Most interesting Take-offs/Landings?

Flynmid

Flynmid

Filing Flight Plan
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FlyinRyan
What's your stories. Shortest, narrowest, roughest, most interesting runways or whatever you land on?

I've got nothing special, only one worth a pucker factor.

A friend and I had flown to Stanton's barbeque in SC around July last year. We'd flown down in a Cessna 150. Getting in was no problem, but leaving was interesting. Stanton's runway is about 2300' of grass. Rwy 12 has power lines, and 30 is a nice uphill slope at the beginning with trees at the end as well.

Of course with bellies full of bbq and ready to get up out of the 95degree heat we departed 30...just by the skin of our teeth.

There's probably still holes in those seats. :yes:
 
Harris Ranch (3O8). Thirty feet wide and right up against Interstate 5 so hundreds of passing people get to see if you have skills. No charts or instruments needed to find it - just follow your nose.
 
Landing 2w2 rwy 32, with a bit of a tailwind.
 
RV10 over Thanksgiving. 3 on board.

Landed at Laramie (7,300' MSL) runway 21. Winds were 250, 25 gusting to 31. :eek:
Departed Laramie ( 7,300'MSL) runway 21. Winds were 270, 33 gusting to 41. :hairraise:

Believe it or not it was really not that bad. I just flew the plane and taxied extremely carefully and slow making sure control surfaces were to my advantage to keep the plane down. On take off I kept the wind on the front of the plane via a taxi way to midfield on 21. I was not sure about pointing the tail into the wind. Take off roll was 500' and why I lifted off I whether vaned like a Cub. :lol:
 
2800 ft strip in the 310. Night landing, obstacles, direct 18G35 crosswind.
 
I started flying ultra lights 15 years ago off a 1,200' grass strip. I was getting late so I wanted to do a couple more T&G's. There was a gentle wind down the runway so I was practicing short field stuff. As I came around short base to very short final I saw two dark objects in the tall grass on the runway. I was already committed to touch down by that point so I started veering to the right a little when the two dark objects I thought were birds stood up and ran off the runway. It was two kids laying down in the tall grass. Had I done a go around I would have probably killed them.

Later I called their parents and they said; "We were told the runway was part of the commons areas and it was okay for the kids to play there. ". :mad2:
 
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The first time I took my dad flying We flew into Eagle Creek, Indiana. They announced on the Unicom that they were striping the runway and that wencouldnland on the taxi way.
Dad says, you are landing where?
 
Sorry I have another landing story.

I went flying at night in an RV-9a. When I took off winds were favoring RWY 17. I flew around a bit and set up for a pattern entry on downwind. I was fairly new to the plane so it had my attention as it was really dark. I started on final and could not get slow enough or low enough to touch down anywhere close to the numbers. I was floating more than 1/2 way down the runway before I could get slow enough. :eek:

I did a go around and tried again with the same results. I left the pattern to collect my thoughts and dialed in the local ATIS (15 miles away) to confirm winds favored 17. Yeppers!

Then I looked at the sock on the runway I was actually landing at. :idea: :redface:

The winds had changed 180 degrees in the 30 mins from take off to pattern entry and were 180 degrees off from the reporting station 15 miles away. :mad2:

Needless to say I look at the runway sock now. :redface:
 
Most interesting I heard about (thank god it wasn't me) was the guy that landed on Taxiway Z in EWR several years ago. I give em credit, 50kt winds, moderate to severe turbulence, 30kt xwind, and he put a 757 down on a 75' wide taxiway!
 
Rex Kramer said:
Most interesting I heard about (thank god it wasn't me) was the guy that landed on Taxiway Z in EWR several years ago. I give em credit, 50kt winds, moderate to severe turbulence, 30kt xwind, and he put a 757 down on a 75' wide taxiway!
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Wow!! That's moxy.
 
jpower said:
That would be Clearview, wouldn't it...I need to make it up there at some point.
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I have landed 14 with an instructor there. I want to try out 32, downhill. I want to go when the FBO is open. I have been told there is a mug you can buy stating you have landed there. I believe this is the hottest RWY in my area.


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Making the impossible turn before soloing. Turned out to be a nonevent but those first few moments are suspenseful.
 
I didn't do the takeoff or the landing but the most interesting "runway" I've ever been to is the one I went to with Bob Bement near Gastons. :D
 
I guess one of the most "interesting" in both categories was on the same flight to PHHF for a medivac of a LORAN station crewmember with an appendix issue. Got there at first light, let down through heavy rain (no approaches or runway lighting there of course) and winds gusting around 20-25kts to the crushed coral runway with serious standing water. The runway is listed as 3000ft but really you only want to use the middle as each end is a little rough, leaving about 2600 feet which is OK for a light C130, but we were more concerned about the million plus birds who lived there. Going out we debated whether we wanted to send a vehicle down the runway to chase the birds or count on them hunkering down in the crappy weather. We chose the latter and it worked OK. All in all it was a very interesting day.

