It’s fish and chips Friday so we flew down to the nearby airport.
I did the take-off and flying down. It was bumpy. Wow. As we got close, I was making the calls. Or trying to. I handed the controls over to CY and on final broke in on the personal conversation: “Guys! A— Traffic, x-plane, final , full stop.” They got the message and stopped chattering.
We landed – not easy – lots of variety of wind.
It was crowded! I mean the parking but we slipped into the last spot. I ran ahead to get us on the list for lunch. I checked the tables to see if we knew anyone we might be able to join.
G was there with the guys – a group of about 6-8. I teased them and asked where our seats were? They all tried to squeeze but there was a table next door that came available.
The fish and chips were great as usual.
CY said: Good take-off. Just the right amount of rudder.
Yay me!
We counted the cars on the airport – inside, not where they should have been. Ten or so. Kinda crazy.
We watched a guy take the covers off a very long, low winged aircraft. Looked like it hadn’t been flown in a looooooong time. Two guys were going somewhere – couple of bags. Took ‘em awhile to get all sorted out and taxi out.
Noisy. Crowded. And a dog was barking. Loud. Make your brain rattle.
We headed to the plane. The first person who creates a new cockpit configuration especially for getting in and out, will make a fortune. Those small planes are a challenge. Thank goodness for all those ballet lessons as a kid!
Again, I made the take-off and we quickly turned north out of the way of all the air traffic.
It was even rougher.
We heard our buddy on the radio so called him: B..Airplane ID. Arriving in 10.
He understood. It was code for could you help us put our friend’s airplane back.
We got to downwind first and I handed it off to CY on base. Did I say it was rough?
CY of course made it feel like the wind was smooth.
We were coming in for a perfect landing when the air dropped out – huge down draft. CY cobbed it. Then stabilized. The wind changed directions 180 degrees and back again.
We started to land and a gust picked us up.
Later, CY said he was just deciding whether he’d go around, when he brought it down and stabilized.
Wow. Rather exciting. A GREAT lesson in flying too. I followed along on the controls while staying out of the way.
I had been having a little trouble trying to feel when one needed to add power, cob it, or let it float so have been paying very close attention to the landings, since we’ve had some interesting winds.
What a wonderful thrill!
c. GCYI