Okay, here's what I've concluded from the advice and good counsel of this august group:
My thinking regarding crosswind handling was flawed. By approaching, in a 90-degree crosswind, at 5MPH more than I would have ordinarily, I exacerbated the problem. I made it even worse by failing to hold the airplane off, that is, by 'rushing' or 'driving' it onto the ground at excessive speed. The only appropriate time to have increased the airspeed would have been to allow for the gusts coming DOWN the runway, not across it! Duh. I ended up with a floaty airplane that was neither bird nor land animal. I was also incorrect in placing higher priority on the errant upwind wing's behavior than in keeping the airplane on centerline. As someone pointed out, it's not going to flip over, it's just going to feel and look a little silly (really no different than the case where one wing is up on a crosswind landing in a more conventional craft, except it's the other wing). I did do the correct thing in poking at the brakes to get slowed down (I had recalled that recommendation from the manual). Also, doing so brings the nose down to make the nose wheel effective and kill the wings' lift. What I should have done more of was to continue crabbed, and to continue to increase the crab angle as the airspeed bled off in the flare. Then, on contact with the ground, I should have steered to centerline and allowed the upwind wing to settle down on its own. I recall that, early in my Ercoupe check-out, when Jerry Eichenberger had me making my approaches at 80MPH with power on, I also had trouble with the wing on the outside of a ground turn lifting up. And, of course, I must get the nose down and not hold it off when I'm ready to stop flying (which of course will happen naturally if I'm not carrying a bucket of extra airspeed). So there it is. Now to wait for another crosswind day to work on it. It's March. Should be coming right up. Greg __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________ Enlighten your in-box. http://www.topica.com/t/15
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