Wind limitations within clubs.

[Ghery]

Wimps!

I'm always amazed when people think less than 3000 feet is a short runway, since I got my PPL at a 2500 foot one, which is more than three times the ground roll of a 172.

Looks like a perfectly reasonble runway for near sea level operations. I've landed an Arrow in signifactly less space, and gotten airborne again. Of course, I back taxied and took off, no T&Gs on a 2000 foot strip.

 

[Dan Thomas]

Judging by some of the crosswind landings I've seen some PPLs doing, I would have some limits on any airplane I rented. And those winds weren't all that strong when I was watching, either. One guy went into the weeds in a five-knot crosswind. In a 172, yet. I've seen guys touch down in a crab. I've seen the ailerons go to neutral right after touchdown and the upwind wing come up before he grabs it, and sometimes he just barely manages to keep the wingtip off the pavement. Many of these guys would wreck an airplane in a 15-knot crosswind.

Dan

 

[Dan Thomas]

Wimps!



I'm always amazed when people think less than 3000 feet is a short runway, since I got my PPL at a 2500 foot one, which is more than three times the ground roll of a 172.

But then just watch the PPLs that learned to fly at major airports with 12,000-foot runways. They arrive high, dive at the runway, float for 1500 feet, touch down flat, then drag the tires trying to keep from going off the end.

It's all about teaching proficiency and excellence, and that seems to be in short supply these days. Either the instructors aren't tough enough on the students (just like any school these days; you pass no matter what), or the student just wants the license the easiest and cheapest way possible. And we all know the quality we get when we buy the cheapest stuff.

Dan

 

[Dan Thomas]

Then we mess up this perfect good(even great question) by asking if I do something stupid, that was done because I did something I was not able to do, and should have known I was not able to do it, but someone let me do it, and as a result of me choosing to do this stupid thing I hurt myself, and possibly others can I sue them because they let me do this activity I knew I should not do.
You are PIC , YOU CHOOSE when to fly and not to. If you utilize a club and their limitations are more restrictive than your personal limits then you are stuck with their limits, if their limits are less restrictive, then be a good pilot and stick to your personal limits. If you crash the plane, it is your fault not theirs.....

There are way too many pilots who overestimate their abilities and skills and judgment. That's why many clubs and FBOs have limits. In a club or partnership, particularly, a wrecked airplane means that nobody gets to fly for a long time.

Dan

 

[zaitcev]

I'm always amazed when people think less than 3000 feet is a short runway, since I got my PPL at a 2500 foot one, which is more than three times the ground roll of a 172.

Heh, PAO. I remember how I landed at sea level for the first time. The runway was tiny (Hollister). Later I had a few opportunities to repeat the experience, the latest was in Florida. It was a major training field, and yet their SOP was to aim well short of the runway, flare, and float over the treshold. Good grief, you flatlanders. All my instructors asked to aim for the fat bars. Otherwise you're one small sink from landing into a gulley.

 

[MultiMediaWill]

My club has rather strict wind limitations:

• Student Pilots (solo)
  • Max total wind: 12 knots
  • Max crosswind: 6 knots
  • Max gust factor: 0 knots
• Pilots <200 hours total time
  • Max total wind: 20 knots
  • Max crosswind: 9 knots
  • Max gust factor: 5 knots
• Pilots 200+ hours total time
  • Max total wind: 30 knots
  • Max crosswind: 12 knots
  • Max gust factor: 10 knots

My first flight school gave me the same limitations.