Crosswind at La Salette (French Alpine grass strip)

[Garfly]

With english subtitles:
 

 

 

From the channel's  'About':

 

"The light aircraft in question in this blog is a Jodel DR-1050 MV Sicily Record F-PKPL,

powered by a 100 hp Continental O-200 driving a Ratier propeller. Although this plane was designed in 1959,

it still performs very well today, since it can reach a cruising speed of 210 km/h (factory plane).

It is a 2+2 seater, with an empty weight of 460 kg, and a maximum take-off weight of 780 kg.

It was built by Pierre Peuzin between 1985 and 1993.... The rest of this presentation on this link:

http://speedjojo.blogspot.com/p/accueil.html"

 

 

 

[sfGnome]

Well, he’s a braver man than I. How do you abort a takeoff on that strip? 😳

[Garfly]

 

13 minutes ago, sfGnome said:

Well, he’s a braver man than I. How do you abort a takeoff on that strip? 😳

 

Yeah, I guess you don't ... you just settle in for a leisurely glide down to one of the valleys below.   ;- ) 

 

But Fred Peuzin, the pilot owner of the Jodel (and airline pilot by trade) is well used to this strip.

 

His uncle even gets into La Salette, without problems in his little Skyranger.

 

This vid from 6 years ago shows the strip in nicer WX:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db4C3-wZr20

 

 

 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

I notice there's not a breath of wind but there wouldn't want to be for ME  ' That's in the second example . Even flying close to ridges is bad enough without landing up hill on one . Nev

Edited May 30, 2023 by facthunter

[Garfly]

 

26 minutes ago, facthunter said:

I notice there's not a breath of wind but there wouldn't want to be.  Nev

 

Yes, no wind in that last vid. from 6 years ago.  But did you see the second film in the original post?

It's called "Cross-wind at La Salette".  But then Peuzin, himself, commented to camera after that circuit

that he didn't think it "prudent" to have another go.

 

In another of his La Salette films he admits to being a bit obsessed by its challenges.

However, for those of a mind to label his videos "irresponsible" he mounts his own defence in the Description:

 

[Per Google Translate]

 

"I do not wish in any way to contradict the academic message of training from official organizations nor to “push to crime” by the supposed bad example given to young pilots. I think everyone is big enough to know their limits.  Finally, although I am a captain in commercial aviation, that does not make me a reference for mountain flying. I just want to shed new and perhaps questionable personal light, based on my experience of mid-mountain flight on wheels (snow on skis is another matter), my in-depth knowledge of flight mechanics and finally the management of the risk that I practice daily as an airline pilot. This first video presents the best example of my "neurosis" by its spectacular aspect, but it also shows the methodical nature of the approach.  My next videos will be less spectacular, they will stay in in an educational register to expose my theory on the main and subsidiary risks by land and how to manage them."

 

 

(This has no subtitles but we get the picture.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Garfly

[facthunter]

There's absolutely no room for any error.   The required skill level would rarely be able to be obtained. No matter what you fly the wind etc can move your plane around. and the more you are exposed to it the greater chance of coming unstuck. Such limit flying may come upon any pilot without actively seeking it. Yes it's good to be able to  cope and nice to acquire the skills but getting killed training to do scary things and not be killed was always with us. Some asymmetric training exercises for example are now not done except in a good simulator.  Nev

[Garfly]

 

 

Yes, Nev, but that kind of flying - those kind of skills - is your ordinary day at the office for pilots flying, say, Level 3 charter in PNG.  They're skills which must be  obtained by new starts before they're let loose on the Owen Stanleys and similarly challenging terrain. But many private pilots too, can and do fly the mountains safely. As Peuzin says, you need to be methodical in your risk management, starting with an "in-depth knowledge of flight mechanics" as Google puts it - and which kind of covers it.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Garfly

[facthunter]

PNG is more about the weather. THAT strip is far more challenging than anything I've seen in PNG. Nev

[Garfly]

15 minutes ago, facthunter said:

PNG is more about the weather. THAT strip is far more challenging than anything I've seen in PNG. Nev

 

I think it's safer than many I've seen in PNG.  A go-around even at the last second is always available; no mountain wall, just plenty of air and gravity assist.  Turning base and final in and around ridges is very PNG-like. But at least La Salette offers the opportunity to bug out left or right if the sight picture is looking crook on final. 

