Worst Lesson So Far

[flyingcheesehead]

Congratulations!

Question for you: is that the lesson you want to teach the 16 yo student pilot with minimal pilot training funds?

Yes. There are too many old wives' tales in aviation as it is - So I intend to teach people that this is "demonstrated" and not a limitation, and that the limitations that need to be in place are their own.

Just like it may not be smart for a pilot, student or not, to exceed the maximum demonstrated crosswind on a particular day, just the fact that winds are lower than that number does not guarantee safety. So, they need to know their own limits, not the ones that a test pilot was required to do.

I'm just sayin'!

 

[rjsmith47]

The other thing that I find disturbing is that the instructor wasn't teaching to do a go-around in the event of a questionable approach. 2420 is fairly short to be attempting corrections if the initial approach leaves doubt in the mind. Your first reaction to a problematic landing should NOT be to salvage it!

I agree. Teaching students to try to salvage a landing they are not comfortable with plants the seed (primacy, you revert to what you first learn) that will sprout later and turn out to be a thorn bush!

 

[bigblockz8]

Have you watched "Flying Wild Alaska" on Discovery Channel, Friday Nights? You haven't seen a crosswind landing until you've seen Ponch land his 206 in 40 Knots!

That said, I always wonder why instructors do this to their students. IMHO there is a thin line between building confidence and destroying it. A good instructor knows the difference.

Ponts and his (now ex-) girlfriend's landing in 46-52kts X-winds in 207's was awesome and inspiring. Those are the kind of people to learn from!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erttyI7WOKo this is cool to see

 

[ateamer]

If the windspeed is 13G20, why are you adding 15 knots to your airspeed on final? 60 KIAS is about right for a 172 with two aboard; you can do less than that. Refer to the POH for landing speed and you will probably see that the engineers who designed and flight-tested the 172 recommend 55-65. 80 is blazingly fast for final. Remember, half the gust factor is what you should add to your airspeed. So:
Airspeed = 60
Wind = 13G20, which means a gust factor of 7 knots
Half of 7 is 3.5. When it's half a knot, I round up.
60+4 = 64 KIAS.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

If the windspeed is 13G20, why are you adding 15 knots to your airspeed on final? 60 KIAS is about right for a 172 with two aboard; you can do less than that. Refer to the POH for landing speed and you will probably see that the engineers who designed and flight-tested the 172 recommend 55-65. 80 is blazingly fast for final.

Amen.

Remember, half the gust factor is what you should add to your airspeed. So:
Airspeed = 60
Wind = 13G20, which means a gust factor of 7 knots
Half of 7 is 3.5. When it's half a knot, I round up.
60+4 = 64 KIAS.

It should really be half of the headwind component's gust factor. Not as easy to calculate while you're trying to fly an airplane, but in this particular case, it's a knot or less - Not enough to make a difference anyway.

 

[gismo]

It should really be half of the headwind component's gust factor. Not as easy to calculate while you're trying to fly an airplane, but in this particular case, it's a knot or less - Not enough to make a difference anyway.

There's a really easy way to calculate that with all the accuracy necessary. If the wind is more than 45 degrees off the nose use half the gust factor, otherwise use all of it. Going beyond that in terms of a more accurate calculation is just trying to compensate for noisy data.