bobbo says:

18–Another great video. I noticed he was in a bit of a crab when he touched down, so its windy too?

Phillip Wade says:

Hadn’t been there in almost 40 years but Goose Bay, Labrador used to be interesting. The runway was built between the plateau and the ocean, so you had to lose about 2500 feet in less than 3 miles to land. First time, I thought I was dead for sure! San Diego is fun too

bobbo says:

23–Yes, thats a crab. Actually strong crosswinds are relatively “easy” to handle, its the variable direction, and worse yet, the gusts that can kill you. Small aircraft are built to land in a crab. The structure of large aircraft makes the landing gear subject to failure if the side forces/shear are too great such as experienced when landing in a crab==so the procedure is to land “wing low” by applying rudder to line up the aircraft and cross ailerons to prevent drifting.

I was ordered once to land at Andrews AFB with strong gusting winds 90 degrees to the runway. I reported that the gusts (over 50 mph) where outside the range of my aircraft. The tower responded to “land inbetween the gusts.” Well, I have called BS before, but I was intrigued—can I get this beast down???????

So, I lined up using maximum asymetrical control and was doing ok, but the aircraft was drifting slightly. I guess the landing charts are correct, 50 mph was the max! What to do????????

———scroll down for those interested———-

——–and yes I apologize—————-

——–This is War Story No 2————

So, the only thing left was to use asymetrical engine power and that did indeed work. Once on the ground we taxied in and stopped and the plane was immediately unloaded. I asked the loadmaster how he got the cargo off so quickly and he asked what I meant. We were just parked. The aircraft was being buffeted around like I had never experienced, while parked!

I could have died. Not that big a deal, but I would have taken my crew with me. I swore never to show off again – - – and I never did. That lead to War Stories 3 & 4 for another day.

RBG says:

Can I use that next time I’m in a bar full of ladies?

When I have a dinky 172 on final in a crabbed configuration, normally I would swing the aircraft parallel to the runway at the very last moment.

Not too many war stories here.

Once had a coyote run out of the bush and chase the tire as I was on the roll for take-off.

Dumbest Moment: Low time, landing a 152 at an Int’l airport. Taking my sweet time and causing a heavy to have to do a last minute go-around. Geez, I’m sorry….

Weirdest moment. On a night final, a bird flying straight at the aircraft somehow flits over the prop and bounces off the top of the cabin.

Weird moment #2: Passenger pees into a coke bottle and drops it onto a farmer’s field.

Is This Nuts Or What Moment: Solo spin practices (Canada) with only 17 hours of flight time.

Most Exhilarating Moment: Probably night flights over the big city & subsequent landings.

Most dangerous Moment: Seeing the face of the other pilot as we both cross the VOR at the same time.

RBG

mark says:

One think I loved about landing in St Barths, French West Indies (an extreme landing to say the least) is at the end of the runway, is a nude beach, so after a death defying land, the treat, and a great bar as you step off the plane.

BubbaRay says:

Yay, I get the final post that no one will ever read! Doesn’t anyone use a “slip” in a crosswind (or too high an altitude on final) to land an airplane anymore? Sure, it freaks out the passengers (bottoms tend to slide in the seats), but it’s a proven technique to land even a light twin (King Air) in a really bad crosswind. Works every time. Once you get all three wheels down, it’s the rudder (or asymmetrical thrust) that dictates whether or not you can keep the craft on the runway.

beingboring says:

I would kill to lie on this beach

Deidre Leslie says:

these people are crazy!!!! My gosh they saw the plane turning and they just stood there. Very fascinating though. lol