That was interesting- 19 gusting to 30!

[Will Kumley]

Decided to get some gusty and crosswind landing practice in today. The original intent was just standard traffic pattern practice with an emphasis on my touchdown point. As I left work and called in for the weather brief it was 16 gusting to 24 shifting from 10-30 degrees off the runway. The CFI asked if it would be within my normal minimums and I promptly said, Nope! However, if he was good with us going up I'd like to practice with him in case I inadvertently get into a windy situation in the future and he kindly agreed.

AWOS prior to runup was 19 gusting to 27. Bumpy is an understatement and crab angles were interesting to say the least. Crosswind heading was 45 degrees off intended course facing away from the runway. Happy I got some practice with a CFI next to me for it and confident it would not be ideal for a family flight or checkride day so hopefully I don't have the same conditions next Monday. All in all though it wasn't a bad day. Another CFI stated that after he saw me do my first takeoff he checked the AWOS and the winds were gusting to 33 which sounds right considering how everything went.

Afterward I checked my garmin app as I keep it running on my watch as a timer to switch tanks and saw that all three landings were done with a significantly slower groundspeed than normal. We were using 80 as our final approach speed and the groundspeed shows closer to 55 with 50 on the final landing. Kinda felt like we were hovering a few times in the air today.

 

[Arnold]

Good for you and your CFI.

 

[WDD]

Curious - what plane are you flying?

BTW - congrats on building X wind skill!

 

[frfly172]

Congrats ,you can never get enough practice.

 

[Will Kumley]

Curious - what plane are you flying?

BTW - congrats on building X wind skill!

Thanks!
Still in the little Piper Cherokee that I'll be using on my checkride. After my checkride I plan to go up and get checked out in the Cessna's as the wife seems to like the Cessna better than the Cherokee.
Something to do with two doors, don't have to walk on the wing and drop into the plane, more elbow room, you name it the list goes on and on so I'm sure my days in a Cherokee are numbered. Kinda sad as I've gotten so used to her and she's a great little plane to get from point A to B and really is a fun plane to fly.

 

[Will Kumley]

Congrats ,you can never get enough practice.

Which is exactly why I went up knowing that I wouldn't be able to truly accomplish my goal today of practicing landings for my checkride. Sure, we did landings, and with a heck of a gust and crosswind factor but trying to get precision landings in was challenging. They were all fairly smooth though and the CFI stated that since I was handling today well he sees no reason for me to be concerned about a checkride.

 

[steingar]

One of my small handful of winter flights was on a horribly windy turbulent day. But it was a VFR day and I didn’t know when I’d see another. I regretted the decision to fly the second I lifted off. But I did good landings and got a nice confidence boost.

 

[Will Kumley]

One of my small handful of winter flights was on a horribly windy turbulent day. But it was a VFR day and I didn’t know when I’d see another. I regretted the decision to fly the second I lifted off. But I did good landings and got a nice confidence boost.

The only reason I considered flying today was because I had a CFI with me. When it was all said and done I stated that had I been solo on the first takeoff I would have circled, landed and parked without thinking twice. But in reality the reason I flew was because I don't want to be flying and get stuck somewhere with these conditions and not know what to do so we went up. He even stated that gusty days like today are not his favorite days to fly.

 

[Texan Pilot]

Well done. I did this very thing on Sunday for the very same reasons. It was 15G20 for me on Sun. Definitely more confident with the CFI at my side.

 

[Huckster79]

Yup i went up Monday for the same reason 10G16 from dead nuts down runway to about 30 degrees off... can take some real dancing with the gusts in a small TW but thats why i wanted to do it is build up my confidence to handle some gusting crosswind without the help of a nosewheel...