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[Blueadventures]

21 minutes ago, RFguy said:

Hi Nev. true on X wind landing. wing down,  opp rudder. But with a little power applied .

Did some more X winds on sunday afternoon.

This time was pure crosswind- 90 deg to nose, 8 to 12 kts . 

That was a little different to my previous day of x winds-  15-25 kts gusty, at 45 deg to my nose.  was stormy.

 

The difference- the headwind component was not present ! 

 

so my ground speed was a bit higher on landing and touchdown energy was clearly a little higher (and the manouever became more critical) 

 

BlueAdv- that's a good idea, helps keep the practice up.  On the final, do you  put it into a 'deep slip'  (I call that when crossed controls are at maximum ) , or fairly shallow ?  All my slips to date are power off (except the last bit of a xwind landing which is as nevs says, is a crossed control- same situation however  power on-  in a power available situation) .

 

As you feel comfortable, you can always increase, needs to be a proficient skill that does not compromise safety.  I'm not an instructor and comment not meant to be instruction; just saying I practice my skills.

[facthunter]

I'd only use the power if it's gusty or to make the rudder more effective. Long flairs  and floating are not  always helpful in cross wind conditions. Nev.  

[RFguy]

Nev......mmmm agree !

I am recalling that I in those cases I have  some power on over the keys  to assist arresting the descent (STOL crosswind) and once I'd got the thing straightened  up I pulled power to idle and let it sink.  (pure X wind , zero headwind) 

 

In the gusty case with 50% headwind component I held power on until the down wing is just  on the deck- then gradual pull to idle cut as  both mains down..

 

Power on as I have had some I would call nasty episodes with wind disappearing and being dumped out of the sky (at 6" above the runway) with no power on and low ground speed (due to the previous headwind that suddenly disappeared!!! ) 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by RFguy

[RFguy]

I want to thank everyone for their input in my flying journey-  It is a pleasure and a privilege to have opinions from all walks of aviation and experience

 

thank you- as you all know I began here from before getting in the left hand seat ever

 

Now, doing navs,  heading up into the training area solo myself to practice stuff regularly, using wheat silos and rivers to navigate myself back to Cowra AD.

 

cheers.

Edited October 19, 2020 by RFguy

[facthunter]

Yes lessons learned. Not enough speed is FALL. A bit too much is WAIT. . Errr on the safe side. You are going OK  NEVER stop learning.  Nev

Edited October 19, 2020 by facthunter
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[RFguy]

Some observations of a 50 hour pilot.

 

WX too nasty for NAV3, 

 

so, back to basics-  5 x 100% pure Xwind on the grass >= POH limit. (no headwind component). amongst other work...

 

Some as glides/EPs  ! tricky. The forward slip produces alot of drag and thus energy loss .... EPs  at full crosswind- hard ! good reason to choose a paddock into the wind....

 

Has to be flown onto the ground, otherwise, as Nev pointed out previously- FALL !

 

Holding some altitude in reserve can help give you vertical room to push the nose down, get a little more airspeed and hence energy to convert into the flare manouver so that the final bit wing down, other pedal and touchdown single wheel happens in a controlled manner

[facthunter]

Energy comes from height (potential) or excess speed (inertia.). Getting speed from height entails a LAG and gives you an increased Rate of Descent which is another complication to manage. You can vary drag and turn rate in a slip. Master the landing on one wheel thing though it's not very suitable to some planes because of clearance of flaps engines etc. Extra speed is for gusts. Wind velocity reduces near the surface (generally) depending on it's roughness, Freestream up there. Something else down here. Like a stream, river etc. The  engine (when you have it) is another control. In turbulence on an approach you'd be crazy not to use it. Nev

[RFguy]

Thanks for the comments

 

Nev that's a really good point about the roughness  near the surface affecting surface wind.

 

The grass I was in was pretty long 6" maybe... very rough compared to say, hotmix asphalt  , smooth surface.

-glen

 

 

[RFguy]

NAV3 ysterday.Up to >10h of Navs, now......

