Gusty Winds - EAA Chapter 691

Gusty Winds
By Will Fox CFI, TC, FA
I was going to write a note this month about aircraft fittings and what type
of dope to use on the pipe fittings for your engine, but a trip to the Negrito back
country airstrip changed my mind. I hope you find this interesting.
Negrito (0NM7) is a US Forest Service airstrip in southwestern New
Mexico. It is a beautiful place nestled in the Tularosa Mountains that adjoin the
Gila Wilderness Area, and is located in the center of a triangle formed by Elk
Mountain, Bear Wallow Mountain, and Eagle Peak (http://vimeo.com/37425087).
Negrito is at an elevation of 8143 feet MSL and has two dirt/gravel/turf runways,
one that is 7500 feet long and another that is 4000 feet long. In terms of runway
length, it is a major airport by most back county airstrip standards.
I was headed to Negrito in my Pegazair to help the work party that is
organized by Larry Filener of the New Mexico Pilots Association. It is an annual
event with the goal of improving the airstrip and making it more accessible to
folks wishing to fly their aircraft into the area.
Figure 1. The Pegazair and Dave Hamannʼs C-195 parked next to the Negrito
National Forest Airstrip in southwestern New Mexico.
The goals this year were to get another windsock up, install a metal fire pit, and
enjoy the great outdoors. Oh, and to also enjoy fresh cooked meals on a
humongous grill that Larry and his son, Thomas, brought along.
I got there a little before 10:00 AM in the Pegazair, followed shortly
thereafter by Dave Hamann in his C-195. I circled the field three times, trying to
figure out which runway to land on. The winds had gotten kinda squirrely by
midmorning and always seemed to favor a different runway than the one I was
lined up on at the time. I finally decided to land on Runway 21, with a 6 to 8 knot
crosswind from the left, but as I was on short final, the wind shifted to a direct
headwind, making for an easy landing. Dave came in right behind me and also
landed on Runway 21 and put his Cessna 195 Businessliner down just as
smooth as can be. Boy, the sound of that seven cylinder Jacobs radial engine is
something to hear. Dave showed me where to park our planes, and, as we were
getting acquainted, another couple of aircraft arrived in the area, Chet Leach in
his Rans S-12, and Jeff Gilkey in his trike.
Dave got on his handheld radio and let the incoming pilots know what the
winds were doing. Chet decided to land on Runway 21 since, on average, the
wind seemed to be favoring that runway. As he made his approach the wind was
a little gusty at 6 to10 knots, but pretty well down the runway.
Figure 2. Chetʼs S-12 ended up slightly to the right of the Runway 21 but still
pointed down it following a gear collapse.
I watched the approach, and everything seemed pretty normal until the S-12
developed a really high sink rate about 30 feet AGL. It landed pretty hard, and
the large dust cloud that developed behind it was a sure sign that something was
amiss. It came to a stop on the side of the runway still pointed down the runway
but clearly leaning over to the right side. Dave called Chet to make sure he was
all right, and then the two of us gathered up our tools and headed over to Chetʼs
plane to see what happened.
As we approached the plane, Chet was unloading stuff and looking like
someone had just shot his favorite hunting dog; sad, mad, and confused. We
could see that the right main and nose gear had collapsed. The plane was
resting lightly on the right wing tip. The plane had skidded off the runway in the
final few feet of the landing, but Chet had done a great job of keeping it pointed
down the runway as long as he could. With the pilot OK, our next move was to
get the plane clear of the runway and supported such that the gusting wind would
not do anymore damage. Jeff had landed his trike on Runway 35 in the mean
time and soon joined us. Between the four of us, we were able to carefully move
the S-12 off the edge of the runway and lift it high enough to get a large rock and
some padding under the right gear support so the right wing wasnʼt resting on the
ground. Amazingly, other than a detached navigation light the right wing did not
appear to be damaged. We did notice that the right wheel was missing.
Figure 3. Chet holds up his right main gear where Dave found it. The axle failed right
outside of the wheel bearing.
So, Dave and I went looking for it, while Jeff consoled Chet. Neither of us had
the stomach to stay and watch a grown man cry. Dave found the wheel a couple
of hundred feet away, and that seemed to make Chet feel a little better. Having
located all the important parts of the aircraft, moved it to a safe place, and
secured it so no further damage could occur, we figured we could ask Chet to
reflect on what happened.
