Crosswind Component

In my pilot’s logbook, dated 16 October 2004, is the Clint Eastwood of logbook entries. It simply says: Poker Run, winds 270 at 25 - gusts to 34

Here’s what it doesn’t say.

It doesn’t say that I arrived at my hangar at Carbondale airport early that Saturday morning and preflighted the Acro Sport in preparation to participate in the EAA Chapter’s annual Poker Run. After pulling the plane out and buckling in, I started up and tuned to the ATIS while the engine came up to temperature. I let the recorded message play through a second time, as I wasn’t sure I had heard the wind announcement correctly - but second time around didn’t improve my hearing, he was still calling 270 at 25 with gusts to 34.

Well, okay - I’ll think about that on the long taxi from the T-Hangars to runway 24.

The log entry also doesn’t mention that I waited at the entry for 24 while several airplanes attempted to land and failed to do so, going around to try again - and once more failing.

My takeoff, while somewhat less than perfect, was still not bad - considering the 30-degree, 25-knot crosswind. I noted that it took a lot of crab angle on takeoff, and gust turbulence was a bit above moderate. Climbing into smoother air and turning toward the first poker card pickup at Pinckneyville, I tuned the radio to the Sparta AWOS to get a better feel for what Pinckneyville winds might be.

270 at 32! That’s in knots.  Ouch! This is going to be fun - 90 degree crosswind and blowing somewhere between what I’d estimate at 30 to 39 miles per hour with the gusts.

Straight in approach to runway 36 at Pinckneyville, at about a 30 to 40 degree crab into the wind and the left wing down quite a bit. Straightened it out with right rudder at the flair and it set down pretty easily. Surprised me - and the taxi into the ramp was actually more difficult than the landing - taking a lot of rudder and several brake “taps” to keep it straight. Picked up my poker card and off to Benton for the next stop. Might as well get the two hard ones out of the way. There was a fleeting moment on takeoff where I wondered exactly what I was doing . . .

Nowhere in the logbook entry does it say anything about the super-fast downwind trip over to Benton, or the radio traffic from a light twin that attempted and failed three approaches into Benton due to the winds.

Again a rough, cross-controlled final approach to runway 36 at Benton with a 90-degree crosswind. However, this time as I straightened everything out at flair, the wind lifted the Acro up into about a 10 foot hover and turned it about 45 degrees from runway heading. Feeding some power in, it floated in this position for a second and just as I thought I might be able to ease the power out and settle it in, the bottom dropped out between gusts, and we plopped down pretty hard, headed across the runway. Our forward speed was almost nothing and we just continued a U-turn and taxied in for our poker card.

Takeoff was another “grit-your-teeth” affair, and on to Mt. Vernon where the 150 foot wide runway 23 was almost directly aligned into the wind. I managed to get about four bounces while landing at about a 30 mph ground speed. What should have been the easiest landing turned into the worst.

On to Harrisburg where I found the wind tee pointing about halfway between runways 24 and 32. Attempting to be analytical about this, I chose to use 32 due to the large trees on the north of runway 24 just at the touchdown point. I figured there would be a lot of turbulence there and I preferred to take my chances with the steadier crosswind I thought I’d find on 32. Landing must have gone all right, as I really don’t remember any details. My memories of Harrisburg are filled with doing a magneto run-up while building the courage to depart. I remember checking the mag drop while listening to another plane on the radio trying to decide if he should attempt to land - when the metal lid on a very large dumpster by the airport office was blown off and flipped end over end across the parking lot and into a field.

As I shoved the power in I was wondering if a better idea would be to look for a storm shelter.

Long, upwind trip to Marion where we met for a hangar cookout and where I found I was the only aircraft to fly all five airports. Most people were smart enough to know when to quit, and only made one or two airports.

My poker hand?

I had a nine high card!

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