Cowra , Crookwell LAND, (long grass)... Cootamundra with diversion via  Kingdale, LAND coota. packed lunch.  then Frogmore , then and SimEP around Reids Flat (not very flat) . Up till now, have been doing EPs over flat areas with paddocks (most of them) OR aerodromes.  This one was in undulating terrain with rocky crags.

Funny how the clearing I chose looked flatish at 4500 AGL and was rather sloping (up) when I got down there !  DIFFERENT  orbiting down to the chosen spot with rocks at your eye level, and the orbit having to avoid hills with granite bits..... flying the plane at idle between the rocky outcrops. Little room for error. Got a pass.... 

 

Horizon was hazy , cloudy, dusty, so couldnt use mountains for fixes. Vis ~ 20km.  Horizon Vis a bit better lower down ...

 

Navs are technically easy but hectic.  Lots to learn about what you can use for fixes, and ways of being cunning. Cunning methods come from experience....

 

WAC chart is a bit limiting compared to the more detailed VNC.  Maps are easy for me, have been reading map to ground and vica versa for most of my life. Need to work a bit harder on lateral track fixes when there is not much to use.

 

Will continue until I get 100%  of everything the instructor throws at me. Good challenge of putting everything I have learned all together.

 

A few of step climbs- managing engine temps with 35C ground OAT. Sort of chicken and the egg, (IE getting up into the cool requires some strategy) . 

 

CHTs quite sensitive to RPM (seconds) 

Oil temps dependent  to airspeed and attitude (minutes)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by RFguy

[Bosi72]

Well done!  

Any hints from the instructor how far from the end of syllabus (or a ticket) ?  any further plans? Did you buy a bird?

 

I've got the feeling of being a "real pilot" after my 2nd solo Nav, ~260nm+3 landings in 2.6hrs incl. refuelling. Great boost of self-confidence. A feeling that I can do anything.. Great feeling!

 

Cheers

Edited November 26, 2020 by Bosi72

[RFguy]

Hi Bosi

NAV4 TODAY : OAT 38 deg C!!! 3.4hours. Instructor waited until it got really hot before we left....

 

Well, flying around low level at 38C on the ground is hazardous. "extreme' thermals generate ++LINK and ++SINK.  almost felt flipped over by a thermal on short final... really, really need to have 2nd thoughts if you really want to fly at 38C+  if the aerodrome or airstrip is anything less than ideal for plane and pilot.... and  speed is your friend with thermals, dust devils etc near the ground.

 

Was going to be a solo nav but instructor decided this was an ideal day to learn a few of the hazards and open my eyes to what goes on when it is hot and gusty ....

 

Learned to ''cunningly ' and aggressively use and chase thermals to climb when the engine would not let me ! IE when a thermal hits us, pitch it up and hold yourself in the thermal for longer, make the most of it. sniff around for it.  Nothing left in the aircraft cooling capability to climb .

 

Had to manage the engine cooling the whole day- For every manouever that wasn't a descent.

Did half the NAV 500 - 2000 ' AGL.

 

Sort of like cat and mouse trying to get up into the cool air....  on the long leg home , managed to get it up to 7500 .... where I could fly with the pedals only, and catch up with logs, calcs, etc. Winds were quite different at 7500 compared to,2500 4500,5500 etc

 

BOSI : 

yeah that was NAV4, now have 12.8h NAV.  It is a good  feeling isn't it, of actually doing something real with the airplane.

My NAV skills are just fine, its something that comes very naturally to me.  Looking for a bit of dust to hint ground winds, looking for culvets, minor anything really to find a fix among a haystack.

The nav is the easy bit. Getting accustomed with foreign aerodromes and circuits is more difficult, especially dealing with the heat, the engine temps, high wind... thermals all at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by RFguy

[facthunter]

Keep the water intake up in a hot day. You'll sweat it out. Nev

[RFguy]

Hi Nev ......drank 4 litres of electrolyte loaded  water ....(electrolyte for human consumption, not battery electrolyte) . Needed about a 1 litre an hour.

 

Been looking at accident history in country NSW.

