My Ground Loop

Maule Driver wrote:

I tend to setup the slip on long final just to get the
'ol limbs warmed up. I flew one into Key West with a direct xwind of
over 30+. Definitely beyond the capability of the a/c until I got down
to less than a wingspan off the ground. Just as I was going to execute
the abort, the wind gradient gave me just enough of a break to get it
straight for a touchdown. Filed that one away.

I also would set things up early, 'cause I like a stabilized approach. I flew
one into Kupper when Trenton (a few miles away) was reporting a crosswind with
gusts over 28 knots. I could not keep it straight enough on approach, even with
the -7 degrees flaps setting, all the rudder I had, and a fistful of power. I
aborted. Much later I started wondering if I might have been able to get down if
I had waited until just above the runway to try to get it straight. Don't think
so, but who knows.

George Patterson
Coffee is only a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to
your slightly older self.