April 2, 2011 - Wicked Gusting
It's as if the winds have conspired against me ever sololing again! But determined not to miss a gloriously clear and sunny day, I kept my final lesson with Anthony despite winds that at one point were 19 knots gusting up to 30!!!
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Since the winds were so rough at CYTZ, we determined to travel east to Oshawa (which, btw, was recently deemed Canada's most female-friendly airport, hehe). Although gusting was reportedly still strong at CYOO, the wind was at least forcast to be pretty much down the runway. But first, a comprehensive walk-around revealed some issues withe the oleo, and we had to get that filled up before going anywhere (and it's a good thing we did, because we had some pretty bumpy landings that could have been a complete nightmare had we not dealt with the oleo before departure!) |
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Heading to another airport mean consulting the VTA chart. This was a useful exercise... being in the circuit for the past two-three months, I have forgotten everything but exercises 16-18, lol! Anthony reviewed with me some of the control zones and relevant radio frequencies, and we looked at some landmarks to guide us enroute.
MAN was it bumpy, though!!!!
The gusting was particularly interesting, as it caused considerable grief and heartache when doing circuits, pushing the plane suddenly down, or sucking it up, up, up, without warning. For the first time, I was forced to really consider the impact of quick shift in attitude or application of throttle. A postive gust on short final needed to be corrected for with reduction in trottle, or we'd be waaaay too high (conversely, when the plane suddently sunk a few times close to the threshold, quickly adding a bit of power was essential). Airspeed was constantly affected. Anthony referred to this feedback and response as a "dance", which differs slightly in the flare than on the approach. It is a set of skills that comes with time and experience, no doubt. I'm not sorry we went; despite the level of challenge, it was good practice.
One landing was particularly bouncy -- Anthony reminded me to never push down on landing... if the flare is done just right, there should be sufficient speed and attitude to still pull back just slightly as needed, and wait for the plane to settle. The thing is, I guess, that I need to practise and consolidate landings in "ideal" conditions, and then perhaps the more challenging situations will be a bit easier.
Lots of good radio practise today... entering and leaving various control zones... Korkka had taken me to Oshawa once before, but on a whim, while we were in the practice area, and it was a long time ago, so this was good.
Tomorrow afternoon appt just got cancelled, so winds permitting, I will try to squeeze in one more lesson with Anthony before Lari's return next week.