July 31^st, 2025, a day that will live in my memory as the end of an era in my flying journey. As I write this, it’s a sad day, however, I know there will be more flying adventures in my future. However, there is something special about your first… well anything. And Flywyld was my first flying club. It was a special group of people that each had their own motivations, but a single purpose, the love of flying.

During my time in the club, I got to fly with some great aviators. We had members who were professional pilots, current and former military aviators, CFIs, and of course, the lowly PPLs. Being in such close proximity to Washington D.C., the members of Flywyld each brought a unique background and stories to the club. Some were military pilots with very coveted roles, others, well, we can’t say what they did, but I assure you, it was… special!

While the end of July was the official end of the club, N1935T left July 1^st for an overhaul. The owner had decided it was time to move on and the club was unable to find a new aircraft. My last flight in 35T was June 30^th, the second to last of the club members to fly.

35T may be gone, and Flywyld a memory, but I will continue to fly...

Recently, I’ve been flying with another member of the club. For anonymity we will refer to this club member as Bob (why not, he’s your mother’s uncle after all). He is great to fly with, arrives early, performs a pre-flight, seems genuinely excited to be flying, and is a CFI! I really enjoy our flights, the advice Bob offers, our conversations, and the general camaraderie we share as pilots. I feel comfortable flying with Bob.

Maybe being comfortable with Bob is why I’m having problems landing?

If you’ve been keeping up, my recent flight to Emporia-Greensville featured a difficult crosswind landing and a fairly routine landing back at home base. The initial attempt at Emporia-Greensville featured a go-around, the second was a good imitation of a professional pilot. Later, at Manassas (KHEF), the landing was rather mundane and unremarkable. However, when flying with Bob, I’ve been… terrible! Not just bad, but to the point that he almost felt compelled to intervene. Maybe being comfortable with Bob is why I’m having problems landing?

As pilots, we have our routines, check lists, habits, etc… Often these habits and routines were built during training, initial (PPL) or commercial. When we are outside our routine, our “game” is… well, just not up-to-snuff.

So, with all that, I took 1.5 hours and 6 laps at Manassas on a 95° day (for those that have flown a PA-28 on hot days… you know) and worked out my landing issues. I spent lap after lap watching my airspeed. Each approach, double and triple checked the checklist items. Every time the rubber hit the tarmac, extra attention was paid to the centerline.

After the 6^th controlled crash into the earth, I was satisfied that I can land well and that my previous problems were something unexpected, but shouldn’t have been. I wasn’t paying adequate attention to the airplane during my landings with Bob. We would spend an hour or two flying to a destination chatting about life and family (occasionally talking with ATC) and when it was time to land, I was slacking off! It wasn’t an intentional slacking off, but one of those moments when you are flying with someone more experienced and you just expect that if you are missing something they will pick it up. It was worse, I was getting… Complacent.

I don’t have the experience to be complacent, hell, I don’t have the experience to pretend to be complacent, yet here I was, apparently (when looking back on it) acting as if I was so good that I could slack off and still butter the bread. It was this “ah ha” moment that I experienced on that 6^th and final landing of the day. It was the realization that I was a slacker.

Don’t be a slacker! Use your checklist. Verify. And give your landings (and all phases of flight) your full attention.

KHEF -> KEMV

This trip started off like most. On the drive to the airport I listened to LiveATC.net to get an idea of how many training flights were doing pattern work. Manassas has a few flight schools and is typically very busy on the weekdays with student flights. As a former student at one of the busiest schools on the field, I know the preferred schedules and try to plan my departures to avoid the congestion.

This day was a little busier than normal. The previous few days had seen poor WX conditions and now everyone was trying to make up for lost time. After arriving, doing a quick once over of the plane in the hanger, I checked the weather. I knew there would be some gusty conditions at my home base, however, nothing outside my minimums and, to be honest, I needed some practice with gusty crosswind conditions. So, expecting 8G16KTS at 40° to the right on my return, I would get some practice.

