Before my instructor started to do my cross wind training, he required me to create what he called a “Get out of jail free” card. Its purpose was to solve the problem of what to do if the home field had too much cross wind for my skills when I started solo.
Sometimes I found that the conditions were worse than expected as I departed contact with the runway, and other times, conditions changed while I was away for a 200 mile round robin cross country. Our runway was relatively short, and when you were in the air, you were committed to depart.
He described what had to be on it, and the order.
3 X 5 card.
First column, runway heading, 000 to 179 degrees
Second, reciprocal heading
Third column, Airport name
Fourth column, Distance from College Park to that airport
Fifth column, Direction to that airport
The listings were arranged with the runways in column 1 in numerical order, which place the second column in the same order. He checked the accuracy of my distance and directions.
Initial use was different from its “Get out of jail free” purpose, he used it to pick runways for cross wind training when the wind was right down the runway at our home field. In those old days, there were more than 10 single runway fields within 30 miles, or 20 minutes, in our Cessna 150. Obviously, with only one runway, cross wind or not, that was the runway all the traffic was using.
After I was endorsed for solo, arriving back home, if the conditions were too challenging for a safe landing, that card came out of my shirt pocket, and the runway nearest to in line with the wind was found, and I turned to that heading. Time to the airport was mentally calculated, present time noted, and arrival time written on the knee board. This might not be necessary if I had previously been to that airport, and knew what it looked like.
Our pre flight check list had that card moved from the flight case to my shirt pocket before removing the control lock, to be certain that it would be at hand if needed.
Later, that habit carried into my long cross country flights, and when the wind at the planned refuel stop was too sporty, a nearby field with a more aligned runway was used. No need to shake up the family proving that I can get down in severe cross winds.
In my first 1,000 hours of flying, I only landed at another field twice due to weather at College Park, but a well established, plan B solidly in your head and pocket is a winner. En route, probably a dozen times, it was the training, not the card that was used out there.
Ozzie’s prime career as an Engineer was frequently apparent in his training techniques.
EDITED to add:
The card I described is an historic artifact, and a guide for student pilots to build their own from.
Sometimes I found that the conditions were worse than expected as I departed contact with the runway, and other times, conditions changed while I was away for a 200 mile round robin cross country. Our runway was relatively short, and when you were in the air, you were committed to depart.
He described what had to be on it, and the order.
3 X 5 card.
First column, runway heading, 000 to 179 degrees
Second, reciprocal heading
Third column, Airport name
Fourth column, Distance from College Park to that airport
Fifth column, Direction to that airport
The listings were arranged with the runways in column 1 in numerical order, which place the second column in the same order. He checked the accuracy of my distance and directions.
Initial use was different from its “Get out of jail free” purpose, he used it to pick runways for cross wind training when the wind was right down the runway at our home field. In those old days, there were more than 10 single runway fields within 30 miles, or 20 minutes, in our Cessna 150. Obviously, with only one runway, cross wind or not, that was the runway all the traffic was using.
After I was endorsed for solo, arriving back home, if the conditions were too challenging for a safe landing, that card came out of my shirt pocket, and the runway nearest to in line with the wind was found, and I turned to that heading. Time to the airport was mentally calculated, present time noted, and arrival time written on the knee board. This might not be necessary if I had previously been to that airport, and knew what it looked like.
Our pre flight check list had that card moved from the flight case to my shirt pocket before removing the control lock, to be certain that it would be at hand if needed.
Later, that habit carried into my long cross country flights, and when the wind at the planned refuel stop was too sporty, a nearby field with a more aligned runway was used. No need to shake up the family proving that I can get down in severe cross winds.
In my first 1,000 hours of flying, I only landed at another field twice due to weather at College Park, but a well established, plan B solidly in your head and pocket is a winner. En route, probably a dozen times, it was the training, not the card that was used out there.
Ozzie’s prime career as an Engineer was frequently apparent in his training techniques.
EDITED to add:
The card I described is an historic artifact, and a guide for student pilots to build their own from.
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