Strongest Crosswind I ever landed in...(VIDEO)

Time to learn you a lesson Mr. Monkey. You puked your spouse. That's definitely an F in the exam book of Steingar. Safety is everything, but passenger comfort comes in a pretty close second. By the way, if I puked Mrs. Steingar she might fly with me again. If I puked Mrs. Steingar and put it on Youtube she'd not fly with me again nor would I fly again since I'd not be able to afford the airplane after the divorce.

Long ago I equipped Mrs. Steingar with a magic bracelet that keeps her from getting airsick (for sale here). One trip the bracelet failed, battery ran out of electrons. Mrs. Steingar was real green around the gills. I climbed, got to where it was cool and smooth despite the hot summer day. When it came time to descend I put the Cherokee in a hard slip power off. I think I lost 7 thousand feet on downwind, but the idea was to only expose Mrs. Steingar to the hot turbulent conditions for as little time as possible. Let the controller know what I as about, and it worked too. Got on the ground with no drama, and Mrs. Steingar still flies with me.

That first approach should have been your last approach. Cherokee is easy to land in a bad crosswind. Heck, I landed a Mooney in worse, not only do I suck, but Mooneys aren't as easily landed in crosswinds as Cherokees. Sorry not to write nice things about the nice scenery or the lovely airplane, or the fact that you created lovely red-headed daughters.
 
steingar said:
That first approach should have been your last approach. Cherokee is easy to land in a bad crosswind. Heck, I landed a Mooney in worse, not only do I suck, but Mooneys aren't as easily landed in crosswinds as Cherokees.
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Never berate someone for going around! If I were you I certainly wouldn't be extolling my flying exploits, particularly when landing...
 
idahoflier said:
Never berate someone for going around! If I were you I certainly wouldn't be extolling my flying exploits, particularly when landing...
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Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark.
 
Geez, I still wonder why content guys get on here. The shade/whining is strong. I thought the video was great.

Wives and airplanes are a lot alike. Don’t guess how your’s reacts is the same as another’s. If one wife can’t handle puking on YoutTube, Flying Monkey’s is capable.

Again, in my opinion a great video.
 
Excellent landing AND video!
 
idahoflier said:
Never berate someone for going around! If I were you I certainly wouldn't be extolling my flying exploits, particularly when landing...
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I'm berating him for puking his spouse. We have to think about passenger comfort when we do these things.
 
There isn't another video series that reveals so much about decision making, including how the Pilot handled mistakes... but overall, I appreciate the thought process involved and the vid was worth seeing. Plus, I am intrigued by the flying you folks have out west. Sedona looked like an aircraft carrier in a rock ocean, surrounded by huge hills... Shear city.
PS: I have Dynon HDX as well... I love it too.
 
steingar said:
When it came time to descend I put the Cherokee in a hard slip power off. I think I lost 7 thousand feet on downwind...
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10 years or so later you are still claiming this absolute nonsense. You actually claimed 8K feet on downwind -

steingar said:
Thread here. If memory serves I came in at 8.5K feet and dropped down to 500 in the space of a 5K foot runway.
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Yeah...58 degree descent angle with a TAILWIND. Too funny. :rolleyes::rolleyes:

 
steingar said:
I'm berating him for puking his spouse. We have to think about passenger comfort when we do these things.
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Why do you feel the need to do that? Leave that to his spouse if she feels the need (I am betting she did not). I think we each know our respective families and friends tolerance level a little better than anyone on this thread.

In regard to the video - I thought it was great in how it addressed the decision to do a "go around". Too many times pilots feel the need to salvage a landing coming in from a bad approach or gusty wind conditions. I liked the way that FM came to the conclusion at a certain height or length down the runway that things were not to his liking and therefore decided to come back around for another attempt at landing safely. If ANYTHING on the approach or wind situation is not "good", then go around and try again.

And the production quality is obviously unsurpassed. Flying Monkey's ability to tell a story is great.
 
High winds at Sedona is one of the high winds landing challenges in Flight Sim 2020. I don't know if it's the plateau illusion, but I had the same problem of being high the first 2-3 times I attempted it. At least in the simulator, the winds died on short final.
 
