The ground-reference maneuvers were fine, slow flight and stall recoveries acceptable, radio communications acceptably clear and concise. Now it is back to the traffic pattern for some landings, and for the instructor aboard, a decision whether to grant rental privileges to this new-in-town pilot.
There’s nothing like a little wind to suss out any flaws in a pilot’s traffic pattern or landing technique. Wind is from 140 degrees in the teens gusting to the twenties, making a landing on Runway 16 challenging, but not unreasonably so. And certainly the wind could rise to that level on any nice day when the renter is flying that brand-new rental Skyhawk.
On final after a problem-free traffic pattern, the pilot seems to have it nailed. The nice thing about observing a skilled left-seater is that even in windy conditions, hardly any physical motion seems evident as the pilot adds a slip, or a crab, or both to the final approach. Aileron inputs are accompanied by just enough rudder to cancel out the annoying sensations of adverse yaw—a good demonstration of why they’re called “coordinated” control inputs.
The same subtle touch is being applied to managing the throttle, which the
pilot is keeping well guarded with his right hand.
Down low, as the runway draws nearer and airspeed must be bled off to an appropriate touchdown value, we’ll see what this pilot is made of. If, despite gusts, shear, or variable wind direction, we end up on the centerline, at or near stall, with the yoke fully back, the airplane pointed in the correct direction, and the brakes only modestly employed, we’ll have a winner.
If not, the clues will probably appear long before touchdown. Belated, uncoordinated correction for wind conditions is one of the most common red flags. Corrections that are strictly reactive—not preventive—are another, suggesting that the pilot’s wind awareness is lacking. Hesitancy to apply sufficient control inputs—leading to a bounce or a touchdown with a side load on the gear—is a sure sign that remedial training is needed.
Consistent with that picture, failure to maintain corrections is now to be expected in a nerve-wracking cycle as the runway looms closer. You also can predict that pilot stress will provoke overreactions—and forget about any effort to coordinate aileron and rudder.
And now comes the proverbial “gust of wind” that puts so many aircraft in the shop for repairs.
When an airplane touches down only partly under control—too fast, unaligned with its direction of motion, or flat, in an improper landing attitude—the pilot and machine may still emerge unhappy but unscathed. But throw in that last gust of wind, and the story gets another ending.
Despite the training pilots receive in how to make takeoffs and landings (and go-arounds), wind gusts continue to make frequent appearances in accident narratives—probably in some instances as scapegoats. In any case, out of 154 accidents noted by the National Transportation Safety Board for June 2012, the word “gust” appeared in 15 of them, based on a search-engine exercise.
A pilot may report that it was a gust that got him, but the NTSB is likely to apply a stricter standard, interpreting the known facts of the narrative to determine that “the pilot’s failure to maintain directional control while landing in gusting wind conditions” was a probable cause.
That was the determination in a case from June 2012, in which a Cessna 150H attempted to land in Alabaster, Alabama. “The pilot reported that the airplane was about to touch down on Runway 16, when a gust of wind pushed the airplane toward trees along the right side of the runway. The pilot added power and tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid the trees. Two witnesses observed the airplane in a nose-high attitude over the runway as it drifted right into trees. One of the witnesses said that about 30 minutes before the accident the wind was from 110 degrees at nine knots and was increasing in velocity. The recorded wind at the airport, about 30 minutes after the accident, was from 140 degrees at 14 knots, gusting to 24 knots.”
Spring is an upbeat time of year when pilots emerge from a long winter’s hibernation with goals, destinations and aviation plans aplenty. Whether you grab your favorite instructor for some practice on a breezy day or go it alone, get out there and practice! Don’t call the refresher complete until you can visualize your performance from a trusting rear-seat passenger’s point of view, and still pronounce yourself good to go in the gusts.
