Crosswind Landings

A mostly sunny afternoon. That was what the weather forecast said. For once, it seemed like it was going to be accurate. A quick glance out at the sky through the window in the morning confirmed it.

I arrived at the airfield a few hours later. I was greeted by a lot of people inside the airfield building, all waiting for seemingly only one person – my flight instructor. I joined them in waiting.

A short while later I heard an aircraft engine before seeing a small high-wing plane taxi in. My flight instructor came in afterwards.

Immediately he sent me out to inspect our aircraft before flight. It was still in the hangar. I walked out with my sister and did the pre-flight. With everything okay (except the oil level, which was soon fixed), my instructor pulled the aircraft out and turned it around.

I adjusted my seat and got in before my instructor did. He explained that because of the wind, depending on the situation he might not let me go solo. I was reminded that a westerly wind was also on the forecast.

The engine start today was a bit rough, and after two attempts we got it to work the third time using the choke. Pre take-off checks continued normally, and we taxied out.

We used runway 18 for today’s flight. It was almost perpendicular to the wind direction. The actual effect of the wind became apparent during takeoff, with the aircraft having a ‘weather-vaning’ tendency to swing its nose toward the wind. Other than that, during the circuit the only thing that made it noticeable was a necessary heading adjustment to maintain track on downwind.

I turned onto base leg while giving the radio call. Because now the wind was behind us, it gave us a slightly faster groundspeed than normal. I had a small challenge in slowing down and descending in order to make the runway. I ended up too high on final.

I had the engine at idle all the way down to the runway, with what looked like a massive crab angle. Now was the hard bit. As soon as I started the flare, I kicked out my left rudder and straightened out. To stop myself from drifting off the runway to the left, I lowered my right wing, keeping a straight path along the ground. Then I was supposed slowly touch the ground, right wheel first, then left, then the nosewheel. Except that didn’t happen – although I straightened out okay, the aircraft plonked right on the ground again. I would only get better with practise so I gave full power for another go.

On downwind this time, I tried to get more distance on base by flying outward a bit more. However, on the base leg again it was apparent I was too high and coming in fast. This time, instead of lowering flaps in stages, I went down to 30 degrees in one go.

I descended toward the runway with a high sink rate, so my instructor felt I should have arrested it sooner. This time, after I used the rudder to straighten out, I managed to land a bit softer, right wheel first.

We rolled for a bit before applying full thrust again. At the side of the runway, there was a huge clump of trees creating turbulence in the wind blowing across the runway. As I flew through that turbulent air the aircraft swung left and right despite my efforts to control it. As we climbed over the treetop level the effect disappeared.

The circuit was pretty much the same on the third round, namely a high and short base leg necessitating 30 degrees flaps in a single go. Again I had to go down with a high sink rate. It felt odd to see the runway out the side, and not in front of me.

The runway got closer as I went lower. I had a last-second check to make sure we were ready to land – and found that I forgot the carby heat. My flight instructor realised that too and turned it off for me.

During the flare, I waited a bit too late then gave a bit too much left rudder. It was a little unsteady during the touchdown. My instructor decided to use the remaining runway by taking off again, and doing another crosswind landing on what distance was left of the grass strip.

With the wind proving too much for me to handle alone, we called it a day and taxied back in. Beside the hangar someone had pulled out their colourful-looking plane. I had to carefully taxi between that plane and a Cessna 175 parked on the other side. I then turned into the tie-down area.

Because of the wind, my lesson was shortened to 0.7 hours, but it was quite an experience to say the least. I should practise more landings of this kind, but it all depends on the weather.

Unfortunately my phone ran out of batteries and died, so I wasn’t able to record my flight track today. It didn’t bother me much, because we pretty much only did circuits anyway.

The weather forecast for next weekend is ‘Cloudy, isolated showers. Winds southwesterly and light’. Let’s see if it stays true.

Total hours:
11.2 Dual
0.2 PIC

Progress

May 28 2011
I arrived at the airfield under a mass of clouds. To the west rain was forming. Looking out at the hangars, I could see that they were closed up. There were no planes out on the grass area except for a Cessna 175. I hoped the weather would still be good for flying. The previous week I missed out because of strong winds. Today, there were almost no winds.

