, dropped, rose, held steady, rocked. On the flare at the runway to surged upward and they nearly had a tail strike when the gust let it sink again. “Oh boy, here we go,” I thought.
We lined up, powered up, released the brakes, and sped off. I was determined to keep the airplane at 80 KIAS on the climb. Again, dealing with the wind kept me busy and I didn’t think about the crab correction for the downwind. My crosswind was perpendicular to runway heading and by the time I turned to downwind I was half way down the runway. Right away it was a turn to base which should have been steep, but there was no base leg, just a continuous turn to final. I ended up well to the right of the runway. I started to work it back, but it was still not stable and I did a go-around. On the ascent I asked the CFI to take this landing – I was feeling well beyond my limits, and the left side of the windshield was full of condensation from my sweat.
The CFI had a bit of a hard time keeping the landing stable as well. After some amount of correction and once below the effect of the buildings shielding the runway he was able to settle it down, although not after a nice gust caused us to gain a few feet of altitude. His landing was a lot softer than any of mine and he was right on the centerline.
Today was really a challenge, and way beyond my capabilities. With a crosswind component of between 3 and 20 knots, variable and gusty, this was beyond my skills. It is going to take a lot more practice and experience to deal with a day like today. So only 0.8 hours today. Sooner or later I’m going to get the kind of day I can handle. Two days of 0 to a day of 8 on difficulty. One thing is for sure, I’m glad I soloed on Thursday and not today! And some day, a day like today will not be beyond my limits!
FencerPTS 