Bump

This week at conditions at the airport were too rough for me to fly solo again. I wasn't too dissapointed though, because I have been looking forward to the challenge of working on my crosswind landing technique again. It's very challenging, and forces you to really think about what you're doing and really fly the aeroplane.

The conditions were the result of a cold front moving up from the south, which I had been watching all week on the bureau of meteorology's website. It was great to watch because just this week I had been reading about cold fronts as part of my studies, and was presented with a typical one to keep track of via synoptic charts, satellite images and forecasts. I was concerned with how it would affect my chances of flying on Sunday morning, and it blew through after midnight on Saturday night. The airport was pretty quiet in the morning, but I was willing to take the chance to get some good practice. The conditions were of course within the safety limits of the aircraft and my skill level, just on the more challenging end of the spectrum.

The wind was fairly strong around 12-15 knots most of the time, and swinging 30 degrees or so mostly up the runway, but with some crosswind. Apart from taking a couple of circuits to judge how much crab angle was needed to adjust for the wind and keep an orderly 90 degree circuit, it didn't give me too much trouble.

The difficulty was in the turbulence down near the runway on short final. As it gets closer to the ground the wind tumbles over trees and hills and other features of the surface, and on windy days can become like a washing machine. For a light aircraft this has the effect of knocking it around all over the place, so constant corrections are needed to keep the wings level and flying where you want to, especially on final approach. It can get very bumpy!

To compensate I made my approach with more airspeed than usual to help penetrate the turbulence and to give us a safety margin over the stall speed. When the wind is turbulent parts of it can be moving upwards as both or one of your wings moves through it, effectively increasing the angle of attack and possibly causing a stall or wing drop, which are serious dangers when near the ground.

The turbulence was almost severe on the last two approaches, and both I and the Cessna before me went around on the second-last. I had it above the runway and slowing, but the air was so rough I just couldn't see it landing smoothly enough to call it a safe landing. It is important that I teach myself to go around whenever there is any doubt about the safety of a landing, and this was the perfect opportunity to practice my go-around technique. It went smoothly and safely, and on the next approach I was able to put it down safely on the runway.