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This was an interesting day...

I went to the hangar knowing that the winds were directly across the runway today. It's been more than a month since I flew the Airbike due to weather, so I committed to making this a crosswind training exercise.

Right before take off, I called the automated weather service at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport [a few miles NW of Selby (my location)]. The wind was 270 at 10kts, gusting to 13. I was using runway 35, so my crosswind was from the left at 9.8kts (11.3mph).

First circuit: I felt the wind trying to lift the left wing quickly, so I gave it a bit more aileron. When the tail came up, it got pretty squirrely, but manageable. I chose a soft-field routine and got the wheels off the ground pretty fast--stayed in ground effect until I hit 45mph and started my climb out. The wind hit hard from the left at about 50feet. I was crabbed to at least 30* as I went due north. I made my right turn and came back around climbing to 500AGL for a tight pattern. I made my approach for landing slipping to stay in line with the runway. Throttle was need to maintain altitude. Speed was about 50mph to allow for gusts. The landing was a solid three point, but it again got squirrely on the ground during roll out.

Second circuit: This take off was similar to the first. The landing was worse because I forgot the gust factor. I had too little airspeed and touched down sooner than I anticipated. I bounced and transitioned into a wheel landing with forward stick. 'Whew...' Salvaged that one!

Third circuit: Take off was scary! the wind impact that had been hitting me on the left at 50 feet, hit much lower this time. Wheels came up, and the plane went left. I crabbed and was having trouble climbing. What I should have done, was turn left (into the wind) to get some quick air speed. However, I turned right. The gusts were hitting really hard from the rear as I tried to climb. It was as if the winds just took all of the air off of the wing. I was struggling to keep it above stall and could not climb. I was at about 100-120 feet. I leveled and rode out my crosswind leg a bit longer before turning on the downwind leg. Once I was on a heading of 170, the airspeed climbed quickly. My last landing was similar to the first with a bit more effort to keep it straight. Much more throttle was needed this time, and I didn't cut power until I was past the white tires (end markers).

I did three circuits. When I got out of the cockpit, I checked the wind again. It was 280 at 10kts, gusting to 15. That's 9.4kts crosswind (10.8mph).

Page 17 of the Airbike flight manual lists the maximum crosswind component at 10kts or 12mph. I was glad to prove that today and my confidence is duly bolstered. That being said, it was not a pleasure flight by any means. I need a beer.  

I borrowed a friend's Go Pro camera. Here is the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nslaJSnJWhI

The end of the video is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17tiRq4DkPw

The fat guy is me.  

First video says "Private". You kick me out of the club man???

Whoops. Fixed it.

I noticed that on the downwind leg of my second circuit, you can see me going 'head to head' with a KC-135 on long final for McConnell AFB which is just to the NE. You can see another tanker as I set up for take-off on the 3rd circuit. They were practicing really long finals that day.

As soon as I shut down two F-16s came in on final wing to wing with a tanker a couple hundred yards behind. The tanker did a go-around. We used to be a fighter base, but they moved out. Seeing the 16s is a rare treat these days.

I went out to fly the T-craft that day at Selby and put it back in the hangar.  You did a great job.

Interesting how planes seem to have more capability than our nerves do. Most of us anyway and that is a good thing. Took my tailwheel check ride on a day I would have left the Champ in the hanger because I couldn't talk my CFI out of flying that day. Did  it without a Valium, barely. lol

That was a good practice Andy. I like your video very much. The last two takeoffs look very low, like you said, should always turn into the wind, to gain altitute faster and your ground speed will be low in case of an engine failure. It seems that you didn't have too many options  in case of an engine failure on the last two takeoffs.
Good landings also. I prefer the two wheel landings on cross winds because I know where I'm going and I always have good control on the airplane all the time. As soon as the wheels touch the ground I push the stick forward and those front tires keep good contact (pressure) with the ground.
My runway has crosswinds at a 90º angle most of the time,  I set the crosswind limit on anything above 12 mph for safety reasons.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Ricardo. Yea, I knew (after the fact) that I should have been turning into the wind, but I had myself painted into a mental corner. Our pattern at Selby is east, and I knew I would be staying in the pattern, so I didn't even consider turning the other way.

It was good training for a variety of reasons including that one. Thanks again.

I was at Selby Aerodrome shortly after Andy tucked his plane back in the hangar.  He was pretty excited about his "ride" in that wind.  Winds at 300' AGL were much stronger than the 12 MPH we were showing on the ground.  I still had some work to do on my plane before flying so it was an hour later that I took off. The video doesn't really give a good picture of how gusty and strong the winds were, Andy did a fine job of compensating for them.

By then the wind direction had shifted 10 degrees to the south making it an 80 degree crosswind. Wind speed was still unchanged.  So, I took off going South instead of North as Andy did, I also diagonaled the runway about 10 degrees which further reduced the crosswind component.  It was still an exciting takeoff, going SE; one must lift off and turn to clear the trees. Failure to do so will put your plane into Charlie Brown's kite-eating tree!

I only flew one lap around the field, the wind was just too much for me to do do the engine testing I wanted to (verifying temperatures at various RPM settings).  I landed on a diagonal also, this meant an even shorter runway because I needed to clear the trees then drop down to the runway.  I landed with full brakes on and did a wheel landing. My brakes are set weak enough so I won't nose over. Landing with a stiff crosswind is more exciting than taking off in one.

Our flight pattern is East because of houses to the West.  We have more landing options East and South.  As you can tell from Andy's GoPro video, almost all of our area is runway, it is just that the landowners have designated the area we use as one. Of course, those off-airport "runways" are seasonal depending upon what crop is grown there.  Now, if we could just keep the damn horse riders from tromping on the soft runway surface!

For the record, I flew almost 70 hours last year, and that includes 3 months of down time doing the fuselage tube repair, recovering and painting and rebuilding the engine.  I am back flying again with almost complete satisfaction, I still have a 1200 degree EGT reading on an aft cylinder.  Other CHT and EGT temps are ok. I flew 1.2 hours yesterday during four test flights following carburetor adjustments.  Each one was better than the last.

Paul Fiebich

Wow Paul--70 hours! I flew about 20, and that included tailwheel instruction and rentals. I know this because I was just doing my insurance update tonight for Avemco.

This year I will easily double and maybe triple that number (knock on wood). Fly-ins, airshows, the works. The shake down is over. It's time to immerse myself!

Now..., if the three jobs will just cooperate.