Airspeed Indication and Relative Wind

I don't believe it's dangerous. When I'm doing a hard slip (C-172/C-152),
the AI is jumping all over the place anyway, so I choose not to look at it.

Yesterday I slipped into a private field that normally is one-way from
the west. There was a 12 mph wind from the west, so I approached from
the west. There's a road with 60-foot trees next to the end of the
runway, which is on a fairly steep hill. Slip how you may, it seems
that you never can land shorter than midway on the flat part of the
runway, which in any event is not flat but gently sloping to the west.
This reduces the runway to effectively 1000 feet. It is *very*
exciting, though with a headwind straight down the runway I stopped in
a couple hundred feet or less.

Of course what was in my mind when I went past those trees with my
starboard wing pointing down was this same question: is this
dangerous?

Whether it is dangerous or not, it is certainly exciting, and a whole
lot of fun.

Incidentally, my instructor has pretty much broken me of using the AI much
anyhow (I'm VFR only). I fly mostly by feel now in C-172's, using the AI as
validation for what I am feeling.

I also noticed yesterday that I found myself retarding the throttle
when I hadn't looked at the tach. Evidently I fly now as much by the
sound of the engine as by looking at the engine speed.

(Nor do I fly by the airspeed indicator. I peg the tach at 2150, or
2200 if speed is more important than fuel.)

It was a grand day for flying, if a bit breezy for the Cub.


all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

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