Listen! the Wind*

Lessons 22 & 23
9-20-12
2.0 hours logged
24.8 hours total recorded in logbook

After ten days, I finally went flying this afternoon. It was a double lesson, and I must say, was certainly one of the toughest days I've yet had as far as just flying goes--not to mention landings! Between my last lesson and this, I've been learning to become more aware of what the wind is doing and to visualize its effect upon an airplane. Today, I didn't have to wonder in the slightest way. A strong and variable wind with gusts of up to 20 knots will make itself felt! In such a wind, a pilot quickly learns to check the windsock often and to be prepared for any change. This was far more wind than I'd yet flown in--definitely too windy for me to fly alone in--yet. (And I thought last time was bad! Shows how much I know!) Although Joe said he was along "just for the ride", there were more than a few times I was glad he was sitting up front!

From the moment I arrived at the school and saw the plane rocking slightly in the wind and noted the windsock blowing straight out, I knew I was in for a workout. I was right. In that kind of wind even taxiing is different. You must constantly be aware of exactly where the wind is coming from as you taxi in any direction and position the stick (elevator and ailerons) accordingly.

As soon as the wheels broke ground on the first takeoff from the concrete of 29, we were being tossed to and fro. It took all of my skill and muscle just to keep us on a straight ground track--even with a wind correction angle. It seemed my usually docile "steed" (as Joe sometimes calls the plane) had turned into a bucking bronco determined not to let us have a smooth and comfortable ride. Of course it was the wind which was the real source of our bumpy ride and since it cannot be tamed or reigned in, you must simply adjust yourself and the plane to it as best you can which is no small task when it seems to change direction every few seconds! This takes just as much or more out of you mentally as physically.

After taxiing back to the hangar after my first lesson, I honestly didn't know if I could take another hour of wrestling the plane around in the wind. But after a 20 minute break to relax and rest, I felt I could and should try. After all, it's not every day there's a wind like this! When Joe asked if I felt up to another lesson, I told him, "Yeah...if it's a little shorter maybe." So soon we were at it again.

A couple views of the airport from 1800 ft. indicated altitude

Crosswind landings are challenging enough in a mild wind let alone a gusty day like today. I had a hard time keeping lined up with the runway on approach and even landing and several times found myself way too high as we came in on final. Well I got more practice at slips anyway. So with all of this, I found it quite hard to make a good, smooth landing. The few better ones I did make were when the wind happened to switch to straight to down the runway at some point near touchdown. (After one approach and landing, Joe told me the wind had changed direction four times in only that minute or two of time!) Once on the ground, stick movements and rudder control must be assertive and exact. A wind like that gives you little time for pondering so these must become almost automatic.

Each time we came around and landed, I kept meaning to tell Joe "Okay, I think I've had enough." I knew he wouldn't have any problem with this and would be fine with stopping any time I wanted but each time we were rolling out after landing and I heard him say "Carb heat's out", my signal that it was okay to power up and takeoff again, I would relent and think okay, just once more. I can do this once more, and off we'd go again. At last, after this had been repeated probably four or five times, I was relieved to hear Joe tell me to take us back to the hangar. As we rolled to a stop in front, I let my head fall back on the seat and closed my eyes at last letting my muscles relax. I'd had quite enough for one day and I'm certain the plane had also! 

As I entered the flight school office/hangout area where Steve K. and Steve M. (the new instructor) were sitting, they both looked up with expressions that seemed to ask the question, "Well, how was it?" My look in return probably gave them the answer. Just trying to be positive and encouraging, (ha ha!) Steve K. told me they're going to put me up in even worse winds than that! Oh wonderful! I thought. He did, however, give a valid reason. "When you're flying out of these little strips out in the bush, you have only one choice of runway and you'd better be able to make good crosswind landings in any kind of wind!" he said. "We're going to do our best to make you the best woman missionary pilot there is," he went on. "Between the three of us, Joe, Steve, and myself we'll work you 'til you can outfly all of us!" Oh really? I thought, doubtful that I'd ever quite reach that level of expertise. It seems like such a lofty standard to reach.  I do appreciate Steve's having that kind of faith in me though, and I am very glad that my instructors are considering my future (Lord-willing) as a missionary pilot and are doing their best to prepare me well for it. I am willing to accept and work through any extra challenge or difficulty if it will make me a better pilot.

 *This is the title of a book by Anne Morrow Lindbergh chronicling a portion (from a point on the West African coast across the southern Atlantic to the easternmost point of South America) of a journey she and her famous husband, Charles A. Lindbergh, made by air in 1933. I recently finished reading this book and that along with my flight today gave me a whole new understanding of the impact of the wind on flight.