I stepped up into the airfield building. A radio scanner was on the table next to a television. Occasional broadcasts were transmitted from time to time. I was going to switch the frequency to 120.5 but I left it alone.

I met my flight instructor inside. Despite it looking like a rainy day, it seemed the weather was going to pass and everything would continue as normal. In fact, there was already another flight being performed at that very moment.

I sat down at the table, and started going through some flight magazines. At that moment, I heard a radio transmission come through the scanner.
“Penfield Traffic, Texan 5131 on base leg for runway 18, touch and go.”
So my aircraft was still in the air. I sat patiently, watching the aircraft land.

Once the plane stopped after taxiing next to the building, I went outside to preflight after the previous occupants exited. With everything being good to go, my flight instructor double checked and got in the aircraft with me. After we finished the pre-start check, I started the engine and we taxied out to Runway 18.

I noticed that where the void on the panel was before, a GPS unit was fitted snugly within. It was a Garmin Aera. On the way out, my flight instructor showed me some things about it with its touchscreen.

The taxi out to runway 18 took a while, with the taxiway occasionally covered in little puddles in a few places. There was even a small puddle directly in the middle of the taxiway where around five pigeons appeared to be having a chat. We took off soon after the pre-takeoff checks as we arrived at the threshold of Runway 18.

It took me a while to get used to flying again after two weeks of being grounded, because of weather. That was possibly the reason for almost banking nearly 30 degrees in a climbing turn. Luckily I quickly realised my mistake and swiftly corrected.

Because the circuits at my airfield are always to the west, I found myself doing right turns in the circuit. This was inconvenient as it was hard to see with my flight instructor sitting beside me.

On downwind leg, I did a reasonable job of holding altitude and speed steady before we completed pre-landing checks. He pointed out that my downwind was still angling in slightly toward the runway. Not again!

I had to correct left to give some distance for base leg. Once in the turn I gave the radio call and proceeded to pull the throttle back to idle to slow down and start descending. I added one stage of flaps and turned on the carburettor heat. Streaks of rain droplets ran across our windscreen as we flew through them.

On final I found myself too high, so I kept the throttle at idle all the way until touchdown. This landing however wasn’t too nice because my flare was too short, and it resulted in a bump. I kept the pressure off the nosewheel as I applied full thrust for the go-around and took off again, retracting the flaps in stages. I did a climbing turn onto crosswind this time being careful not to bank over 15 degrees.

Leveling off in the turn I appeared to have a rough hand and almost jerked the throttle back. The engine didn’t like it and shuddered a bit. I silently apologized to the plane as I set the power. We eventually settled on 85 knots in the circuit.

This time around, after flying through rain droplets again on base, I ended up with a good approach. I flew steadily down to the runway. I flared, but almost ballooned. I realised that I left the power on, so I quickly went back to idle and touched down much more smoothly than the last attempt.

Again, I set full throttle for the go around, with right rudder to keep straight. I made another good turn onto crosswind, but almost forgot to release the right rudder after levelling off.

I turned onto downwind, using the GPS to help me as I had a slight difficulty with seeing the runway with my instructor in the way.

On downwind this time I kept straight, and did a touch-and-go once again. On the fourth circuit my instructor kept quiet, so I had to do everything myself, which I managed. I was feeling confident in the cockpit again.

After our fourth landing, we did a full stop and taxied off the runway. It was here that my instructor decided to let me loose in the circuit, flying solo. I didn’t say anything, but I was excited. I listened to him giving some last-minute instructions to me, and some advice, such as being prepared to have the aircraft climb faster with only one person in it, and saying checks aloud to help. We taxied back up to the end of runway 18. He then unplugged his headset and placed it in the back compartment before opening the canopy and getting out. Once he was out of the way with the canopy closed, he gave me the thumbs-up signal. I nodded.

I had a brief moment of blankness as I tried to start the engine, but it all surged back to me in a new determination. I didn’t want to mess this up.

I re-set the altimeter to indicate the aerodrome level, before starting the engine. Then, with the engine running smoothly, I switched on the radio and GPS, along with the strobe lights and fuel pump. The EFIS didn’t turn on automatically, so I manually turned it on. My flight instructor left the flaps at 15 degrees before he left.

