Most interesting Take-offs/Landings?

I was a soloed student and hadn't been able to get up for 3 weeks because of weather. Finally caught a break between two storms. AWOS was reporting something like 12 knots straight down the runway. I lifted off and the first 200 feet of climb seemed normal. Then everything seemed to be in slow motion. I kept checking the airspeed and then all the other gauges and everything was right. At 800 feet, ready to turn to crosswind, I looked down and I was just past midfield. I glanced at the GPS groundspeed and saw that I was now in a 45 knot headwind. Realizing that what headwind giveth, tailwind taketh away, I started planning a way to get down safely. I flew long downwind, turned base and then final. I flew a long, shallow final, carrying about 15 knot extra until I got below 200 feet. At that point the groundspeed was roughly airspeed and the landing was uneventful.
 
Shortly after getting PPL, going to Quatum River BC airstrip, short gravel with tree branches about 3 feet on each side of the SkyHawk's wingtips.

Later on in a T182RG, departing Shearer ID at dusk and landing on a moonless night at Fish Lake Idaho ~6000 elv. by spiraling down in the basin and flying short final over the lake to touchdown with the landing lite.
 
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I had one up at Cecil County, MD (58M) a while back--it was my first real go-around. 58M is surrounded by trees, and there was some pretty amazing turbulence. My first time around I just couldn't get it down so I went around. Second time was still bumpy and was NOT a "pretty" landing, but it was entirely safe. Got it down in the first third of the runway (if barely) and stopped in plenty of time.
 
I was reminded of a go-around I had to do one cold, windy night up in Canada by one of my passengers a year later. For the life of me I couldn't remember it, and I thought I would have given the infrquency with which I need to do a go-around. I guess my memory had enough that night with remembering the ice we got during the en-route phase.
 
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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MMmmm! Fungus, grown in poop! What's not to love?

Why do humans eat that again? :dunno:
 
sballmer said:
I thought an odor marker is an FAA approved way to identify a final approach fix... :dunno:
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The ILS into PWM had a paper mill near the FAF.
You knew you where in the right place for the approach, even in clouds.
 
A military story from many years ago:

In the C-141A, we had a regular stop in La Paz, Bolivia. I had been there a couple of times, and usually it was no big deal. This time, it was fairly warm, about 85F as I recall. Our charts only went to 10K and La Paz is at 13K+ so take off was a bit of a guess. I asked the T/O weight and we were relatively light at 280K. The C141A max T/O gross was 323K and it was usually off pretty quick. So I didn't really think much about it. Max power, release the brakes, roll, roll, roll... I can see the end of the runway, unusual for us. And went for the runway remaining markers to start mental calculations about the time the copilot called "go."

The markers were metric, and my brain wouldn't function -- first and only time I had any doubts about a T/O in that airplane. About the time I was starting to sweat, I heard rotate, and off we went. That airplane was so good it was boring.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
MMmmm! Fungus, grown in poop! What's not to love?

Why do humans eat that again? :dunno:
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Because back in the day when we couldn't catch ourselves a Woolley mammoth, we ate the mushrooms that grew out of their poop!
 
BillTIZ said:
The ILS into PWM had a paper mill near the FAF.
You knew you where in the right place for the approach, even in clouds.
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Big, bright red neon cross on a church near the treshold of 13R @ BFI seemed perfectly placed for the ILS....
 
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Landed at 0W3 in the blimp, very light and variable winds. Ended up landing downwind, in the process of trying to get the ground crew to turn us around, we got pushed about 90 degrees off wind, drifting towards the mooring mast, with 150ft tall trees in front of us. Ground Crew Chief wanted out, so we bailed with the emergency takeoff. Not a lot of fun.
 
Dave Krall CFII said:
Ya gonna tell us about it?
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Had a valve seize up on a very well maintained aircraft, it caused the valve rod to bend almost 45 degrees, breaking the housing, this caused a loss of 7 out of 8qts of oil into the cowl, a good chunk of the oil made it's way into the airbox.

The engine was still running, surging from 100-300rpm (no where near enough to maintain altitude).

At this time we were about 4k AGL, there was a airport to our left but due to some trees and REALLY dim lights we couldnt make it out right off the bat.

I Decided to land on the beach, couldn't make it out very well but it seemed OK and I've landed on beaches before, right as I was about to turn towards the beach I saw the airport, glided over to the airport, dumped the flaps and full slip to landing.

After landing the fire dept showed up, someone reported a rough running airplane! The FD shows up in a tahoe to check at the airport, we told him what happened, mentioned almost landing on the beach, then he tells us he cant even take the 4wd out on that beach without getting stuck.


Got a temp hangar the next day and had the jug replaced and uprated a few things too.
 
