Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:41 pm
#1717907
I don't know why I keep posting these and, essentially, asking for a kicking.
I think it's because I like to learn, and writing about my mistakes helps me - and, possibly, other people.
So today was a very thermic day. I bounced about the skies for about an hour, and, after an extremely bumpy ride, I was really glad to see all the familiar landmarks as I approached my home airfield.
I flew a normal circuit, lined up on final, "hold it off, hold it off, stall warner chirping, that's good, hold it off, nearly there - WOW! What the F was that?"
I felt an almighty kick up the backside and suddenly found myself about 30 ft up in the air, with the stall warner still chiping away and flaps 20.
Obviously a thermal had just broken free right underneath me and took me with it.
"Go around - full power. Nose down, fly it, fly it" - but, as I was holding the nose down, with full power in and at barely 55 knots, I could also see myself getting blown off to left side of the runway - by either a gust, or by that same thermal displacing air around it.
Normally there would have been much more right rudder at this sort of power setting, but aggressive ruddering at those speeds? Not sure.
So now I was at barely 60 knots, about 30 ft in the air, well off to one side of the runway, with flaps 20, and generally very un-pretty.
Flaps up, I thought, as she speeded up, - but in haste I went past the 10 deg detent and took the flaps up altogether. Luckily, by that point I was already at about 65 knots and pretty high up, so almost sorted, - which meant that the effect of that particular faux pas was minimal, if any.
But if I'd done that nearer to the ground, things might have been different.
I did sort myself out, and I am here to tell the tale. The next landing was perfectly fine, - textbook.
My takeaways:
- Good decision to go around
- Better flap control needed
- These things can happen - a flight isn't over until it's over.
- The C172 is pretty hard to crash.
Any more feedback?
I think it's because I like to learn, and writing about my mistakes helps me - and, possibly, other people.
So today was a very thermic day. I bounced about the skies for about an hour, and, after an extremely bumpy ride, I was really glad to see all the familiar landmarks as I approached my home airfield.
I flew a normal circuit, lined up on final, "hold it off, hold it off, stall warner chirping, that's good, hold it off, nearly there - WOW! What the F was that?"
I felt an almighty kick up the backside and suddenly found myself about 30 ft up in the air, with the stall warner still chiping away and flaps 20.
Obviously a thermal had just broken free right underneath me and took me with it.
"Go around - full power. Nose down, fly it, fly it" - but, as I was holding the nose down, with full power in and at barely 55 knots, I could also see myself getting blown off to left side of the runway - by either a gust, or by that same thermal displacing air around it.
Normally there would have been much more right rudder at this sort of power setting, but aggressive ruddering at those speeds? Not sure.
So now I was at barely 60 knots, about 30 ft in the air, well off to one side of the runway, with flaps 20, and generally very un-pretty.
Flaps up, I thought, as she speeded up, - but in haste I went past the 10 deg detent and took the flaps up altogether. Luckily, by that point I was already at about 65 knots and pretty high up, so almost sorted, - which meant that the effect of that particular faux pas was minimal, if any.
But if I'd done that nearer to the ground, things might have been different.
I did sort myself out, and I am here to tell the tale. The next landing was perfectly fine, - textbook.
My takeaways:
- Good decision to go around
- Better flap control needed
- These things can happen - a flight isn't over until it's over.
- The C172 is pretty hard to crash.
Any more feedback?
kingbing liked this