Aero-Tips!
A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you
heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no
truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception
of "there are no old, bold pilots.")
Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner,
master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us
-- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you
may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be
something we might never have considered before, or something that
didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized
it for the practical test.
Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to
you through the Aero-News Network.
Aero-Tips 07.08.06
I've never been to an Oshkosh where I haven't seen at least one
airplane ground-loop. It's almost always a tailwheel airplane, but
I've seen loss of directional control in "nosewheel" designs as
well. And no, I wasn't flying all (or even any) of these
airplanes.
Loss of directional control on landing is almost always a result
of pilot distraction with a contributing factor of adverse surface
winds. In many cases wind exceeds the pilot's crosswind currency;
in others the "ground loop" comes from exceeding the airplane's
capability.
There's one thing in common among all the Oshkosh ground-loops
I've personally witnessed, however -- landing with a quartering
tailwind, especially landings on Runway 36 with the typical
summer's southwest wind.
The way it goes...
Pressed to route as many arrivals as possible into Wittman Field
in the early stages of AirVenture, and with demands from flight
demonstrations, air show acts, fly-bys and departures, the superb
professionals that work Air Traffic procedures during the event are
sometimes forced to route traffic to non-optimal runways, with
light-to-moderate tailwind components.
Lessons as you prepare for Oshkosh
Regardless of your airplane's landing gear configuration,
- Practice your crosswind landings. Get really good at
them…and more importantly, know your limitations, and the
limitations of the airplane.
- Very cautiously try a few landings on a wide runway with a very
light tail-component crosswind. Assume you'll have to go around
unless things work out perfectly (instead of the opposite
expectation of a successful landing). Note that left-turning
tendency of most airplanes means it'll be harder to maintain
control with a wind from behind your left. Get familiar with
whether you can land safely with any tailwind component at all, and
if so, what little tailwind you can safely handle.
-
- Note: This is an EXCELLENT exercise for
hiring a good CFI experienced and current in your airplane
type.
- With your personal tailwind minimums and very recent practice
in mind, be ready to follow AirVenture procedures to break out of
the arrival early, or go around if surface winds exceed your
capability.
Remember: ATC sequences traffic for arrival, but you retain your
responsibility as pilot-in-command, and mastery of your landing
maneuver should never seriously be in doubt.
Aero-tip of the day: Realize that sometimes
you, or your airplane, are not up to the AirVenture runway in use.
Be ready to go somewhere else until conditions improve.
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
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