5/24/2011 Flight
So today I flew in N89464 and had to practice judgement. Took off with storms coming up our back door and when we got into the clear we were going to practice but the engine sputtered and shook violently and we decided to turn around and try to get back to Freeway. The weather wasn't as bad as forecast and as shown on radar so the only real reason to not practice landings and go-arounds was the engine. We flew in light chop and rain at about 1400MSL and landed without incident. The landing was typical of crosswinds;the wind kept trying to make us look bad by blowing us every which way possible. In flight I did very well with the controls and rudder and was smooth on the yoke. I was calm the entire time as well because I kind of wanted to see a real emergency landing in a field. There were plenty of choices for landing including two near by airstrips. Had a fun flight and I will be flying again on June 5th at 8 am!
For now, keep the white side up!
4/21/2011 Flight
Last month on the 21st I went to the airport on an extremely windy day for another lesson.
The weather was broken @ 6500 and winds at 23kts SSW/NE with gusts to 40kts. Because we're in the SFRA we fly at 1000ft MSL outbound, climbing to 1,500ft MSL about 15nm out. Final practice altitude at DEALE is 2000ft MSL and we are over water. So this day the only weather concern was the wind. The Cessna 172 has a max demonstrated X-wind component of around 16kts. The runway at W00 is oriented to 360 and 180 degree headings. This causes a crosswind that dangerously can shift direction and is not a headwind or tailwind. My instructor and I agreed to wait it out a bit and pre-flight in the meantime. We waited about 30 min and when the winds were gusting into the 20's we took off.
Flying out to DEALE we were getting 130-145 kts true with cruise power! (That was one hell of a tailwind :D ) Upon reaching the practice area and at 2000ft MSL we set up for some slow flight and stalls. We worked on using the rudder for breaking stalls and resisting the urge to use ailerons when she's turning left. The flight was normal except for the chop, which actually made me airsick! On the way back we were getting 65 kts at cruise power due to the wind. The landing was the best part.
We set up for landing on 36 and this was where my new CFI earned my trust. He brought her in slipped into the wind and held it off nice and slow. He even planned for some turbulence over a ridge with trees in which we dropped about 75 feet . He began to get the right wheel (upwind) down first and then maintained control until both were on the ground and we used ailerons for wind and exited at the middle taxiway. This was a great flight and certainly one to remember. I logged 1.2hrs that day.