With everything set, I advanced the throttle and taxied over to the holding point. Checking that there was nobody on final, I gave my takeoff call and lined up with the runway.

A smile formed on my lips. I had waited so long for this moment. And because there was nobody with me, I yelled aloud.

“Yeah! Let’s go baby!”

At least I wasn’t pressing the radio transmit button.

I was forced back into my seat as the engine advanced to full power. I kept the aircraft straight with some right rudder. In no time at all, I was at takeoff speed so I pulled back slightly on the stick. Very quickly I was airborne and climbing.

At a safe altitude, I retracted flaps and continued climbing, but at this rate I levelled out before commencing the crosswind turn, which usually happened with a climbing turn.

It was easy to see the runway on downwind. However, in an effort to stay parallel with the runway, I accidentally dipped the right wing slightly which ruined my effort. I quickly rolled back and continued flying toward base. I completed the pre-landing checks all aloud, which really helped.

In the base turn I gave the radio call. I turned on carby heat, pulled the throttle back to idle and started descending, while saying the steps out aloud. At 60 knots I added 15 degrees of flaps. The final came quick, but because before I tended to turn a bit late, I turned earlier this time, but it was too early and I ended up at a small angle.

After a few seconds I was lined up again, turning carburettor heat off and adding more flaps as I descended. When I was just above the runway, I pulled throttle back to idle and flared.

The aircraft landed nicely but firmly on the ground. I applied brakes, and turned off the taxiway where I turned off the switches and shut down the engine.

I sat there, silently thanking the plane.

My instructor walked over toward me. It seemed like a very long walk. Perhaps I should have taxied a bit closer to him.

I popped open the canopy as soon as he arrived.

“How was it?” he asked when he climbed back inside.

Words couldn’t describe what I was feeling. So instead I described the circuit itself, telling him how I dipped the wing on downwind and turned early onto final. He said it was okay, but from the ground he noticed that I landed not as soft as he liked. He said we could work on it in another lesson.

We closed up again and started taxiing back to the hangars. I stopped us in front of them. I stepped outside and into the building after we secured the aircraft.

Inside I wrote in my logbook. Today we had to add two entries: one for the flight before my solo, and for the solo itself.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of myself next the aircraft, which is usually the tradition.

My final two entries were 0.8 hours for the first flight, and 0.2 hours as Pilot In Command, with a total time of 10.7 hours.

I was really happy with that, because most people take usually around 15 hours to achieve their first solo.

But in the end it all comes down to being ready when you do it.

When the time comes for the full licence, I think I’ll be ready.

Pre-Solo Test

May 14 2011: Air Legislation Exam

It was lucky that I decided to take the Air Legislation Exam (Pre-solo test) today instead of flying. The weather was darkening the sky with its grey clouds, and strong winds. Simply put, not a nice day to fly.

Inside the airfield building were a group of pilots sitting around having an afternoon chat. My flight instructor was among them. He stood up, greeted me and led me in the room where I was to sit my test.

After a brief set of instructions, I began the test. There were around 40 questions in all.

At the conclusion, my flight instructor sat down with me and checked the answers. The pass mark was 80%; I got 87.5%.

That was all I had to do that day. I said goodbye and headed out again, reporting my success to my sister and dad waiting in the car.

It was happiness the whole way home.

Circuits and Engine Failures

When I went flying last week (7 May), the weather was quite normal, meaning, grey skies. Luckily, there was only a very slight wind coming from the northwest. A front was predicted to reach us but not until late in the afternoon. The air was cool but the walk-around check was completed without any incident.

I got into the aircraft with my flight instructor. I was happy to have the canopy closed. After pre-start checks, I gave the taxi call and we started rolling toward runway 36. Although I usually fly once a week, it felt like a lifetime since I sat in a plane.

Today the airfield was unusually busy, being a private non-towered aerodrome. I completed the pre-takeoff checks, and waited for an aircraft to land. I then gave the takeoff call and lined up on the runway.

