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Mark11

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    Safety - Scanning the Skies for other planes

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    I couple of weeks ago, I spent two hours in the air flying up and down the coast around Wollongong.

     

    That just happens to be a very busy travel path.

     

    Whilst there, I must have seen 15 or more planes, microlights and helicopters - both above and below me - coming from ahead and behind.

     

    I made radio calls everytime I changed course from North to South with my altitude so that other planes were aware of my position.

     

    Some of these are hard to spot... can you see the plane?485586967_WollongongFlying12Jan2014094.JPG.428d539eb2a83d7aa75c924db158cc9a.JPG

     

     

    • Like 1

    Behind the Avatar - Who are You?

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    Hi All,I've had some messages further to my post asking who I am. :-)

     

    The Avatar photo was taken from a flight around Australia that I completed. This particular shot is at RAAF Tindal with a 75 SQN Hornet behind the Jabiru J230D.

     

    I'm a commercial pilot by trade and an aviation writer in my 'other life'. I write for a number of magazines and regularly feature in 'Australian Aviation'. One of my most pleasurable tasks is flying and reviewing various aircraft types. I've written three books/eBooks as well; "Down to Earth", "50 Tales of Flight" and my new one, "Solo Flight" ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HETIJJ4 ) which is about that amazing trip in the Jabiru. As you've guessed, I'm passionate about aviation of all types.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Owen

     

    Great to meet you Owen,

     

    I'm looking for some more books to read!

     

    One day I'd like to to a bit of travelling around Australia... Going to be testing in my trike...

     

    Regards

     

    Mark

     

     

    Which Cross Wind Technique

    in AUS/NZ General Discussion

    Posted

    CROSSWIND LANDINGS ?This is an interesting subject isn’t it ?? This question has been coming up for years and it will continue so to do as long as we have NEW pilots learning to fly and ( hopefully ) land aircraft safely. the POH for ANY aeroplane type will quote a MAX crosswind limit of X knots, . . . and it is fair to assume that this figure is going to be the sum T O T A L sidewind component, otherwise and popularly known as “crosswind”, . . .ie, not dependent upon from which angle to the particular landing runway that the wind is orientated.

     

    LINEAR OR LOGARITHMIC ??

     

    The next question for the landing pilot is this; is the crosswind quoted going to affect his aircraft in a

     

    linear or logarithmic fashion. . . . .( ? ) OK, let’s look at it like this. . . . . acceleration of ANY kind, is measured logarithmically. . . . . so if a sidewind is quoted as two knots, it follows that a sidewind of this figure will have an effect approximating four times two knots, as it is dependent upon the laws of logarithmic physics, ( tangential velocities ) and as such, it is not a smooth, linear transition between wind velocities. Then you have to factor in the angular difference from runway centreline, and you have quite an interesting mathematical situation. { This stuff is really for Geeks and let’s not go too far into that } For instance, landing on runway 27, a twenty five knot wind at 215 degrees will produce a crosswind factor of “X” knots. NOW,. . . . what if the wind direction is 205 degrees at twenty five knots ? ? ? Rwy 27 is still the best runway, BUT what would be the logarithmic total crosswind with which your aircraft would have to handle ? and would it be capable ? even if YOU were ( ! ) And what if it was a Gusty crosswind . . . .? ? ? ? it'd be whizzing up and down the logarithmic scale a little, with a constantly large variation of effect upon lighter machines.

     

    Regrettably, the aircraft designers don’t know which way the wind will be coming from on landings when they set the max crosswind limits for a particular machine. . . . so this appears to be where all the questions arise, and the poor old air traffic controller can ONLY give you the wind DIRECTION AND VELOCITY . . . . It’s the pilot who has to decide if this surface wind is acceptable for his machine type in order to effect a safe landing.

     

    I have read various posts with some interest, regarding what various owners believe that the max crosswind limit is for their particular aeroplane and some of them are quite amusing, (although I must qualify that by saying that they are only repeating what their POH or aircraft designer says. . ).

     

    I heard today from my friend Simon, (A local pilot ) that his Savannah machine has a max crosswind limit of thirty knots. ( ? ) blimey, I know of certain rather heavy metal types which have a limit of nearly half of that and I certainly wouldn’t want to try and land a light aircraft of ANY kind in a sidewind approaching that velocity, because, in MY experience . . . . it would fall outside both the controllability of the aircraft and probably MY ability to fly it. . . ! and I would more than likely break it and have to limp to the airport bar for my treble vodka and serious apologies to the FBO.

     

    From memory, (which isn’t that good at my age ) the crosswind max limit on a C-172 is around 17 knots. . . . ( I have around 370 hours on type plus some on 182. . . but this was a long time ago .)this is a much bigger and heavier beast than a Savannah, with much bigger ailerons and a lot more inertia, so. . . . . I don’t know where the SLA salespeople get these impressive crosswind figures from. . . . . unless Cessna reduced their book numbers to preclude any possible litigation. . . . .

     

    I must admit though, I really DO like all the varied ideas and opinions regarding crosswind landings, and this is why I love forums so much. . . .I used to be addicted to cocaine, but the flying forums are much cheaper, and don’t get up my nose anywhere near as much.

     

    Happy Groundloops . . . ( ! )

     

    Phil

    Have you ever watched flying wild Alaska - they push the boundaries of cross wind landings

     

     

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