Lesson 49 – Overload
Sandy decided the strong, gusty winds yesterday were just what we needed to make this lesson challenging.
We flew to Palwaukee, which is one of the busier GA airports in the Chicago area, and did one landing there. We taxied back and got a quick clearance to take off to the north. Sandy had me intercept the 270 radial from OBK (Northbrook VOR) and follow that to Lake In The Hills. There was more of a crosswind there and the gusts made landing tricky. I bounced on the first try and the nose instantly pointed off to the left so I pushed in the power and went around. On the second try, I bounced again but not very high and I kept the nose aligned with the center line and managed to land it. We were landing on 26 which is the end of the runway where all the building are (see the picture with the Lesson 48 entry). I really though I had it nailed this time. The approach was stable and everything looked good until the last second when the bottom just dropped out. I decided the buildings must have been making the wind swirl. Sandy said she would try a demo landing and wanted me to play instructor and be very critical. Her approach was also very stable but, she bounced too. Hers was even a little harder than mine. She agreed that the wind was playing tricks on us. We decided to get out of there and head for home.
On the way back, she put the hood on me and had me intercept a radial to the Kenosha VOR while I was doing climbs and descents. That, along with the bumpy air, kept me very busy. When I got on the radial, Sandy added more work by having me set the GPS, tune the radios to get the ATIS and call the tower. In the mean time, she was giving me headings to fly and altidudes to hold. When I took the hood off, we were almost on the downwind for 23. My landing at UGN was a little flat but , at least, there was no bounce.
After I parked, Sandy asked me if I was worn out. I told her I was and she said “good, that was my plan for the day.” She thought the gusty wind would make for a good day to try to overload me. She succeeded in that.
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Wow, sounds like you handled the workload well.
How was flying into Palwaukee? For some reason I’m intimidated to try it.
I finally got out flying last night. It was a BEAUTIFULY clear and calm night. I took a good friend up, too. This flying stuff sure is great, isn’t it?
It wasn’t bad flying into Palwaukee. This is probably where training at a towered airport pays off. Of course, it was a windy Sunday afternoon so there probably wasn’t as much traffic as usual. The tower controller talked fast and minimized his words but the instructions were clear. Just listen close for your call sign and it shouldn’t be any problem. Getting around on the ground will probably be the toughest part. Have a good taxi diagram with you. All we were doing was taxing back but our insructions were; “Go right then left then right to 30.”