Flight Forum

I would like to comment on Ralph Butcher's March 2006 column ("Insights: Turns Around a Point") where he states "ground track is the primary objective." While I often agree completely with Mr. Butcher's teachings, I want to add some thoughts. I opened my Private Pilot Practical Test Standards to refresh my memory, and am still of the opinion that the key element to be learned here is the student's being able to divide his attention among ground track/distance from the object; aircraft control; and watching for other traffic.

While visualizing ground track is an important skill, so is distance estimation from the pilot's eyeball to the target, even with a changing bank angle. An often-overlooked necessity to do this maneuver correctly--that is, maintain airspeed and attitude while bank is being changed--is that the throttle (often forgotten), rudder, and yoke in both pitch and bank are changing constantly in order to maintain the plus-or-minus 100 feet of altitude and plus-or-minus 10 knots airspeed limits given in the PTS.

Unless there is no wind (making the maneuver useless), going around the point requires a continuous coordinated change of bank to keep a constant radius, regardless of how you perceive the distance from the point, requiring a changing throttle to maintain a constant altitude, and constant airspeed all the while watching for other airplanes, plus being able to explain the purpose of these elements to the examiner. I say this is an incredible division of a student's attention, and also the reason why this maneuver is so popular with CFIs and examiners alike--it reveals a great deal!
Fred Diederich
Fayette City, Pennsylvania

The photo says it all

I just read "Crosswinds Tutorial" (April 2006 AOPA Flight Training). The photo in the story was perfect! As a pilot, I've tried and tried to describe to others how we land in a crosswind. That photo says a thousand words!
Josh Lopez
Marshall, Texas

Crosswind challenges

I enjoyed "Crosswinds Tutorial" by Christopher Parker in the April issue. Ironically, Cathy Mighell's "Learning Experience: Tango with the Wind" showed what crosswinds can do to new pilots who are possibly not as thoroughly trained as they should be. She thought Runway 34 would give her some good crosswind landing practice. I'd agree.

When the wind picked up to 10 gusting to 18, she told herself to be tough and not wimp out. It has nothing to do with being tough; it's a challenge to take to further improve crosswind landings. The gusty crosswind wasn't her problem; she simply stopped "flying" the airplane after she touched down. I know her CFI taught her better, but she forgot, and it bit her. Fortunately she survived with only minimal damage to the airplane.

She also stated in her lessons learned that she should not have landed on Runway 34 and that one should not go out of their way to "look for trouble." I totally disagree with her statements and have to say she made the right decisions to practice crosswind landings with the other traffic, and she needs to get out there and do it some more to build confidence and proficiency. Crosswinds are the real world, as is bad weather. CFIs need to go out of their way to ensure that new pilots experience and learn to handle stiff crosswinds, among other things.

I didn't teach my wife to fly, but I did teach her how to handle wind, inadvertent IMC, and a host of other things that happen even to the best of pilots. I hope Cathy has fully recovered from her incident and continues to aggressively pursue becoming a proficient pilot. One really cannot fully appreciate and enjoy flying until you have built a serious confidence level, which comes from practice, practice, and more practice.
Terry Paasch
Eden, Utah

Erratum

Dew point and temperature are not reported in terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs) as stated in the March 2006 "Aviation Speak." AOPA Flight Training regrets the error.