To start off, we were to do a couple of circuits before my flight instructor showed me what we should do in case of an engine failure in the circuit. He told me that you should always have a place to land in your mind – if not, and then you’ll only have a few seconds before deciding on one.

I applied full power, and we accelerated down the runway with force. In a few hundred metres I gave a bit of back pressure and we were airborne, retracting flaps as we went. On downwind leg, I could see another one of our planes waiting to take off, as a Maule M-5 was on final. A small ultralight was already downwind in the circuit, along with a Jabiru.

After two nice circuits and landings, my instructor took over and simulated an engine failure while downwind. He explained that he could try to make the cross runway, or try landing in one of the fields to the west of the airfield. We turned right, and descended towards the field. Before we got too close to the ground, he applied full thrust and we started climbing again.

We flew over the top of the airfield and joined crosswind back into the circuit before going around for another touch-and-go. This time my instructor simulated an engine failure while in the climb. The sudden drop in G-force was almost enough to make me lose my lunch.

Fortunately for us, there is a neighbouring airfield close to ours, to the north-east. One of its runways is almost lined up with ours, although a little offset. We adjusted our heading to the right a little, and descended down to the runway. Before we touched down on the runway we gave full power for a missed approach, but it would have been a perfect landing had we continued.

I flew back to join the circuit again on downwind. I could see the front coming in as a dark band of clouds stretching across one side of the horizon. After another touch and go, I went around and prepared for the last landing, which was to be another glide approach. The power went down earlier than previously, and I tried to cut in a little closer in fear of not making the runway, but in the end I almost overshot and centreline and came in too high. I needed to use the full 45 degrees of flaps (compared to a usual 30 degrees) to bleed of speed and altitude. I was able to get her down safely and make an otherwise uneventful landing.

After we secured the aircraft and headed inside, my instructor decided for me to do the Air Legislation Exam the next week. That is the test student pilots must take before flying their first solo.

My time is coming...

The GPS track still showed a shortening of the base leg. My instructor thought that was most likely why I found that I didn’t have much time to get prepared for landing and ending slightly high on final some of the times.

The lesson lasted 1.0 hours. So far, I have 9.7 hours total. The minimum required for the RA-Aus licence is 20 hours. I am getting there...

Circuits and Missed Approaches

 

April 30th's lesson was on Missed Approaches, along with some more circuit practice. With a northerly wind that day, we had a short taxi to runway 36. After completing the pre-takeoff checklist, I advanced the throttle to full smoothly and firmly – unlike other times where I hesitated (due to my unfamiliarity to the enormous engine power) and left it somewhere in the middle. At around 40 knots I slowly added back pressure to the control stick. A few seconds off the ground and I adjusted to maintain 70 knots climb speed. Flaps up in stages, and by 700ft AGL we were clean.

I commenced the turn onto crosswind leg. This time it was a left turn, unlike the right turns that were needed when Runways 18 and 15 were being used. I levelled off at 2000ft above sea level, and flew toward downwind leg.

We did a few circuits just to get back into the ‘swing of things’. The first landing I did was not bad. I kept the flare going longer than I previously did, which was better considering that on my last flight I had a habit of not flaring enough and performing a nose-wheel equivalent manoeuvre of a tail dragger three-point landing.

I gave a firm application of power for a go-around. The aircraft lifted off easily because of the trim, and I had to be careful not to let the speed drop too low, but once I reached climb speed I had trouble with the speed being too high. I retracted the flaps, making handling easier, and turned left onto crosswind once again.

After around three more circuits, with one particularly smooth landing, my instructor took over and demonstrated a missed approach – that is, an approach that’s gone missed. Once we were nearing the threshold he applied full power, and turned right. We then continued climbing like a normal takeoff.

Next was my turn. I flew a normal circuit and prepared for landing normally. But somewhere during final approach, my instructor said ‘Go around.’ I did just as he told me by applying full power and pitching up, before turning right off the runway centreline. 

The last landing was a glide approach, with a simulated engine failure in the circuit. I needed to shorten the downwind leg and turn onto final, but the landing itself was nicer than the others. 

At the end of the day, I was happy. My landings were improving and I was having better control of my plane. The main thing I probably need to work on though is controlling my angle of bank while in a turn. Normally a turn is made at 30 degrees. I probably did around 45 degrees.

