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Old 11th Mar 2016, 23:47
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Scoobster
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: London
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The wind knocked out of my sails today..

Today - I was flying into an airfield which is just on the edge of the North Atlantic Ocean.

The wind was 140/06/G 'Deep' (or what sounded like deep - not sure of the meaning in U.S Phraseology) - I went for runway 16 - based on the wind coming from 140 - but could not land the plane as I was getting bashed about a lot (Piper Warrior II).

Both approaches once the attitude was corrected the 'speed' crept up to 80 knots - keeping wings level was a challenge - attempted to crab into wind with aileron down and opposite rudder applied to keep the nose level with the center line - was also not happening today. A bad day at the office what seemed.

Haven't experienced these kind of winds back home in the UK -

1) The approach appeared flat each time I got the correct speed resulting in not being able to see the runway below me

2) Once the attitude was was corrected to see the runway- the speed crept up to 80-85 kts.

I called the go around and decided the 'know your limit rule applied' and left out of the circuit deflated - but alive. The ailerons on approach was also not maintaining wings level.

Not after a pat on the back or sympathy - but for extreme x-wind conditions I am just verifying that the following applies as was taught but perhaps this was too gusty for me at the moment which is why I canned the approach:

1) You crab into wind - in this case - towards 140 - SSE - aileron into wind and opposite rudder to keep the centre line.

I was happy with the call to abort and depart out of the circuit and had a bumpy ride back but it was a hair raising experience with that level of wind which changed to gusting - en route.

The U.S phraseology also appears to be non-ICAO standard such as 'Ill call your close left traffic' - instead of 'Ill call your crosswind' - Maybe it depends on the controller.

Scoobster
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