I landed in the Mooney 15G25 straight across the runway and had a video that my backseat passenger took. I can’t find the video! Grr.. it was quite an experience and I didn’t make anyone release the contents of their stomach.

Some years ago, I landed the taildragger in a crosswind almost that bad. I was scared to death, and was shocked to get it down without too much hassle.
 
My highest in the Mooney was a direct 19G26 and in hindsight wasn’t one of my brightest ideas.
 
Another great video, Eric! Love your stuff. Probably won’t let my wife watch this one since she is juuuuuuust now willing to fly with my daughter and I. But the smart decisions to go around multiple times and plan for an alternate were great.

Sedona looks beautiful.

Oh, and your wife’s reaction to going to OSH was the same as mine lol!
 
Welp,I have nothing but praise for the ADM, and it turned out just fine, didn’t it? Except for the barfing, but she’s all better, too.

I say, keep ‘em coming - good fun!
 
P.S.: Sedona was our first 2020 jail release trip, back in August, but after fretting about how uncomfortable flying across the desert Southwest would be, sans-AC, we ended up being invited (by another attendee of the same meeting) to fly there in their Cessna.

Citation, that is. Didn’t suck.
 
steingar said:
Time to learn you a lesson Mr. Monkey. You puked your spouse. That's definitely an F in the exam book of Steingar. Safety is everything, but passenger comfort comes in a pretty close second. By the way, if I puked Mrs. Steingar she might fly with me again. If I puked Mrs. Steingar and put it on Youtube she'd not fly with me again nor would I fly again since I'd not be able to afford the airplane after the divorce.

Long ago I equipped Mrs. Steingar with a magic bracelet that keeps her from getting airsick (for sale here). One trip the bracelet failed, battery ran out of electrons. Mrs. Steingar was real green around the gills. I climbed, got to where it was cool and smooth despite the hot summer day. When it came time to descend I put the Cherokee in a hard slip power off. I think I lost 7 thousand feet on downwind, but the idea was to only expose Mrs. Steingar to the hot turbulent conditions for as little time as possible. Let the controller know what I as about, and it worked too. Got on the ground with no drama, and Mrs. Steingar still flies with me.

That first approach should have been your last approach. Cherokee is easy to land in a bad crosswind. Heck, I landed a Mooney in worse, not only do I suck, but Mooneys aren't as easily landed in crosswinds as Cherokees. Sorry not to write nice things about the nice scenery or the lovely airplane, or the fact that you created lovely red-headed daughters.
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I felt bad for her but she would rather puke and go to Sedona than not. If she were objecting she would speak up- believe me on that one. Haha. I asked her if I should include that part in the video and she thought it was funny and said put it in. If I had regular passengers I would have said pick another day for flying- but my family is more used to it and understands what the deal is and is willing to go along wit hit for the reward of the adventure and trips we get to take. I definitely wouldn't take a first time passenger in that turbulence. Thanks for the tip on the bracelet. I'll check it out!
 
Deelee said:
Another great video, Eric! Love your stuff. Probably won’t let my wife watch this one since she is juuuuuuust now willing to fly with my daughter and I. But the smart decisions to go around multiple times and plan for an alternate were great.

Sedona looks beautiful.

Oh, and your wife’s reaction to going to OSH was the same as mine lol!
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Oh yeah I was worried some spouses might negatively affected by this so def best to have her skip this one!

SCCutler said:
P.S.: Sedona was our first 2020 jail release trip, back in August, but after fretting about how uncomfortable flying across the desert Southwest would be, sans-AC, we ended up being invited (by another attendee of the same meeting) to fly there in their Cessna.

Citation, that is. Didn’t suck.
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That sounds awesome!
 
Great video! Nice of you to take the time to produce these so well. And you seem to have a wonderful family.

One thing I’ve noticed is that crosswind effects often reduce markedly in ground effect - after a huge crab on approach, once into ground effect sometimes in the flare there’s little or no need for much crosswind correction. Has something to do with surface friction.

I think I saw this in your video. Do you recall noticing it as well?
 
