alfadog
Final Approach
I flew the Luscombe on Friday and was not going to fly today but when I woke up the wind was right down RWY 18 at X51 at about 8 kt. I wanted the wind down the runway to try this one-wheel slalom thing that Brian Lansburgh covers in his book, Brian’s Flying Book – A Guide to Precision Tailwheel Airmanship.
http://tailwheelersjournal.com/products-page/
I did his "landing in a turn" thing on Friday and that was not too difficult for me so I wanted to tackle the slalom but the wind was not right for it on Friday.
Anyway, I flew over to X51 this morning and did a few passes with the slalom. It was not easy and I definitely need more practice. The wind was steadily picking up and was gusty so I moved over to the grass to work on crosswind landings. We do not often get winds over 20 kt in Miami, especially crosswinds over 20 kt (except of course when it gets REAL windy). This ended up being 25G34 kt and a direct crosswind to the turf at X51. So today was my lucky day! Let me share what I learned and what I am still not so sure about.
1. Landing. Landing for me was pretty much a non-event. I practice so much with one-wheel wheel landings that this was just a normal day for me. When the xwind was still only about 20 kt, I three-pointed one and that was fine but I felt more confident wheel landing once it really picked up.
2. Taxiiing. I finally had enough wind to make weathervaning a real issue and it surprised the heck out of me. I tend to taxi a bit fast and usually keep the tailwheel very light. That got me in trouble and I learned why my instructor wanted the stick in my lap on taxi. Normally that is not an issue and I keep the stick neutral or even forward for a fast taxi. Anyway I was taxiing back for take-off a bit fast with neutral stick and the airplane started veering into the wind. Full rudder would not stop it and I just let it come around and stop. Huh. I could have caught it with a bit of brake but there was little risk and I was more interested in what was going on. Started off again and it did it again. OK, figured out that I need to slow it down and bury the stick on my lap to plant the tailwheel. That worked. Obviously, brakes can also help but I am trying to stay off them.
3. Fueling. So I stopped to fuel behind a Columbia at the pump. Faced it into the wind and shut it down. Got out. Wind starts blowing it back. I can't even leave it to get a chock. Get the Columbia folks to bring me some. Were they not there, I would have pushed it into the grass and hoped that held while I got the chocks. Or chocked it with a headset or whatever I could find. After fueling, I hand-prop. With engine at low idle, the wind still bows it back. A bit too much idle and it moves forward. Columbia and fuel pumps in front, forward bad. Leave it idling a bit on the low side, toss the chocks to the Columbia folks and climb in.
4. Take-off. Here is where it really got interesting. First one off the asphalt after fueling and I did not have solid directional control. Wind was from the right so weathervaning and left-turning tendencies were not in sync. Not really sure what I did wrong here but IIRC, I started veering left and right rudder and right aileron would not bring me back. Tail too low? Popped it up in the air and turned back in before I ran off the edge. Over on the grass, things went better. Wind was from the left and I lined up on the right side to make a diagonal run. Wanted to bring the right wing up on the roll like I usually do in crosswind takeoffs but it did not want to come up. Tried to keep the tailwheel planted until I had some speed and left it low. Run was straight but airplane seemed sluggish to accelerate. Maybe all the drag from full rudder and aileron and only 65 hp? Do y'all bring the tail up faster in a xwind takeoff?
http://tailwheelersjournal.com/products-page/
I did his "landing in a turn" thing on Friday and that was not too difficult for me so I wanted to tackle the slalom but the wind was not right for it on Friday.
Anyway, I flew over to X51 this morning and did a few passes with the slalom. It was not easy and I definitely need more practice. The wind was steadily picking up and was gusty so I moved over to the grass to work on crosswind landings. We do not often get winds over 20 kt in Miami, especially crosswinds over 20 kt (except of course when it gets REAL windy). This ended up being 25G34 kt and a direct crosswind to the turf at X51. So today was my lucky day! Let me share what I learned and what I am still not so sure about.
1. Landing. Landing for me was pretty much a non-event. I practice so much with one-wheel wheel landings that this was just a normal day for me. When the xwind was still only about 20 kt, I three-pointed one and that was fine but I felt more confident wheel landing once it really picked up.
2. Taxiiing. I finally had enough wind to make weathervaning a real issue and it surprised the heck out of me. I tend to taxi a bit fast and usually keep the tailwheel very light. That got me in trouble and I learned why my instructor wanted the stick in my lap on taxi. Normally that is not an issue and I keep the stick neutral or even forward for a fast taxi. Anyway I was taxiing back for take-off a bit fast with neutral stick and the airplane started veering into the wind. Full rudder would not stop it and I just let it come around and stop. Huh. I could have caught it with a bit of brake but there was little risk and I was more interested in what was going on. Started off again and it did it again. OK, figured out that I need to slow it down and bury the stick on my lap to plant the tailwheel. That worked. Obviously, brakes can also help but I am trying to stay off them.
3. Fueling. So I stopped to fuel behind a Columbia at the pump. Faced it into the wind and shut it down. Got out. Wind starts blowing it back. I can't even leave it to get a chock. Get the Columbia folks to bring me some. Were they not there, I would have pushed it into the grass and hoped that held while I got the chocks. Or chocked it with a headset or whatever I could find. After fueling, I hand-prop. With engine at low idle, the wind still bows it back. A bit too much idle and it moves forward. Columbia and fuel pumps in front, forward bad. Leave it idling a bit on the low side, toss the chocks to the Columbia folks and climb in.
4. Take-off. Here is where it really got interesting. First one off the asphalt after fueling and I did not have solid directional control. Wind was from the right so weathervaning and left-turning tendencies were not in sync. Not really sure what I did wrong here but IIRC, I started veering left and right rudder and right aileron would not bring me back. Tail too low? Popped it up in the air and turned back in before I ran off the edge. Over on the grass, things went better. Wind was from the left and I lined up on the right side to make a diagonal run. Wanted to bring the right wing up on the roll like I usually do in crosswind takeoffs but it did not want to come up. Tried to keep the tailwheel planted until I had some speed and left it low. Run was straight but airplane seemed sluggish to accelerate. Maybe all the drag from full rudder and aileron and only 65 hp? Do y'all bring the tail up faster in a xwind takeoff?
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