After filing my SFRA flight plan, I pulled the plane from the hanger into the morning light and called for a top off. While waiting for the fuel truck, I completed my pre-flight and closed up the hanger. Things couldn’t have gone any more “by the book”. I was feeling good about this day’s flight plan, I was planning on practicing some VOR navigation. The remaining ground operations went smoothly and I was ready for departure.

It had been about a month since I last stretched my wings, so I was focused on my checklists. Ensuring no steps were missed and watching my instruments. Like many other long cross country flights, I asked departure for flight following and was kindly given a new frequency. A benefit of flying out of the DC SFRA, you are already in their system, so, a flight following call is pretty easy for the controllers. Once clear of the bravo shelf, I started my climb to 7,500′ and steered toward my first VOR, Casanova.

After a 5 minutes, ATC asked if I was planning on turning on-course soon. I had planned on doing some VOR practice (seems silly, with VOR’s being shutdown and the “magenta line” being so easy), but it hadn’t crossed my mind until that moment, that I should be going direct. It would also shave off a few minutes. Hard left at Culpepper (KCJR) and on-course I am, direct Emporia-Greensville.

Some chop through 3-4,000′ but at 7,500′ cruise, it was nice and smooth. 35T is easy to fly and on this day, even getting it trimmed out was a breeze. Once trimmed, I was 2-finger flying for the next hour. It was clear, severe clear even. Clouds were way up there and it was clear and sunny below 12,000′. Even the traffic was light. Most of the flight was over forest lands but small towns and fields popped up here and there. Most of the ATC calls in this area were to regional jets and the like, flying into Richmond or Roanoke/Lynchburg.

As I drew closer to my destination, I was passed off to Washington Center. This was a new experience for me. Not that it was any different than talking with the approach controllers I usually am on with, but different none the less. There were some military flights being coordinated and some commercial traffic… and little ole me, cruising along at a breakneck 115KTS!

Emporia-Greensville Airport (KEMV) – SkyShots Photography

I finally picked Emporia out of the surrounding landscape and let Center know I had the field in sight. Switching to CTAF and squawking 1200, I was fully engaged in executing a smooth landing. The AWOS at Emporia was reporting 8KTS direct cross. Not that bad and nothing outside my skill level. As I was descending to pattern altitude, I had my first indication of trouble. Descending through 1,500′ for an 1,100′ pattern, the air became very choppy and I was having a hard time keeping level altitude. I began to wonder what the conditions near the surface would be like. I soldiered on and joined the downwind for RWY15.

The air started to smooth out a little while I was on downwind. After passing the numbers, I started thinking about the approach and reduced engine power to maintain 90KTS. No traffic in sight, or on ADS-B, I think I have the field to myself. Turning base, I could feel the wind pushing against me and I added some power back to maintain 80KTS while trying to move the airplane through the wind. Still, no traffic on opposite base or final.

After turning final for RWY15, I found myself off center to the left. And it was inconsistently getting worse. I continued to correct and get back to center. This is when I started to wonder if these were gusts I was fighting against. The inconsistent rudder pressure to keep the nose pointing down the runway sure seemed like it might be. I hadn’t planned on gusty conditions so this caught me a little off-guard. I kept working the rudder and yoke to maintain center but every time I would get on center, then another heavy gust pushed me off.

Now, my dear reader, this is where a lesson is re-learned once again.

You can always go-around

I was in a low energy state nearly 15′ off the runway and the wind is pushing me to the left. I’m working hard to get back to the centerline, but the wind is winning. My left main touches pavement first 10′ from the edge of the runway. Yep, that’s right, or left, not the right wheel to kiss the earth. Now, at this point, I knew 35T was going around and we were going to do that again. Full power, and away we go.

