Recently, I was scheduled as commercial pilot on a day with awesome weather but a forecast for building winds. By the time I began to fly, it was 15 knots steady with about a 20 degree crosswind with gusts above 20 knots.
Before flying passengers, I took the time to talk to an instructor, asked several pilots who were flying, and talked to the previous commercial pilot about the conditions. They were as I had expected - yes, the winds were strong but the crosswind component wasn't enormous and the required North landing was the area of interest.
On a day when you have strong winds from the North, you approach the runway from the South, heading North. Because that is on the lee side of the ridge, you can expect any or all of the following: turbulence, wind shear, rotor, sudden loss of airspeed. Flying myself is one set of risk management decisions. Flying a paying passenger is another set.
Based on my consultations and experience level, I decided to take a passenger flight. Knowing that the winds would strengthen as the day went on, I kept that in the forefront of my mind for whether I would take another passenger later. My plan was to be particularly alert for uncontrolled departure from intended flight path on takeoff, releasing if necessary. On landing, I would stay very close to the field, add 10 knots to my approach speed to compensate for shear, expect turbulence and turn final early to prevent an overshoot.
My passenger was a 3,000 hour helicopter pilot. I made sure he knew that it could be bumpy but after we got a few hundred feet below us that it would smooth out -at least until we landed. He said he was looking forward to it.
Takeoff was smooth and uneventful. I kept my hand near the release knob, made sure to correct any drift IMMEDIATELY and we rolled nice and straight until we were airborne and I crabbed into the wind after liftoff. Whoosh! We rode the elevator of lift up the front side of the ridge and had 300 feet beneath us in almost no time. The tow was mostly uneventful until we got around the lee side of the ridge and I watched the tow plane sink waaay down below me. I added opposite rudder for more drag and eased the nose down just as the tow plane popped up again giving me a slack line. I kept the rudder in and let it out just as the rope went taught. Problem solved and we were back on tow in the proper position.
I released above the ridge in the company of at least 4 other gliders and the flight was excellent. Real ridge soaring in consistent winds, smooth and positive lift. Either end of the ridge worked best and we spent most of the 20 minutes over the ridge flying slow, fast, circling and generally playing around. We started our descent from about 500 feet above where we'd released originally.
I entered the pattern midfield and set my approach speed to about 63. In a flash we were downwind. Given the tailwind and my extra speed, we were probably traveling close to 80 knots over the ground. I turned to base early to keep from over-running it, then flew the base with the requisite crab as we began to pick up some turbulence from the hill that lies on final to the runway. I turned early to final so I wouldn't overshoot and rolled out with plenty of altitude. I extended spoilers fully, pointed the nose down to keep the speed up and we flew off the altitude without an issue. We hit the normal shear and rotor on extremely short final, using up the last of our altitude and I settled in to the flare, touching down just slightly beyond my aim point. I flew a couple of more rides that day, each one slightly windier than the last and we decided to cut passenger operations off for the day around 2pm.
The most amazing thing to me was how confident I was in handling the aircraft in very windy and gusty conditions. I know what my personal limits are and what they are for passengers. The conditions were well within my no-go criteria. Last year, I probably wouldn't have flown in these conditions but this year it was truly a non-event. Effectively, I have 'leveled up,' in video game-speak.
I'm fully aware that with a few hundred flights under my belt, I'm still a less experienced pilot than many on our field. I will do my best to balance the desire to push my limits outward and the over-confidence that can accrue to a pilot with moderate experience. They say that in the power flying world there is nothing so dangerous as a 200 hour pilot. That's the level where you think you can handle anything but you haven't seen it all yet. That is probably where I am right now. I'm eager to take on more challenging flying but have to balance that against the macho pilot instinct to fly regardless of conditions. Especially with passengers, who expect ME to keep them safe.
I did an accurate assessment of my experience, the risk of flight, and the expected conditions, but the flying was not what puts me up a level. It was my decision to quit flying as the winds developed further. The difference between 13 gusting to 25 and 18 gusting to 35 is one mainly of degree and risk. While I could have flown a personal flight in the latter conditions I didn't do it with a passenger.
THAT'S my level up.
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