Yep about ground effect. I landed the Mooney Tuesday with only a mild albeit gusty direct crosswind from the West across a 35 runway, but in pretty bumpy air. There are rows of hangars East and West that sort of funnel the wind in columns across the runway. It was not a difficult landing, but on short final, probably 30 or 40 feet high, the right wing dropped significantly. No big deal, but once down low working on a flair, the ground effect made it noticeably easier.

I don’t remember such a sensation when landing the little high wing taildragger. Nothing changes all the way to the surface. I can remember landing it a few times in a three point attitude, but only one front wheel and the tailwheel touching together.
 
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FastEddieB said:
One thing I’ve noticed is that crosswind effects often reduce markedly in ground effect - after a huge crab on approach, once into ground effect sometimes in the flare there’s little or no need for much crosswind correction. Has something to do with surface friction.
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Absolutely, you can see in the video that as the airplane is settling onto the runway, barely any bank angle was needed to maintain track. This effect is why whenever discussions start about crosswinds, and people start telling war stories about high x-winds they landed in, you have to remember that what they're usually talking about is how much crosswind they may have flown their final APPROACH in.
 
FlyingMonkey said:
I felt bad for her but she would rather puke and go to Sedona than not. If she were objecting she would speak up- believe me on that one. Haha. I asked her if I should include that part in the video and she thought it was funny and said put it in.
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Good to hear. I don't think Mrs. Steingar would be quite so forgiving.

FlyingMonkey said:
If I had regular passengers I would have said pick another day for flying- but my family is more used to it and understands what the deal is and is willing to go along wit hit for the reward of the adventure and trips we get to take. I definitely wouldn't take a first time passenger in that turbulence. Thanks for the tip on the bracelet. I'll check it out!
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The bracelet works by Magic, or at least by some science that no one understands. It works on about 50% of people. It works on Mrs. Steingar, which is why we are able to take airplane trips. Spendy, but well worth it to preserve passenger comfort.

If you do make it to Osh I think I owe you a beer. Could be several. We'll see.
 
I thought the sweatshirt special effects were well done!

Good flying video and ADM too.
 
Lovely family. Anyone got a timestamp for the landing?
 
steingar said:
If you do make it to Osh I think I owe you a beer. Could be several. We'll see.
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Same! To lots of folks on this forum and a couple of folks who produce videos that have kept me entertained and provided really good info (like the one on the TruTrak Ap)... I probably owe about 100 beers to various folks here. The first OSH that happens after we are allowed to venture out is going to be epic... not in terms of beers bought for others, but just in terms of getting to hopefully meet some of you in person!
 
steingar said:
I was there, you weren't.
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LOLOLOL...you still don't seem to realize how ridiculously impossible it is for a Cherokee to achieve this descent angle in zero wind, much less downwind. I'd guess you'd need about 60KTS of wind on the nose to achieve a 58 degree descent angle. I'd say this claim makes me suspicious of your flying sense, but that ship has long sailed for plenty of other reasons. ;)

But by all means, do it again and post video. You don't need a GoPro, just a cell phone. Does Mrs. Steingar allow you to have your own cell phone?
 
FlyingMonkey said:
This was one of the most challenging landings I have had, and one of the funnest trips we've taken (after my wife recovered from the crazy ride). Hope you enjoy this video of our adventure!

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My only crosswind recommendation is to keep your control inputs in throughout the rollout. I noticed you leveled your ailerons pretty quickly after touching down (see 14:15) You actually need to increase the deflection as you slow down, with full aileron deflection as you slow to a taxi. Then just transition inputs as necessary as you taxi off the runway.

This will keep gusts of wind from blowing you off the runway after touchdown. Some folks have a tendency of giving proper control input right until the point of touchdown, but then just level all of the controls once both mains are rolling. Doing so will cause the crosswind to try to drift you of the runway, which you will likely respond with lots of correcting nose wheel and rudder (which was opposite just moments ago). Keep the aileron in and the plane won't try to steer to the downwind side of the runway.
 
steingar said:
The bracelet works by Magic, or at least by some science that no one understands. It works on about 50% of people. It works on Mrs. Steingar, which is why we are able to take airplane trips. Spendy, but well worth it to preserve passenger comfort.
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I’ve found the pressure point ones (Sea Bands, I think) available at Walgreens to be fairly effective.
 
