Multiple cancelled flights today becomes great soft field practice!

Wrench978

Wrench978

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Nov 27, 2014
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San Juan, Puerto Rico
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Wrench978
well, I got my PPL a few weeks ago, and I have been enjoying flying my wife and friends around. Today, my wife and I were planning on flying from 7B3 Hampton to KEEN Keene for dinner. There were some pockets of heavy rain and lower clouds rolling through the area, so we scrapped that flight. Instead, I was going to take my aunt and 2 cousins up for some sight seeing in the area. on my way to the airport I got a text saying that my uncle didn't want them going in the plane with me...

Now Im at the airport with no passengers to fly, so I decided to prepare for my flight to Katama by working on soft field takeoffs and landings! I have practiced soft field work with an instructor, but even though hampton has a grass strip, Ive only ever been on pavement. My first landing was a little too firm, but the next 2 were decent. I noticed a wall of water headed my way, so I parked it for about 25 minutes to let that pass over, then got to keep practicing on a wet grass runway. All in all, I feel much better about landing on grass now, so even though I cancelled 2 different flights, today was a success!
 
MauleSkinner said:
Good for you!:cool:

Let us know when you realize that grass isn't really a "soft field". ;)
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If it's soggy enough it can be. Especially this time of year up north as the frost comes out of the ground.
 
Mud bogging in a Cessna isn't particularly fun. Only kinda done that once and I'd really prefer not to repeat it. Could have been softer and probably still moved under its own power, but not a whole lot softer. Ick.
 
That's cool that you were able to try it both dry and wet back to back.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Good for you!:cool:

Let us know when you realize that grass isn't really a "soft field". ;)
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Yeah, I didn't expect it to be too bad, but I didn't want my first time landing on grass to be with multiple passengers. I actually found the soft field takeoff technique easier on the grass. The bumpier surface let me know the instant I was off the ground so I could lower the nose. Coming off pavement some times it's tough to know exactly when the wheels come off (at least for me).
 
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