[facthunter]

I take your point on that but it's very crowned and exposed to winds.  Nev

[Old Koreelah]

Impressive flying, shows what an expert can do with an old wooden aeroplane with rubber blocks for suspension.

I’m not game enough or skilled enough, but plent of Jodels get used as bush planes; the low wing gives a ground effect advantage, and the bent-up wingtip clears the ground better in exotic manoevers (how do you spell that plurry word?)

 

Plenty of disadvantages of the low wing: if landing on a road, guide posts would damage my wings and no hope taxying through a gateway.

 

I have a vague memory of hearing about that automatic flap on top of his cowl. Is it to improve cooling while parked on the ground?

 

 

[Garfly]

4 minutes ago, Old Koreelah said:

I have a vague memory of hearing about that automatic flap on top of his cowl. Is it to improve cooling while parked on the ground?

 

Yes, I think we discussed that here some time ago.  It's his own design; it opens automatically on the ground to let some of the heat escape from the engine bay. He writes about it in his blog somewhere:

 

http://speedjojo.blogspot.com/p/accueil.html

[Old Koreelah]

Thanks Garfly. My French training didn’t get far enough to read that. Might look up the Jodel forum (if it still exists). I recall it was mentioned there a few years back.

[Garfly]

Hey OK,  I just use Googles "translate this page" function.  Seems to work well enough most of the time, if you can interpret the Googlish.  LOL

 

 

Ah, here ya go.  Found it:

 

 

It still may be hard to find.  You have to scroll down to January 29 in his blog (link copied again below) to find the 'hood flap' or 'bonnet flap'.

You also may have to refresh the Translate this page request in your browser.

 

https://speedjojo-blogspot-com.translate.goog/search?updated-max=2019-02-01T18:21:00%2B01:00&max-results=2&start=27&by-date=false&_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_sch=http

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Garfly

[Old Koreelah]

2 hours ago, Garfly said:

You have to scroll down to January 29 in his blog (link copied again below) to find the 'hood flap' or 'bonnet flap'...

Thanks Garfly. Easy to read (better than Chinglish) and clear diagrams. 
Impressive carbon fibre workmanship. It would be heaps lighter than my cowl- maybe the secret of his STOL performance!

[rgmwa]

Looks pretty hair-raising to me. I admire his skill but I wouldn't be arriving by air when there's a perfectly good road up the hill.

[Garfly]

Climbing up ladders is far more hair-raising to me.

(Look what it did to poor old Molly Meldrum   ;- )

 

 

 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

3 minutes ago, Garfly said:

Climbing up ladders is far more hair-raising to me.

(Look what it did to poor old Molly Meldrum   ;- )

Ouch! I’ve just been up a ladder and on the roof.

[Garfly]

Good you're still here to tell the tale! 

 

(Did you post a video?  ;- )

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by Garfly

[Old Koreelah]

Maybe we should apply aircraft safety protocols to ladders; might save a few lives and severe injuries.

[facthunter]

Should be clipped to the gutter.  Nev

[Garfly]

4 minutes ago, Old Koreelah said:

Maybe we should apply aircraft safety protocols to ladders; might save a few lives and severe injuries.

It won't stop the Sports Ladderers, though. They thrive on the thrill of going that one rung higher.

[Garfly]

11 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Should be clipped to the gutter.  Nev

Or ....

 

[facthunter]

Bit like the People who want to climb Everest?  When I dropped Chutists out of a perfectly good aeroplane I couldn't understand them either but they definitely get/need a high.  Nev

[Garfly]

The man on the Clapham bus thinks the same about anyone who goes up in one of them little aeroplanes; jumping out looks like

the safe option.