May 4, 2011 - Soft Field
With winds from the north at 10 gusting 17 and higher, and runway 33 closed to take offs, it seemed impractical to try for another solo session in the circuit, so we headed out to Greenbank to practise some soft field take offs and landings. In addition to practising soft field procedures, this outing also provided the opportunity to do some chart reading and refresh my memory of radio procedures outside the circuit. The illustrations in the FTM and FTGU of flying overhead the field to join the left hand circuit mid downwind came to life as we actually did it!
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Landing on 32 into the wind worked out well... a "real" soft field feels considerably different than the nice, paved runway at City. For one thing, settling back onto the runway while trying to stay in ground effect seems more likely. And you can really feel the drag of the grass on the tires, unlike at CYTZ. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we only had time for two touch and goes and one stop and go, but at least I had the experience of a true soft field. |