Crosswind Circuits

With a ‘perfect storm’ combination of:

• The aircraft being out of commission (500 hour magneto check and big bill for new magneto distributor disks),
• Really crappy weather,
• Lack of an instructor (he is Saturday and weekday evenings only),
• Personal injury (bruised ribs from a dramatic fall while finding new and exciting ways of not stopping while ice skating),

I have not been flying for five weeks, despite being close to the end of my now very protracted taildragger training.

I have got the general handling and into-wind landings sorted, but really need crosswind landings yet for full sign off. So in hope, I booked Monday evening for both the plane and the instructor.

The previous Saturday and Sunday had been really poor weather. A mixture of poorly defined stratus cloud and mist with some drizzly rain and very poor visibility. Monday dawned little better, but from my office window I seemed to imagine it improving (i.e. getting not as bad) slowly through the day to something that might permit at least circuits from 17:00. The wind was good for crosswind, not too gusty, but a steady 10-15 kts.

By the time I set out for the airfield, I was confident of flying as the cloud had lifted considerably.

I rocked up at 16:30 and started checking the plane out. That complete, Roly turned up and we agreed to meet at the pumps as I wanted a bit more fuel on board.

I started her up working carefully through the checklist. With taxy clearance, I started out for the pumps, being careful to keep the stick position correct for the wind direction. Since my training by Roly, he has reconsidered his advice on stick positions and it now accords with what I had read and have been advised by other group members. It is another thing you have to think carefully about in a taildragger that you pay scant attention to in a tricycle gear plane.

I parked into wind and put about 20 litres in each tank. Then the ‘long march’ to B1 for 04 for a few into wind refresher circuits first (I hadn’t flown to five weeks). Again, I was careful to keep the correct stick position during taxi and keep the speed down (rather than zoom around like a go-kart as you see some of the tricycle gear pilots doing).

Power checks complete, we took off from 04 for left hand circuits. The take off run went well as I got the tail up early, danced on the pedals (although not much dancing was required as the wind was pretty much straight down the runway) and before I knew it she was flying. The RV6 really has bags of power and get airborne very quickly, even close to MAUW.

We climbed away and were careful to turn before Staverton village (noise sensitive area). I did the usual downwind checks and calls – I was the only one in the circuit and I think the Tower could barely conceal their boredom. Turned base and pulled the power back. Maintained height to bleed the speed off to within flap limiting speed and pulled flaps on.

Set up for a reasonable approach to 04, wind sock pointed directly at us, so right down the runway and tower reporting 040/13. The approach was OK as I crossed the numbers and pulled the power. She settled as I started to pull back slowly on the stick and fly level just off the ground. I could just feel the mains just kissing the ground, but continued to pull back, and back until the stall warner chirped and we touched for good. Well, that was a close as I suspect I may ever come to pulling a ‘greaser’ in a taildragger! Roly was pleased as he said ‘they don’t come much better than that’. I was well chuffed as I dropped the flaps and gunned the engine and got airborne again.

The next circuit was again pretty good though I say it myself – not great, but good.

The third was a really great approach - I was feeling terribly pleased with myself for a nice, stable approach where I didn't have to touch the power or muck around with airspeed, while I was congratulating myself, the tower interrupted with a 'clear touch and go' as I was on very short final - nothing odd about that except that I had totally forgotten to call final myself - OOOPPPSSS! (Tower thinking what a numpty I am - pride comes before a fall and all that good stuff - I guess we have all been there!). Mind you, the landing was good as well. All of this surprised me as I was five weeks out of practice and the previous solo effort wasn’t as good.

So we agreed to progress to crosswind circuits. I requested runway 36, with the wind at 050 / 13G17 – not heavy, but plenty sporting enough for my first attempts in a taildragger.

The first one went very well, but that is where it ended. The rest varied from OK to ‘not too good’ – firm but fair, with a bounce or two, but nothing so bad that a go-around was in order.

The bottom line is that I was making the novice error of applying the movements as three separate inputs – rudder / into wind aileron / pull back to fly level - almost like a military drill rather than as fluid, combined movements. However, the last one went reasonably, so I finished on a high note. I did find it fun holding the plane straight along the runway by dancing on the rudder bars as I controlled the landing and subsequent take-off.

So 12 circuits in total that session, three into wind and nine crosswind. I would guess that I will probably need one or two more sessions with Roly on crosswind. Unfortunately, Roly is away on holiday for two weeks, so it will have to wait for his return, probably more evenings as he is block booked well in advance on Saturdays.

He is happy for me to fly solo into a steady wind, so I will do this to get really comfortable until his return from holiday, then launch into crosswind.

I now have about 7.5 hours on the RV since I bought into the group in December. This is dragging on, but I suspect that anyone who has been trying to fly anything VFR since December may have had a pretty torrid time of it.