This evening Pete and I went out and decided to get some real time on my “required” 10 hours for the complex while getting ahead of the game on my IFR ticket, which he knows that I also want to pursue. So we took off and headed for Port Columbus International for a simulated IFR cross-country and ILS approach for 28L. The winds were howling, and it was a bit bumpy, but I actually settled in and enjoyed the hood time happily following my needles. I did the radio work, but Pete worked the charts and gave me my frequencies, etc. I chased the needles quite a bit, but at the end the runway was basically off of the nose!
Next we asked for an ILS to Dayton International’s 24L. Enroute we got the gear in transition light, so we slowed down and cycled the gear. That took care of it for awhile, but a few minutes later it came back on. This time we just slowed and left the gear down to be safe. That made for a long, right-leg-numbing flight to Dayton, but on the plus side I did a much better job of following the needles this time. We raised the gear on departure and the light remained out for the entire flight home. We never heard the pump run, and I’m confident it was just the limit switch on the gear doors, but it’s not my airplane so I want to treat it right. It does, however, make me glad (again) that I don’t have a retract!
When we got back there were 25 kt winds in the pattern, and it was a direct crosswind. That’s not uncommon at lot of places, but we don’t get much chance to practice that here at home! As it turns out I’ve been cheating for awhile, just flying to the runway in a crab and kicking it out at the last minute, and so my cross-control technique (aileron into the wind to correct drift, rudder to align the airplane to the runway) has suffered. And I was tired… 2 hours of staring at dials and getting jostled by turbulence had pretty well cooked me. I think I was mostly putting in the right inputs but it was too little too late the way down, so we went around. Pretty much the same thing the second time. I admitted defeat and asked Pete to handle the landing. Oh the ignominy of it all! Actually, I don’t mind it so much. I was disappointed in myself, but you’re going to get some of that, and it was just my second flight in the Arrow, so I’m going to cut myself a little slack.
Posted By: Brett FerrellFriday April 12th, 2013 at 11:31 PM