After reviewing my track from the GPS, I found a great inconsistency in turning from upwind to crosswind. On downwind, I also had the habit of narrowing up to the base leg. A possible reason for this is that a nearby road that runs next to the runway is not lined up with the runway but looks like it is, creaing an effect that draws you towards it. Other than that, I was fine. 

Circuits

It has been almost two weeks since I last flew, because of windy conditions and the fact that my flight instructor had to leave for Germany in search of a new aircraft for the flight school (it's a small school).

But yesterday, skies were clear and winds were calm; perfect for flying (minus thermal activity).

Circuits are mostly rectangular paths that aircraft fly around an airfield, in a direction that depends on the direction of wind. However, at my airfield, the circuits are always flown to the west, meaning right turns when runway 18 and runway 15 are in use. Which they were that day.

This lesson was also exciting in the fact that it began my takeoff and landing practice. 28 litres of fuel in each tank – good to go. Pre-flight checks went off without a hitch. The only difficulty was setting my seat position – full forward – where it didn't want to slide into place. It took a few tries to get it to work.

Clear prop! Engine start. I added a fair bit of power and then brought it back again as we started rolling. The airfield buildings are situated close to next of runway 36's threshold - meaning we had to taxi the full length of the runway to get to the end.

Once we arrived and were holding short, the pre-takeoff check went smoothly. A few instruments were known to be dodgy, namely, the right fuel tank quantity indicator and the engine temperature indicator. The fuel indicator showed slightly less than what was actually in the tank, and the temperature indicator showed slightly higher than in reality.

After we lined up, my instructor began with a demonstration of a full circuit. I watched as he took off, retracted flaps, made a right turn, levelled out at 2000 feet above sea level, began pre-landing checks after turning on downwind, slowed down, added 15 degrees flaps and turned carby heat on while starting the descent on base leg, and add 30 degrees flaps with carby heat off on final.

He then talked me through his landing. Power controls height, pitch controls speed. A smooth touch of the mains followed. Then we added full power and gunned it down the runway for another go.

My turn. I made a climbing right turn after retracting the flaps. The circuit height came up quickly, making me stop climbing while continuing the turn – a manoeuvre which I had never tried. All was well after a level out on crosswind leg.

The real challenge started on downwind. Pre-landing checklists were completed using an acronym known as FIBS – Fuel, Instruments, Brakes, and Switches. I started drifting in a bit close to the runway because of a slight crosswind. I corrected, but I think I did too much. On base leg, after carby heat was put on, I brought the power back to idle and waited for my speed to drop before I began descending. Then I added 15 degrees flaps.

I saw I was coming in a bit high after turning onto final. I reduced power and pitched down slightly. Now I was coming in too low. It was especially concerning because of the tall trees planted near the threshold. Add power! Now I was too high. I reduced the power a little this time. It seemed to work. After we passed the threshold I arrested the descent, looked up along the runway and let the aircraft sink gently onto the grass...

THUD.

Okay, not so gentle. Add power and do it again!

On my second try, I finished climbing after I finished the turn, with made things easier. I think I turned too early though. Back on downwind and the same things happened again. On base I accidentally let the aircraft sink a little as I slowed down. I was supposed to wait for target airspeed, and then begin descending. No problem now. Add flaps and continue on.

This time it was an almost perfect approach, with a nice approach profile and the airspeed needle dead on the 60. Over the threshold, and I flared the aircraft. This time it was gentle. Time to go again.

After several circuits, I came in to land for a full stop. However, unlike the others, this landing was quite sloppy as I flared too much and 'ballooned'.

Back on the ground and under 10 knots, I turned off the runway and onto the taxiway. I checked clear left and right, and then taxied across the cross runway. As we taxied toward the fuel shed, my instructor praised me saying how each and every landing was perfect. No, not really. He explained how sometimes I came in either too high or low, and overcorrected, becoming too high or low on the other side. Which was the truth.