EDIT Found this on YouTube..gives you an idea of the bird population there...this was for an evacuation of NFWS biologists and volunteers for Hurricane Neki. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kahvPpXWbKI
 
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Flying between Atlanta and Orlando in a Citabria, with a 50 kt headwind, so I was forced to stop for fuel. The runway was directly into the wind. I crossed the threshold at about 20 feet and stopped on the numbers. Closest to a hover landing I've had.

Certainly not dangerous, but definitely an interesting one.
 
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The weather dropped unexpectedly on us one time in East Texas. When my discomfort level hit the "don't like" mark, I hit nearest on the GPS, which led to a little paved strip. It was an unattended strip, probably a duster strip, with a small ramp and no structures on site. No other aircraft either. Just a little strip of asphalt out in the middle of nowhere.

So as we're on short final, I noticed that the strip was narrow, really narrow, and the sagebrush alongside the field hadn't been cut in a long time. It was at least 4' tall - higher than the RV's wings, which meant that if I hung a wing beyond the edges of the pavement, the brush would probably cause a groundloop.

I landed and maintained C/L with no problem. As it turned out, the strip was 40' wide, and the sagebrush actually encroached out over the runway a little bit. Net, I had a little less than 40' of runway width to work with, meaning I had <6' of clearance on each side.

Same thing on takeoff.

The ability to maintain C/L was important that day.
 
Geico266 said:
RV10 over Thanksgiving. 3 on board.

Landed at Laramie (7,300' MSL) runway 21. Winds were 250, 25 gusting to 31. :eek:
Departed Laramie ( 7,300'MSL) runway 21. Winds were 270, 33 gusting to 41. :hairraise:

Believe it or not it was really not that bad. I just flew the plane and taxied extremely carefully and slow making sure control surfaces were to my advantage to keep the plane down. On take off I kept the wind on the front of the plane via a taxi way to midfield on 21. I was not sure about pointing the tail into the wind. Take off roll was 500' and why I lifted off I whether vaned like a Cub. :lol:
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Wheeeee! Wyoming!!! LOL!
 
denverpilot said:
Wheeeee! Wyoming!!! LOL!
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This is my favorite Wyoming airport. Definitely downhill in this direction with a road crossing it.

2003-08-24%2520at%252005-48-05.jpg
 
Landing at KHAF, AWOS reported 270@10, pretty normal.

But at pattern altitude, the drift was clearly in the opposite direction.

Somewhat turbulent at 500 AGL, but it cleared up a few hundred lower, into a steady westerly wind as reported. Uneventful landing. When departing, it was a fricken' mixing bowl on crosswind. Tried to flip me over....and this was the wife's first ride in a 172M.
 
Geico266 said:
That's only impressive if the lights were out on the field and your plane. ;)
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Had the runway lights out once (but not the plane). That was about 4 years ago in the Mooney.

:rofl:


:redface: kidding.

Nicely done.
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Thanks :)

The previous owner (who's similar to me in terms of his personal minimums) said after that: "I'm gonna tell you something - if you can land that plane and take it back off again at that airport in that weather... you pass."
 
Landing at reed ranch in Idaho in a Cessna 180.. I was new at back country flying so having the power out with flaps in in a descending shallow turn pointed at the very tall pine trees on the mountain was a bit squeechy feeling and then coming around onto final to across the trees on the approach end just above them was also new... If I can figure out how I'll post the video of us departing there.. It's not so worrisome but you can see the ridges we turned over.

Other than those Idaho strips the most interesting landing was a 27kt 50* Xwind in the 152 with a student
 
I didn't check Notams, for a trip to Florida and back to FTY. My office manager's son was killed in a traffic accident, and I went to pick them up from a cruise so they didn't have to drive home.:( Anyway all is fine leaving FTY, quick turn around and we're back in Atlanta by 10 AM. BUT, the runways are closed for painting! Except 9-27, which is 2800 ft and I'm in a Citation II, anyway the book says it'll work and it did, but that was a short as I ever landed the Citation!:eek:
 
Taking off VFR out of KHAF as 500 foot ceiling is starting to roll over the field. By the time I was on down wind the field was under the clouds. If i did not run to the plane from the restaurant I would not have made it out in time
 
ateamer said:
Harris Ranch (3O8). Thirty feet wide and right up against Interstate 5 so hundreds of passing people get to see if you have skills. No charts or instruments needed to find it - just follow your nose.
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If the wind is out of the North you'll smell the huge feedlot a few miles further up I5 (depending on which way you are coming from, of course). One time driving up I5 in the vicinity of Harris Ranch my wife suddenly said "I smell urine!. What is causing that?" My answer: You'll soon know!