Chet said that he was stable on final carrying 62 mph (stall speed 47 mph)
with partial power and full flaps. Before starting the flare at about 20 feet off the
ground, the nose suddenly pitched up and energy bled off so fast that there was
not even time to push the throttle and lower the nose. The plane slammed into
the ground. Upon impact, the right main gear and nose gear collapsed (two place
ultralights were never known for their robust landing gear). Dave commented that
the approach end of runway 21 is known to create some strong downdrafts, one
of which surprised a pilot at last yearʼs flyin and required a full power approach
on short final to make the runway. The winds were a bit gusty as Chet made his
approach and the terrain descends to the north of runway 21, so the probability
that Mother Nature threw Chet a curve (or some wind shear) at the last minute is
pretty high. But Chet plans to be ready next time for that curve ball. In the future,
he said he plans to carry a lot more power, use one notch of flaps, and land at
least 2000 feet down the runway.
Sometimes aircraft are damaged more in the initial efforts to clear them
from the runway than they are in the crash to begin with. It is important to plan
the move and to properly support the aircraft during and after, so that this doesnʼt
happen. In the case of the S-12, it was light enough that four guys could lift and
maneuver it on the remaining left main gear without further damage. If you find
yourself in this type of situation, always take a few moments to think through how
best to support the aircraft as you move it and how you are going to tie it down
later to prevent further damage. The owner of the aircraft will really appreciate it.
With Chetʼs plane secure for the moment, we all headed back to the
camping area to get some lunch. Chris Wilson had arrived in his Interstate Cadet
by then and loaned Chet his mountain bike so Chet could ride down to the Forest
Service Fire Base to use the phone to arrange for the recovery of the aircraft. It
seems that Chetʼs EAA chapter has lots of experience with just this sort of thing.
After lunch, Larry, Thomas, and Jim Whittemore showed up with a trailer
filled to the brim with all the supplies and equipment that any crew could hope for
to service a back country airstrip. It took an hour or two, with all of us helping,
just to unload the thing. When we were done with the unloading and setting up,
we had us the equivalent of a deluxe back country FBO including a full service
”kitchen”, “pilot lounge” under the pines, and sanitized toilet facilities referred to
lovingly as the “poop tent” by Dave Harmann. Speaking of tents, it was time to
set up mine and get ready for the evening.
Figure 4. Setting up the Negrito camp site.
Planes, pilots, spouses, kids, and grandkids kept arriving and pretty soon
the place began to look like a regular LaGuardia. Before long, Larry and Thomas
were grilling hamburgers and cooking Texas style chili for everyone. Not wanting
anything to go to waste, and happy for a meal that tastes all the better in the
great outdoors, I made sure to eat my share and a little more.
Figure 5. Pilots with spouses, kids and grandkids flew into Negrito to enjoy the
camaraderie and join the work party.
As we all sat around after dinner, Chet mentioned that he wanted to take
the wings off the S-12 to get them ready for the recovery and transport he had
arranged for the next day. As I got up to go find my tool kit, I wondered about the
logic of this, since I usually think the best time to do this is when the recovery
trailer with a wing rack is next to the plane and the wings can be carefully set on
and secured to the trailer. That wouldnʼt be until tomorrow. On the other hand,
Chet wanted to get as much disassembly done ahead of time as he could, and
the aircraft would be less vulnerable with the wings off if it got gusty again
tomorrow, so doing it now was probably fine as long as we found a good place to
set the wings down and secured them well.
A bunch of the fellows volunteered to help, so off we went in Rory
McMinnʼs truck to pull the wings on the S-12. There is not much to pulling the
wings on what is basically a strut braced, high wing, two place ultralight, but one
does need to do a little planning. The first thing is to disconnect everything
connected to the wings, because it is not fun to try to pull a wing off an airplane
only to find that it is still attached to something on the fuselage. This means
disconnecting the controls, flaps, navigation lights, radio antennas, static and
pitot system, draining the fuel, and disconnecting the fuel lines and anything else
that might be attached to the wing. While Chet was doing this, the rest of the
gang were disconnecting drag wires, and jury struts and removing the nuts on
the wing and strut bolts. Another thing to remember is that when you take a wing
off one side of the airplane the other side with the wing still on it wants to roll the
plane in that direction, so it is best to use a wing stand. In our case, Dave
Hamann was the closest thing we had to one, so we stuck him under the left
wing. With four of us supporting the right wing, off came the struts, closely
followed by the wing itself. Next came the left wing, without a problem. Luck
was with us, as we accomplished all this without any damage to the wings or
fuselage and before it got “completely” dark. We set the wings down on the
prairie grass next to the plane and staked them down to the ground so that they
wouldnʼt be disturbed by any unforeseen gusts. By the time we were done, I was
bushed and ready to sit down in the “Pilot Lounge” for some more hangar flying.
