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My comfort point


Doug G.

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Went up today. Mainly to get some time in. The first thing I discovered was that my radio skills were more rusty than my pilot skills. I took off in 15kts gusting to 17. Not bad at all. A bit bumpy on the way to a nearby non towed KBAC. Did a few touch and goes with 16 g19 again not bad, not great, but not bad.

When I got back to KFAR it was 30 g32 at 350° so the cross wind wasn't bad. I had a tough time getting it on the ground. I had requested a long landing - with all the in and out on the throttle it probably would have been fairly long anyway. In the end, although it read not comfortable, I landed and made it back to the hangar. I also learned the point at which I am no longer comfortable...worth knowing.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I encountered one of the more interesting wind conditions yesterday at Tulsa Riverside. The forecast winds were 330 8G17 with an available 2700' runway oriented 13/31 when I left Dallas for the 2hr flight.  Pretty normal in the south central US.  I checked winds at the various airports along the route as I journeyed into the 35kt headwind and winds seemed to be within the forecast.  When i was close to Tulsa, I tuned in the ATIS for RVS which was reporting winds a bit different than I've heard in the past:  320 7G22, winds variable from 260 to 360.  

 

15 kt Gusts are the top end of my comfort zone but it was the changing direction was a bit concerning.  RVS is the base for Spartan School of Aeronautics so there is a lot of student activity.  I heard a couple 172s taking off and landing so I figured I'd at least give it a try or two.

 

Final was surprisingly stable with me around 8-10 kts faster than normal.  It became interesting once I rounded out over the numbers,  Took a lot of small rudder and aileron corrections to keep stable.  Gusts came from both sides and I plunked it down from maybe 1 foot off the ground when the gusts stopped.  I considered that a good landing. :)

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I took off in 15g17. If I don't fly in that type of weather, there are long stretches when I would not be able to fly. The landing winds were not predicted to be that strong and changed when I was in flight. The was a 172 in the pattern and I was ready to go around, or leave for elsewhere. The wind was two degrees off the the runway and gusts were only two kts above the winds.

As I said - I hit my comfort level.

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