Landing in high winds

John,

Your words sound overly confident enough to remind me of an
acquaintance who bragged about handling strong winds in his Cherokee
as opposed to high wing nose gear airplanes. He forgot that the
extensive dihedral makes up for the very minor difference in vertical
center of gravity between the airplanes, did not use aileron
deflection on a gusty day and his wonderful low wing Cherokee got
flipped.

All airplanes are subject to upset in very high winds. Appropriate
aileron technique when taxiing, taking off and landing is far more
important than where the wing is mounted or the width of the gear.
Your 172 bobbed in the wind more than your Cherokee because of the
spring steel gear on the 172 having more "give" to it than the oleo
stuts on the Cherokee. They provide you with what can be a false
sense of security.

All the best,
Rick

(John Galban) wrote in message . com...
(Dylan Smith) wrote in message ...

If you compare a C172 with a Cherokee, you'll find the gear track is
actually pretty similar. There's nothing to grab hold of on a low
wing so they just leave you to it.
snip

The gear track sure looks a lot wider on my Cherokee. I believe
it's close to 20 ft. Actually my point was that the combination of
the wider track, and more importantly, the lower CG means there's no
need for anyone to grab hold of anything. Where my topheavy 172 used
to start rocking on its wheels turning into a stiff crosswind, the
Cherokee doesn't even budge.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)