|
Friday, 19 March 2010 11:04 |
I got to fly last weekend... 1.5 hours dual (with an instructor) and 1 hour solo.
It was a little windy, so I suggested to the instructor that we fly to Oakey Aviation Army Base & use one of their runways to do crosswind operations. He was good with that so off we went. The base at Oakey (about a 7 min flight) has 3 runways, set out in a triangular layout. This means that you can get a good approach no matter which way the wind is coming from... or in our case, good crosswind no matter which way the wind is coming from! On a weekday, you'd have buckleys of getting in for a landing as Oakey is controlled airspace, however on the weekend it's deactivated & apparently you can do touch & go's at least.
The crosswind landings were complex & very interesting. You need to fly the aircraft 'crossed up', meaning you're using the rudder pedals to yaw the aircraft away from the direction of wind & your hands on the control yoke to roll the aircraft into the wind. This allows you to fly in a straight line, adjusting for the strength of the wind. I loved it! However, the wind was almost nil from about 10ft to the ground, so I'm going to have do to more crosswind ops.... what a pity... NOT!
After getting in about 6 landings we flew back to Toowoomba, had a little break & then the instructor sent me up on my own in the training area again. I was to practice forced landings & steep turns.
I remembered to take along, test & record the cockpit audio this time. When I've got it done I'll post some to listen to (I'm sure all 2 of you - my parents - are handing out for that!)
I'm supposed to be flying this Saturday, but with this Cyclone blowing in we'll have to see about that. Joe might be silly enough to verse a volcano, but Damo's not silly enough to verse a Cyclone!
Trackback(0)
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Either you have misunderstood your instructor or he is teaching you a completely wrong technique. I hope it is the former. On final approach for a crosswind landing you will have to lay off drift. You should never skid down final using rudder to yaw into wind. The track the centre-line like you track over the ground with any crosswind. If you were on a cross-country flight with the wind from one side or the other you don't fly with the rudder applied (makes you and your passengers airsick!)
For the crosswind landing you round-out at normal height above the runway and ensure throttle closed and just before touch down you apply rudder to straighten up the aircraft so that it is pointing along the runway centreline at the same time lowering the into wind wing so that it's wheel gently touches down before the other wheel When both wheels are firmly on the ground you keep straight with rudder and some aileron into the wind. Retract any flaps you have as soon as possible after touch down to mimimise the possibility of the wind getting under the into wind wing and lifting it up.