Monday, November 26, 2012

Pattern work


On day 2 of a 4 day.





I finished my omelet.





Arrived at the airport. Plane was parked on the ramp.





I took the leg.

Mechanic was on board just in case.





Cycled again. Still yawed.

Turned base. yaw.



Verdict...normal given the very high winds aloft.

Normal landing.

Paperwork and we boarded up for one leg to base.

Arrived an hour late.





  1. The only problem with that theory is that there's no such thing as a crosswind when you're in the pattern. Up there it's a wind correction angle, and the plane can't tell. All apparent wind (unless cross-controlled e.g., during the landing flare) is dead on the nose.

  2. Hmm. But if the landing gear causes the wind correction angle to change - by essentially presenting different "control surfaces" to the slipstream - it's reasonable to see how that could cause a yaw in reference to the ground. The wind correction angle must then be adjusted (although this should be temporary only as long as the imbalance between the gear exists).

    I guess what you're saying is the direction and speed of of the winds aloft don't impact the yaw if it's caused by asymmetric gear extension, which I agree with. He did say the yaw was in the opposite direction sometimes, would you attribute that to the opposite gear coming down faster on that instance?

