Test Pilot?
Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 11:36 pm
There is a reason why test pilot schools (NTPS, USAF) locate in SoCal - good weather & wicked winds!
I took '79V from Palo Alto to Phoenix/Deer Valley over Thanksgiving to visit with family. The high desert is some of the most beautiful country we have, and littered with all sorts of aviation hotspots and points-of-interest. It also has strong winds and tall rocks!
We had a huge high pressure system coming in off the coast, and I made it down to the Mojave area in record time with screaming tailwinds. Given fuel on board and biological inclinations, I decided to fuel at Lancaster/Fox. ATIS was reporting "winds 280, 23 gusting 28; landing runway 24". When I landed they had picked up to over 30, and closer to 300. Yes, boys & girls, that's over 25 knots crosswind!
Fortunately Fox has a very long & very wide runway. I used the vast majority of it and was pleased it had been conveniently placed there for my use. I had fuel to get to Twentynine Palms which was a lot calmer, and was disinclined to retreat to Mojave to get better runway options. Let's just say I landed with about 50% power, full ailerons and full rudder in the longest wheel landing I've ever done. I logged it as seven landings.
Once coralled and under control, I could not fill the tanks when fueling as the wings were going through 30 degree gyrations and chucking expensive 100LL on the ground. And the fueling ladder nearly blew downrange to New Mexico. Yikes! They didn't mind my intersection takeoff request. I asked about runway remaining (it has a bit of a hump, hard to tell) and ATC was bemused to say somethink like "3500 feet?" With the wind aligning more closely to the runway I needed about 300 feet.
Tasty!
On the return trip I stopped at Victorville, saddened that the main runway was unavailable and I had to land on the small one (9,138' x 150'). Same deal - strong right crosswinds that had me a whole bunch closer to the runway edge lights than I like to be. It's a remarkable sight - the storage depot of commercial aircraft. I even saw two United B747-400 aircraft. Hard to believe such modern warriors would be in depot storage.
This made last week's trip to San Luis Obispo somewhat boring by comparison.
btw - I'll stop in at Tehachapi next time I overfly and am not in a race to beat the storm clouds home.
RT
I took '79V from Palo Alto to Phoenix/Deer Valley over Thanksgiving to visit with family. The high desert is some of the most beautiful country we have, and littered with all sorts of aviation hotspots and points-of-interest. It also has strong winds and tall rocks!
We had a huge high pressure system coming in off the coast, and I made it down to the Mojave area in record time with screaming tailwinds. Given fuel on board and biological inclinations, I decided to fuel at Lancaster/Fox. ATIS was reporting "winds 280, 23 gusting 28; landing runway 24". When I landed they had picked up to over 30, and closer to 300. Yes, boys & girls, that's over 25 knots crosswind!
Fortunately Fox has a very long & very wide runway. I used the vast majority of it and was pleased it had been conveniently placed there for my use. I had fuel to get to Twentynine Palms which was a lot calmer, and was disinclined to retreat to Mojave to get better runway options. Let's just say I landed with about 50% power, full ailerons and full rudder in the longest wheel landing I've ever done. I logged it as seven landings.
Once coralled and under control, I could not fill the tanks when fueling as the wings were going through 30 degree gyrations and chucking expensive 100LL on the ground. And the fueling ladder nearly blew downrange to New Mexico. Yikes! They didn't mind my intersection takeoff request. I asked about runway remaining (it has a bit of a hump, hard to tell) and ATC was bemused to say somethink like "3500 feet?" With the wind aligning more closely to the runway I needed about 300 feet.
Tasty!
On the return trip I stopped at Victorville, saddened that the main runway was unavailable and I had to land on the small one (9,138' x 150'). Same deal - strong right crosswinds that had me a whole bunch closer to the runway edge lights than I like to be. It's a remarkable sight - the storage depot of commercial aircraft. I even saw two United B747-400 aircraft. Hard to believe such modern warriors would be in depot storage.
This made last week's trip to San Luis Obispo somewhat boring by comparison.
btw - I'll stop in at Tehachapi next time I overfly and am not in a race to beat the storm clouds home.
RT
Lance
It can be windy up here, but rarely more than 30 degrees off the runway. I've been based here 10 years now and only diverted once due to wind. We have a new AWOS on 120.02 that hasn't yet been published.