FlyingMonkey said:
This was one of the most challenging landings I have had, and one of the funnest trips we've taken (after my wife recovered from the crazy ride). Hope you enjoy this video of our adventure!

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I enjoyed the video and my wife watched it with me. As I replied to your video she saw what I was typing and said "glad I wasn't with you the day you did gusty landings" :) I politely reminded her that if our home airport was gusty I likely would have cancelled the flight as I have no desire to intentionally put her and my family up in moderate or severe bumps. Your video definitely reminded me of my experience though as the plane does get bounced around a lot in those conditions. Can it be done, sure, but it just isn't that much fin and when I did it both the CFI and I were done dealing with it after 4 or 5 landings.
 
Great video, good lessons. I landed at Mammoth Lakes several years ago in similar conditions, with Bishop as my "out" if I couldn't hack the landing. That one was solo. Another one nearly as rough with the family at Big Bear, but got it down on the first try. It was rough enough that there would not have been a 2nd try that day, it would have been RTB.

I haven't been following your videos closely, but it seems like on all three approaches you may have been fast, not just high. This is a natural tendency in gusty conditions. Combined with partial flaps, you were probably flying nearly 10 knots faster than usual on approach, to a high density altitude field, and then add in the plateau visual illusion that makes for high approaches. I think you fixated on the wind issues for the approach, to a bit of neglect of the density altitude and visual challenges. Even for a long runway, that is dicey, and likely something you don't practice much. A suggestion would be to practice no-flap approaches more often so you are current on what that will feel/look like.
 
AdamZ said:
Seemed to me this was not only cross winds but also LLWS
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No, this is typical mountain/desert flying. LLWS would have had much larger swings in the wind direction (which was actually pretty consistent).
 
B8C5D1DD-A60B-4820-A12B-AEED0757B8B2.jpeg
Cherokee 1234P downwind Runway 21. Lol

RoscoeT said:
LOLOLOL...you still don't seem to realize how ridiculously impossible it is for a Cherokee to achieve this descent angle in zero wind, much less downwind. I'd guess you'd need about 60KTS of wind on the nose to achieve a 58 degree descent angle. I'd say this claim makes me suspicious of your flying sense, but that ship has long sailed for plenty of other reasons. ;)

But by all means, do it again and post video. You don't need a GoPro, just a cell phone. Does Mrs. Steingar allow you to have your own cell phone?
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I thought the video was fine ... and now I'll be *THAT* guy;)

My wife doesn't like turbulence. Years ago my son and I were going to fly 1.5 hours to La Mesa TX rather than drive 6-7 hours, for a high school basketball playoff game, mid March here in west Texas. Guadalupe Peak has a reporting station and can be accessed same as an airport by entering KGDP to see what the weather looks like up there as that peak throws some MASSIVE TB for up to 75 miles. It was reporting winds 40G50 ...

Wife INSISTED she wanted to go ... I explained the TB issue (my son can sleep through moderate to extreme and was mad I woke him on a San Antonio trip once years ago because his head was flopping around and I was worried he'd have a sore neck) and she still insisted.

Flight out I picked a path 30 miles south of that peak and didn't hit anything more than light chop. Actually had Fifi the flying fortress pass UNDER us on the way out (that was awesome). Watched the game and was doing a night flight back. The airlines were having issues in the flight levels and even reported passenger injuries, but all I had was a STRONG headwind maxing at 60 knots near Carlsbad NM. As I entered El Paso Class C that headwind got violent and my wife intercommed she wanted to land NOW. Landed at the Class C, dropped my son and wife off at Atlantic, and completed the flight to Dona Ana (driving back in the truck 40 min to pick them up - son was ok, but I wanted him with my wife). Wife still flys, but only likes local sunset flights ... nothing more than an hour ... wants SWA if long range

Flying Monkey's TB prior to let down reminded me of that flight ...
 
RoscoeT said:
LOL...maybe his Cherokee had an STC for massive dive brakes, or a chute. I'm pretty sure a Cirrus under parachute descends at around 58 degrees or so with any wind on downwind. :D
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I’ve seen a Pilatus Porter in Beta come pretty close, but a run of the mill Cherokee, somebody’s full of crap.
 
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