 

There are LOTS of accidents involving hot weather . Not spin stall, but being flipped over in a willy ,  dumped in a sink etc.....all generally within 50' of the ground (approx- accounts of accidents vary) .

[facthunter]

Watch those little twisters. They even toss big stuff around. Weird weather is going to be an an issue in this game. Nev

[RFguy]

Rob Glenn (my CFI) says 

"Always stack the odds in your favour if there isn't much penalty. "

 

 

[facthunter]

A good pilot might be one who doesn't put the plane into a situation only a crash hot pilot might just get it out of. .

       If you aren't sure you have checked it check it again just to be sure.

      There's enough unknown hazards in the air to not take more known ones with you.

  (The above are ones I've conjured up myself.  If you like one take it)

 Learn from other's mistakes. You won't live long enough to make all of them your self. 

  When you THINK you've learned all there is to know you enter a real danger period. Nev

[RFguy]

My Nav yesterday added also,  keep a log of, and changing left and right tanks, recalculating time used, time available on each tank with each iteration, amongst all the bumps and mayhem.

 

g

[RFguy]

I posted this elsehwere on this forum, but it bears repeating for new pilots :

 

I find initial circuit manoevering at an airstrip that  I have not been to (or maybe once before) the most difficult part of my beyond basic flying training.

 

I find that  :

1) managing the decent into , the correct height for an overfly midfield,

2) deciding which strip (if there are two), direction , finding the windsock amongst the clutter 

3) and the in joining circuit radio call when in circuit  

4) entering the circuit, being  square  and having the altitude of the airstrip in brain.

5) at the right distance from the strip once established on downwind, 

6) dealing with such things like a tailwind on a base leg (shortening base leg and usually ending up high) 

7) and not forgetting the BUMFISH, etc

😎 and all of the above dealing with turbulence and bumps

 

A HUGE BRAIN JOB. I find it a big job, especially first go at a place I have not been to.

Edited December 29, 2020 by RFguy

[Mike Gearon]

I’ve enjoyed coming on this journey with you. Great post.

 

I’m flying out of Tyabb Friday morning for first time in pushing toward a year.
 

Just completed my 14 days stay at the pleasure of the NSW government in Sydney Hilton. It’ll be interesting to fly again. 

[Bosi72]

On 29/12/2020 at 7:56 PM, Mike Gearon said:

I’ve enjoyed coming on this journey with you. Great post.

 

I’m flying out of Tyabb Friday morning for first time in pushing toward a year.
 

Just completed my 14 days stay at the pleasure of the NSW government in Sydney Hilton. It’ll be interesting to fly again. 

Welcome to Straya!

I've heard Amercan accent on 128.0 the other day.

Let me know when you're at the aerodrome and want to go for a spin.

Cheers

[RFguy]

Flying Observation.

In October when we got a warm day, thermal activity was low, very little.

 

In February  when we get even a mild day, thermal activity is high , even quite early.  Flew the Brumby yesterday at 0930, was only about 25C, sun out, no wind. plenty of moderate lifts to be had.  Not intense thermals like when is 38C, but they're present .

 

What's different ? . I can only guess the GROUND has warmed up in the 3 months of summer, so it doesnt take much sun. ?

 

?

glen

 

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by RFguy

[Jabiru7252]

Was the sun at the same angle during both flights? Lower in the sky will have a much lower heating effect (follows some cosine law). What about grass, greener in Oct then Feb?

[RFguy]

Hi Kevin

7am ground temperature is most certainly hotter at end of summer . Found some ground temperature data to support that. 

 

Yeah i think you are right.

-Ground cover is much lower. The grass is all drying and dying off this time of year.

-Paddocks are cut and maybe burned back/cleaned up  etc 

 

About the same height in the sky.

 

 

[spacesailor]

Crazy city folk painting Grey on roofs and driveways, got to make the temps rise.

What was wrong with that nice Green we used to have on houses, ?

spacesailor

 

[Jabiru7252]

What worries me is the amount of solar panels going up. Drawing all that energy from the sun is going decrease its life span and then we'll all be up the creek.