Cool, good ending.

Beaches can be surprizing. Years ago in a C172, a club member landed just north of Copalis Beach State Airport (actually firm beach sand to land on most of the time when tide is out). The beach looked similar to her, but was a shrimp or clam bed that got her stuck real bad in mushy sand. Fortunately no nose over and lots of beach combers to dig her out.

Others "arriving" at the real Copalis Beach have actually nosed over to upside down in C182 and also jammed in the C152 nose gear up into the engine when they landed hard due to combination of Haze Illusion (caused by hot sun making just a little water vapor rising to about no more than 10 feet AGL!) and lack of full flaps on landing.

NineThreeKilo said:
Had a valve seize up on a very well maintained aircraft, it caused the valve rod to bend almost 45 degrees, breaking the housing, this caused a loss of 7 out of 8qts of oil into the cowl, a good chunk of the oil made it's way into the airbox.

The engine was still running, surging from 100-300rpm (no where near enough to maintain altitude).

At this time we were about 4k AGL, there was a airport to our left but due to some trees and REALLY dim lights we couldnt make it out right off the bat.

I Decided to land on the beach, couldn't make it out very well but it seemed OK and I've landed on beaches before, right as I was about to turn towards the beach I saw the airport, glided over to the airport, dumped the flaps and full slip to landing.

After landing the fire dept showed up, someone reported a rough running airplane! The FD shows up in a tahoe to check at the airport, we told him what happened, mentioned almost landing on the beach, then he tells us he cant even take the 4wd out on that beach without getting stuck.


Got a temp hangar the next day and had the jug replaced and uprated a few things too.
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BillTIZ said:
The ILS into PWM had a paper mill near the FAF.
You knew you where in the right place for the approach, even in clouds.
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Ah yes! Good ole paper mills and their unmistakable stench.
We have one here in North Florida to assist pilots flying from St Marys, Georgia to Fernandina Beach, FL.
 
On my way beck to Pittsburgh from sun n fun this year. The mountain waive action was pretty active (at least for this 500 hour pilot) and we were seeing 1000 plus feet per minute rises and sinkers. We decided to stop for fuel in North Carolina, I think it was twin cities? I had the auto pilot on during the approach, it was very windy and turbulent. The auto pilot was making thirty degree course corrections and snooping and dipping more than I ever did during my early instrument training. The wind was a direct crosswind and a hilltop strip 25 gusting to 30. I took over for the auto pilot and the fight was on. Pucker factor was way up but my glastar and I put her on the ground without a scratch. Take off was no different. My dad and I commented at almost the same time at about 200agl "that was like the "flying wild Alaska " crosswinds!
 
BillTIZ said:
The ILS into PWM had a paper mill near the FAF.
You knew you where in the right place for the approach, even in clouds.
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Reminds me of flying into Chino (CNO). Just prior to breaking out on the ILS you would start to smell the dairy farms.....you knew you were in the right spot!
 
I once landed a C150 with winds gusting to 47...A non-issue until it came time to taxi off the runway.
 
jesse said:
Mine aren't that interesting. My students on the other hand, well, they have some interesting ones.
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No kidding...I had a guy stomp the left rudder peddle to the floor right at lift off in a 172 for some unexplained reason. Good thing my right leg is relatively strong :mad2:
 
When giving rides in a Champ, always explain to your passengers that those little foot rests in front of the rudder pedals aren't actually foot rests
 
BillTIZ said:
The ILS into PWM had a paper mill near the FAF.
You knew you where in the right place for the approach, even in clouds.
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You definitely aren't talking about the ILS into 29...I was sitting in the back of a friend's Sundowner when he was doing the ILS into 29 a few weeks ago...only takes you out over water a few miles but that was far enough for me. :eek: I think the fact that I was trapped out back is what bothered me the most.
 
Descending through an inversion layer on long final from -35 or so to a moist +31. Holy **** climb and let the world's worst windscreen defroster work on making a small spot to see through. That pass was one weird place for weather.

Two low passes over an airstrip to evaluate it and still finding spruce needles on both wingtips after landing. Not my finest hour.

One wheel touch and go in a black hole of a night landing in the desert with a gusty 15 knot direct crosswind in a crappy ragged out Arrow II. "Landing to full stop"? Whatever - not going to give up energy with those rocks out there we're out of here.

Come to think of it most of my memorable landings have been in interesting crosswinds. Something about flying a taildragger most of the time.

First time that I - after practice practice practice - landed and then departed on a true short strip.

But all that assumes that white knuckles are required to be memorable. Most memorable was taking my first true passenger after my private checkride into LAS and absolutely nailing the landing on the numbers of 19R in front of all the bizjets queued up. Sweet.
 
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