Dave
 
cessna182b said:
If the wind is out of the North you'll smell the huge feedlot a few miles further up I5 (depending on which way you are coming from, of course). One time driving up I5 in the vicinity of Harris Ranch my wife suddenly said "I smell urine!. What is causing that?" My answer: You'll soon know!
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You can usually tell when it's time to go missed at KGXY in the summer utilizing the same method. ;)
 
Mine aren't that interesting. My students on the other hand, well, they have some interesting ones.
 
Landing at LZU last year the TAFs had us expecting winds from the east at 10 gusting to 18. Just before landing on 25 the updated ATIS briefing said winds from 160 at 22 gusting to 32. We hit every bit of that "32" 90degree cross wind in our little 172. Wound up making a nasa report due to coming to a stop in the grassy median. The tower called to ask if we needed assistance but was very understanding when we just said we decided upright on the grass was better than upside down on the runway and that we could taxi back to the runway with no assistance.
 
jesse said:
Mine aren't that interesting. My students on the other hand, well, they have some interesting ones.
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Yea right. I just saw Jesse land a tiny Gruman something on runway 35, winds 310, 30 gusting to 35. Tiny rudder on that thing. :yes:

Nice job Jesse. ;)
 
cessna182b said:
If the wind is out of the North you'll smell the huge feedlot a few miles further up I5 (depending on which way you are coming from, of course). One time driving up I5 in the vicinity of Harris Ranch my wife suddenly said "I smell urine!. What is causing that?" My answer: You'll soon know!

Dave
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A similar thing happened to me when I was descending into Lancaster PA (LNS). The vents on the side of the airplane were open, and at a few hundred feet AGL, all of a sudden the smell of cow hit me. Kinda disgusting, and I wondered for a few seconds what it was...but I figured it out pretty quickly :)
 
jpower said:
A similar thing happened to me when I was descending into Lancaster PA (LNS). The vents on the side of the airplane were open, and at a few hundred feet AGL, all of a sudden the smell of cow hit me. Kinda disgusting, and I wondered for a few seconds what it was...but I figured it out pretty quickly :)
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Smell of money son! :rofl:


Never could understand that. Smells like cow **** to me. :dunno:
 
I had a capopy latch fail in flight on a single seat RV-3. The canopy opened and closed like a clam shell to the side. After I figured out what happened and the dust cleared I reached up and pulled it down, but it would not latch again. My right hand was now preoccupied keeping the canopy closed so it would not depart the plane and take out the tail. :eek:

I made it back to the airport pattern, but I could not manipulate the throttle and stick at the same time, so I declared an emergency, cut the engine and did a dead stick landing saving the plane's canopy and my ass.

Felt good to be on the ground. :yes:
 
Geico266 said:
I had a capopy latch fail in flight on a single seat RV-3. The canopy opened and closed like a clam shell to the side. After I figured out what happened and the dust cleared I reached up and pulled it down, but it would not latch again. My right hand was now preoccupied keeping the canopy closed so it would not depart the plane and take out the tail. :eek:

I made it back to the airport pattern, but I could not manipulate the throttle and stick at the same time, so I declared an emergency, cut the engine and did a dead stick landing saving the plane's canopy and my ass.

Felt good to be on the ground. :yes:
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One downside to my flybaby canopy is that it has multiple latches that are all capable of holding it closed which makes getting out in an emergency egress kind of slow.

One upside to my flybaby canopy is that it has multiple latches that are all capable of holding it closed.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Had the runway lights out once (but not the plane). That was about 4 years ago in the Mooney.
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You mean like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2uQN93KF28

I forgot to recycle the lights and that was the result. In truth, it wasn't as scary as it looks. The moon was full and I never lost site of the centerline. The landing actually turned out to be pretty decent.
 
In my case, the runway lights weren't working at all, and it was a cloudy, moonless night. Knew the area and had other visible cues that got me in.
 
jpower said:
A similar thing happened to me when I was descending into Lancaster PA (LNS). The vents on the side of the airplane were open, and at a few hundred feet AGL, all of a sudden the smell of cow hit me. Kinda disgusting, and I wondered for a few seconds what it was...but I figured it out pretty quickly :)
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The smell you probably smelled in Lancaster wasn't cows (ok, a little bit of cows), it was probably one of the dozens of mushroom farms that go from Lancaster all the way east close to Philly. Whatever they mix into that "food" for mushrooms can't be described. But i do know it contains a good dose of manure. I cycle a lot through that area and have a nasty gag reflex. I have almost tossed my cookies a few times going through one of those areas when they are venting the mushroom houses.
 
Marauder said:
The smell you probably smelled in Lancaster wasn't cows (ok, a little bit of cows), it was probably one of the dozens of mushroom farms that go from Lancaster all the way east close to Philly. Whatever they mix into that "food" for mushrooms can't be described. But i do know it contains a good dose of manure. I cycle a lot through that area and have a nasty gag reflex. I have almost tossed my cookies a few times going through one of those areas when they are venting the mushroom houses.
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Huh...interesting. Would never have thought about that. It certainly smelled like a cow pasture, whatever it was :).
 
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