In the airfield building, my instructor explained to my dad that while I am making some progress, there is still a long way to go. No just with me, I mean, because everybody at this stage would still have a long way to go. After all, I've only just gotten 7.7 hours total. He said that if I was to take a break from flying, he would want me to be at least flying solo. If I could choose, I would never take a break from flying. But in reality, school usually comes in the way.

Outside there was a man waiting for his lesson which came after mine. But that man looked like he was almost seventy - and he was only up to his third lesson. I've been flying and I still haven't started driving yet. It's a shame some people think they are too old to do anything, let alone fly. But of course, anyone can fly at any age.

During the flight my phone was recording a GPS track, which I was able to export to a KML file. Hmmm, quite messy. Definitely needs work.

Wing-drop Stalls And Incipient Spins

Today's lesson was on Incipient Spins, or as I call them, A Great Way To Un-Eat Your Lunch, All Over The Aircraft Panel.

Pre-flight checks were all okay. As the wind was coming from the south-west, takeoff was to the south on Runway 18. This time I made the radio call again, and luckily didn't fail. The radio-transmit button on the control stick was oddly quite harder to press though. Ergonomics aside, we turned right and continued to the northern training area. I was given a bit of experience in navigating using charts as we were passing by some townships and another airfield. We were close to the cloud base, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a Boeing 747 descending behind us through the cloud. We kept well away, though.

The first thing we did once we arrived was a normal stall, just to get back into things after a week of not flying. Then I was shown two incipient spin stalls. However, the plane decided it wanted to be forgiving to us and the first attempt at stalling wasn't so successful. Subsequent wing-drop stalls needed a bit of rudder to keep going. The second time was more successful, and my stomach lurched as the plane nosed-down toward the ground, one wing lower than the other. A swift recovery followed. This time I was given a go, and I sort of managed to get it right, mostly. Ailerons neutral, pitch down, opposite rudder, wait for airspeed, nose up, and full throttle once the nose passes the horizon. That seems to be it. Oh, and don't forget the carby heat (like I did).

A few more stalls, and then I was shown a spiral dive and how the ailerons can actually worsen the situation, keeping the plane in the dive. I really hope that these two things never happen to me in the future, unless they're intentional. Accidental stalls mostly happen close to the ground, which was proven as a dangerous situation as our stalls sometimes make us lose almost 1000 feet of altitude.
Do the wrong thing in a spin, and you hit the ground. Do the wrong thing in a spiral dive, and you rip the wings off, then hit the ground.

I was given the task of navigating again as we made it back to the airfield. I am getting better at it. Probably the easiest things to spot are townships, which stick out against their surroundings because they are usually large squares of dense trees and houses on the ground, surrounded by farms with a lot of grass.

At the 5 mile mark, I made another radio call. I still needed to practise before I transmitted, because I would always leave out something like our altitude or the word 'inbound'. We joined the circuit on the downwind leg, then flew over the top on a crosswind leg, before turning right onto base leg. Then things got serious again as we lined up for the final. Flaps were down at 30 degrees, and the landing gear was down. I suppose the landing gear would always be down though, as we were in a fixed-gear.
There was a slight crosswind, and my flight instructor had to help me a bit on this landing. I haven't officially started learning to land yet, although I could do it without resulting in a crash. The flare went smoothly although I do think we hit the ground just a little bit rough. This was an improvement from last week though, as I had apparently landed on all three wheels at touchdown, instead of just the mains. A third of the way down the runway we turned off onto the taxiway, and slowly taxied toward the fuel shed. This aircraft burns 14 litres of fuel an hour, and at the start of the flight we had 50 litres in our tanks.

During this flight, my Android phone was running an app that uses GPS to track my movements and trace them on a map. Using this I can see my altitude and groundspeed along various parts of the flightpath. A pretty awesome thing to have considering it is free. After I arrived home I exported the file to my computer and opened it up in Google Earth, which displayed the flightpath I made on satellite imagery. It should be useful in helping me get orientated with the area.

I have had 7 flights prior to this one, covering straight and level flights, effects of controls, climbs and descents, turns, stalls, and climbing and descending stalls. These flights add up to 5.8 hours.
Add today's flight, and the total is 6.8 hours for my logbook.
The next lesson we'd be flying circuits, and hopefully takeoff and landing practise will come soon after.