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.

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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.

FMI: Aero-Tips