NetHeads, I got back home this afternoon, and although it was pretty windy and gusty, I thought I'd go out to the airport and see if things calmed down late in the day like they usually do. When I got there things were fairly calm, so I pulled the plane out and fired it up (instant start after three weeks of sitting) and taxied out, did a runup, and checked the windsock, which had gone limp. So I gave it full throttle and started the takeoff, and as soon as I did the wind sock stuck right out with a stiff crosswind. That takeoff was pretty wild!
When I got up I tuned in a nearby AWOS and the winds were a 90 degree crosswind at 19, gusting to 23. My first thought was "how long can I stay up with 12 gallons of fuel on board", but I figured I'd go kill some time doing touch and go's at FYM, which was a lot closer to the 160 winds, and a lot wider and longer. Did a few landings, visited a few friends by air, and then came back to land. still 19G24, so I figured I'd see how it would go. The amazing thing (once I got lined up with the runway, finally) was that I put it right on the runway with no bounce, no problem, and even had an audience watching. I'm sure the southwestern guys are smiling because they probably do 30 mph crosswinds every day, but for me, I'm happy to have pulled it off, and slid by with a nice landing. I didn't even have to use a lot of rudder to do it. It's good to be back, but it looks like the weather is going to stink while I'm here again. The weekend appears to be a washout already, and then I'm out of town all week. Maybe next weekend will be decent weather. And I finally did it. I don't have problems driving on the left side of the road in England, because the whole place is somewhat foreign as far as traffic signs and such, and they make a point of pointing the left side with blue arrows, so it's different enough that I don't forget. The problem is that when I get back here and end up on the left side of the road, that part of my brain that should be flashing red is now turned completely off. I drove out of the hangar and about a half mile down the road on the left side before I realized it, and when I got on my home street I took the inside (left) side of the curve, and stayed there again for way to long... Mark Langford N56ML "at" hiwaay.net website at http://www.N56ML.com --------------------------------------------------------