Once again airborne, I retracted the flaps one notch at a time, climbed to pattern altitude and began again. This effort would be different. Now I knew there were gusty crosswinds and they were strong. I extended base on this attempt and used less flaps and more power to give more authority to the rudder and ailerons to help maintain center. This approach went much better and I planted the plane on the 1,000′ markers. I came in hot, almost 80KTS, but I had much better control of the aircraft against the gusty conditions.

Exiting the runway and taxing to the terminal I could feel the gusts. I checked the AWOS as I was rolling along and found it to be reporting 9G15KTS still direct cross. After shutting down, I jumped out and tied off the plane to eat lunch before returning home. While chatting with the airport staff, I came to learn there is always a crosswind and most of the time it’s gusty. Many flight schools will use Emporia to teach for this reason.

On the return flight, having flight following was quite helpful as I stayed in Emporia a little longer than I planned, the traffic from student flights was quite heavy. Having that extra set of eyes was a big help! As expected, the winds at Manassas were gusty and 40° off the runway. I was prepared for that, and was revisiting my experience in Emporia the entire flight back. No go-around needed here, planted the aircraft with a more than gentle kiss a few hundred feet past the 1,000′ paint. I had to take the short and narrow runway, which also meant I had a 15 minute taxi as I had to wait for to cross both runways. I didn’t mind, after that much better landing I was again feeling good about the flight.

As pilots, whether 100 or 2,000-hours in the seat, we are always learning. Sometimes it’s learning something for the 10th time, like “you can always go-around”. When we think about Hazardous Attitudes, I think we all have a little of that in us even though we put our best effort into avoiding poor decisions. Whether the desire to stick every landing regardless of the conditions, or the belief that going around is only something a bad pilot does, I think these are Hazardous Attitudes and something I am working to avoid myself.

YOU CAN ALWAYS GO-AROUND!

Until next time. Keep the shiny side up!

As a hobbyist pilot, it’s great to see all of my flights illustrated on the map. Looking at this image invokes the good and bad feelings of particular flights. Of particular fondness is the flight to Ingalls Field (KHSP)…

The image above isn’t mine, I was too busy flying the plane to take any pictures. As great as this image is, it doesn’t do this field justice. If you really want to get a feel for landing at this airport, check out the video below. This airport sits at just under 3,800′, making it one of the (2nd maybe) highest elevation GA airports east of the Mississippi!

With the scenic views and mountain top runway, this is a challenge on a calm day. On the day I visited, Nov. 13^th, 2024 there was only an 8kt wind slightly off the runway being broadcast over AWOS. Well, as it turned out, that wasn’t entirely accurate.

I overflew the field to make a 45° entry to left downwind (aka. teardrop entry) so I could survey the field and see the windsock. The wind was more than “slightly” off the runway, it was almost a direct cross. However, it’s only 8kts, so not that bad at all. Well, I don’t know how true that was either. After landing, it sure felt like 15+ gusts blowing across the mountain top.

This was a challenging landing and approach. The mountain wave turbulence was something I understood, but had not experienced during an approach before. A standard part of my approach briefing is “Going around is always an option.” and I repeated this to myself as +/-100′ changes in altitude were causing my head to smack into the roof of the cabin.

The last 1/4 mile of the approach was a little more normal, however, with the direct crosswind, I was struggling to keep it on centerline. This is when I realized there were gusts and not a steady 8kts. I was constantly fighting what seemed like overcorrections. When I planted the mains on the runway, I went hard over on the yoke and cruised to the end of the runway. I had landed long and missed the turnoff in the center of the runway.

I wasn’t staying long, so I chocked the front wheel and put the parking brake on. After visiting the temporary (read: Mobile office building.) terminal, I took a walk around the field and took in the views. This isn’t the Rocky Mountains, however, with the harrowing approach and landing, the views were GREAT! Also, they have campsites on the field! There will definitely be a return trip to camp overnight here when he weather gets warmer!

I hope your flying adventures through 2024 have been equally adventurous! There have been plenty of lessons learned and lots of great experiences. After all, that’s why we fly!

Until next time…