Lesson 24 - Formidable Crosswind
March 05, 2023
On a day like today, you have to do different things. You can't expect the old things to work. You are waiting for plane to settle down on the ground. That's just not going to work today. You have to take more deliberate action to get it on the ground. That's going to solve your problem.
- Drew Terpin, CFI, after my 3rd go-around.
Today, for the first time in my training, I felt uncomfortable even with Drew by the side. What Drew said to me, was easier said than done.
Winds were CRAZZY today. We had variable wind, with 14 knots of gusts of direct crosswind. Variable winds are nasty. They do stupid and scary stuff. Every single time they blew me off of the center line. Every single time they messed up my traffic pattern legwork, and more importantly, near the ravine, every single time they were making us fly more. So, as we were nearing the ground, on the final approach, out of nowhere winds were pushing us back up in the air. Everything I had learnt till this point, did not work. I needed to do different things, different adjustments to the pitch and power.
Those adjustments near the ground were scary and made me feel uneasy. Today was certainly the “Big Boys’ Day”, and it required some “Big Boys” measures to put the plane back on the ground.
I must warn that what I am listing after this point is not for the faint of heart. You have been warned.
Let me start with takeoff. My take-offs have been really solid and I am very confident in my take-offs. As I started my take-off roll, and wind started to flow over the airfoil, I started to see how strong the winds were. As I rotated and was airborne, gust of wind pushed me on the left of the runway. To compensate, I pointed my nose to the right using rudder, and suddenly, in a matter of just seconds, I was flying on the other side of runway. Maintaining the centerline on that take-off seemed like a mountain to climb. Fortunately, I was able to make corrections and was able to recover before I was way out.
After that though, each leg of my traffic pattern was choppy. Because winds were changing direction, it was difficult for me to stick to the same adjustments for pitch and power in each leg, in each repetition. The most troublesome leg was, again, the final approach.
On every final approach I was executing my rehearsed routine - get the airspeed in check, deploy flaps, make sure airspeed remains in the flaps range, establish a stable final approach aligned with center-line of the runway, and let the airplane descend at constant rate and sink down to the runway slowly, except -
It was not working today.
As we neared the ravine, there was a wind shear, that was pushing the plane vertically up. The result of that was in fact dire. The airspeed suddenly dropped down to 65 knots range, at which, the plane could stall and spin without much of a warning or without much time to recover. It is not uncommon and very recently there was an incident in Kathmandu, Nepal where a commercial airplane was in a similar situation, and resulted in fatal casualties. Stall and spin incidents are a real threat, especially near the ground.
So, as the wind shear was making us fly slow near the ground, the corrective measure that Drew immediately took was - HE LOWERED THE NOSE AND FLEW THE PLANE TOWARDS THE GROUND. Post-lesson it all made sense, but, the act of doing it was so drastic and violent, that it felt like we were diving right at the runway. In that configuration, a student pilot such as myself, could easily aggravate the situation and could run the propeller into the ground. That is not any better than stall and spin situation. That is why, a student pilot is taught to establish a stable final approach and maintain a constant descent - on a calm or less windy day. That's when you learn how to fly the plane. In a windy and gusty day, you have to have awareness about wind shears, gusts, your airspeed, airplane’s angle of attack, and many other things, because you are constantly undertaking some corrective measure. As Drew put aptly in the post-lesson ground session,
Developing awareness of the repetitive pattern attempts is much easier when flying the plane isn't your primary focus and you know what you are looking for.
I was not able to take those corrective measures or do necessary adjustments in my legwork, hence my CFI had to intervene every single time.
During the lesson I said to Drew:
Me: I couldn’t have done that (what you were doing on final approach).
Drew: Why?
Me: I don’t chair fly what you were doing. I would just sink down (to the runway).
Drew: Kinda windy today. The birds are having problems flying. Wind was any stronger they would be sitting in the trees. (short pause), my correction is little bit nose down, little bit power, pick up speed..
You can’t expect it to land itself. I don’t know why the wind is making us fly again at the end of the cliff, but it is. So we have to make adjustments to the direction in which we are flying (pointing the nose down towads the runway).
Me: Uh huh !! (getting a bit nervous)
Drew: I am not a big fan of that becsaue you got to (do that). That is what is taking today. If you can’t (do that), then you can’t fly in a day like today.
After Drew explained the corrective measures he was taking - constantly pointing the nose down to make airplane “Not fly” near the ground, I was kind of taken aback, since what I was trying to develop as a skill is a completely opposite thing. At that moment, I told him that I was not comfortable doing that so close to the ground, and that we should probably stop for the day.
I believe he wanted to see if I make that decision, and he was glad to see that I was able to make it.
Moral of today's lesson was that the mastery over the airplane is making it do what you need it do, and not just accepting what the conditions are doing to you. Sometimes the corrective measures are counter-intuitive, but necessary.
I am certainly not flying in similar conditions anytime in near future. Why? Because, I have no business dealing with such gusty winds. I was exposed to the conditions well above my minimums today. It was certainly educational, but it didn't give Drew and me any opportunity to hone the skills I am developing. First, I need to learn to fly the airplane, learn it well, and then I can push my minimums, if needed.
You take off in better conditions but before landing the conditions change to these kind? What then?