"Reid & Julie Baldwin" wrote in message
...
1) I should have anticipated the crosswind and not been surprised by it on
final.

Get-there-itis and deteriorating conditions often lead to bad approaches.
Bad approaches are seldom end with a good landing. Also consider that you
had the added distraction of a newly overhauled engine and your nine
year-old son to deal with.

My husband and I belong to a large tailwheel community, including the
Luscombe Association, as well as the tailwheel pilots in our own area. This
topic is discussed often as we travel cross-country often for events and
visiting. Whether it's wind, distractions, or even worse, fatigue, we must
be focused when we reach our destination. Preaching it is one thing; doing
it is another.

2) Obviously, airspeed control was an issue. I wasn't at pattern speed
before entering the pattern and I never quite caught up. After I noticed
the speed was high on final, I got distracted by the crosswind and didn't
get it corrected.
3) Did I pull the power to idle after touchdown? I don't specifically
remember doing that. It is such an automatic thing that I might not
specifically remember it. The fact that the plane did not slow down like
it usually would makes me suspicious that I was still carrying some power.
Since I had to jockey the throttle around to get out of the weeds, I
couldn't look at the tach afterwards to tell.

These two can be connected. Three years ago my C-85-12 was overhauled using
the O-200 insides giving me more horse power. It changed the way my airplane
performed. While you may not have changed your components, your engine is
surely stronger after the overhaul and may give you more momentum on final
than you're used to. In addition, as my engine broke in, my idle rpms
started to creep up. It was something I barely noticed until I started
having trouble slowing down on final. I thought I was losing my touch.
Instead, while I was pulling the throttle back to idle, I was still carrying
too much power for landing. A few extra rpms make a big difference in a
light airplane. My rpms had to be adjusted twice before everything seated
(or whatever it does).

The only thing I have found to pat myself on the back for is the fact that
I never allowed myself to become a passenger. I kept flying the airplane
until I got it stopped on the runway (facing the wrong way and with a load
of weeds, but on the runway).

In the end, that is all you can do. Fly the airplane and hope for the best.
Sounds like you did a good job. You walked away, and a bonus is that the
airplane is still usable!

Deb


--
1946 Luscombe 8A (his)
1948 Luscombe 8E (hers)
1954 Cessna 195B, restoring (ours)