No sooner had we had sat down, when Larry announced that the pies were
ready; apple, pecan, or cherry, take your pick. Well itʼs been awhile since I have
had Pecan pie, so I overstuffed my overstuffed self with a piece of pie just for
good measure. Well it wasnʼt long before I was falling asleep in my chair, so I
headed for the tent and my sleeping bag.
It gets a little cool at 8100 feet in the mountains of New Mexico at night,
even in June. Unfortunately, I forgot my beanie cap, and the cool draft on my
scarcely populated dome, along with a nature call woke me up in the middle of
the night. It turned out to be a stroke of luck though, because as I got out of the
tent to tend to nature, the glow of a Milky Way, thick with millions of brilliant stars,
on a beautifully clear night in the high country, was just incredible. I looked up
into that mass of light and wondered at the immensity of our universe. It was so
quiet and dark around me, that, for a few moments, I felt like I was alone in the
cosmos, just a speck of star ash in the vastness of space. Boy, will a dose of
that view cure any illusions of grandeur that a person might have. Back in the
sleeping bag with a warm shirt wrapped around my noggin like a turban with
arms, I fell back asleep with the thought of how lucky I was, and how much we all
need to appreciate the richness and freedoms that we can have in our lives.
Figure 6. Larry and Thomas outdoing themselves again, with a breakfast of blueberry
pancakes, sausages, and scrambled eggs.
I got up early the next morning to pack up so that I could fly Chet back to
Sandia airpark to get his truck and pick up the trailer he needed to recover his
plane. I also needed to get back to Los Alamos for a commitment that I had
made prior to this trip. In addition, all the real work was scheduled to begin that
day, and I didnʼt want to embarrass myself by fainting before lunch due to
exhaustion. You see, Iʼm retired, and simply packing and unpacking my plane is
much more work than I am used to. Larry and Thomas were at it again, cooking
scrambled eggs, pancakes, and sausages, so I summoned enough strength to
eat a plate full of outdoor goodness, before Chet and I loaded up for the trip
back. Loaded up and ready to go, we departed Negrito with beautiful weather,
and headed to Socorro for a fuel stop. We landed in Socorro, fueled up, and then
headed for Sandia Airpark. Chet suggested we skirt the Manzano Mountains to
the west and the Sandia Mountains to the east and that would keep us out of the
Albuquerque Class C airspace. As we approached Albuquerque and tuned in the
KABQ ATIS, we noticed that there were a few clouds over the mountains. The
ATIS indicated that there were strong canyon winds out of the east, so we started
a climb to stay out of the turbulence on the lee side of the Manzano Mountains.
As we gained altitude, we could see a lot of clouds east of the mountains.
Figure 7. “Breakfast sure smells good. I wish dad would get up and find me a
jacket”.
East wind, moist air hitting the mountains, lots of clouds, sounds like an upslope
condition. Listening to the Moriarty AWOS confirmed low ceilings on the east
side of the mountains. Hmmm, I donʼt remember this being forecast. We could
hear traffic in the pattern at Moriarty so we gave them a call and they reported
that indeed the ceiling was around 2000 feet AGL but visibility was good. Chet
and I discussed going over or going under the clouds, and decided that there
was plenty of ceiling to go under, and that way we wouldnʼt have to worry about
getting stuck on top. So we descended down to 8500 feet MSL and flew between
the Manzano Mountains and the Sandia Mountains under the overcast. The ride
wasnʼt too bumpy and we were a good 1500 feet AGL with reasonably good
visibility. The rest of the trip to Sandia Airpark was uneventful except for a 10
knot wind out of the east at the airport. Since there is a pretty good slope to the
east-west runway, the question was whether to land downhill into the wind, or
uphill with a tailwind. Chetʼs experience here was very helpful as he indicated
that the folks at the airpark generally land uphill and takeoff down hill, but agree
that the crossover point to land into the wind and ignore the runway slope is
when the wind is greater than 6-8 knots. So we landed downhill into the wind
and it worked out fine. As Chet and I said our farewells, I wished him luck with
his plane and hoped to see him flying it again soon. Then I flew on into Los
Alamos, and landed with the normal late morning summer crosswind. The big
tires on the Peg seem to make every landing easier, no matter the wind or
terrain.
As I shutdown in front of the hangar, I thought, life is interesting. My plan
had been to fly to Negrito, get a look at the place, do a little camping, and help
the work party unpack and setup. I got to do all that, but I also got to make some
new friends, help a fellow aviator in need, and learn something about flying.
What I learned about flying is that Mother Nature is full of surprises and to be a
good pilot, you always need to pay attention to what she is saying. The shifting
winds at Negrito, were her way of letting you know that mischief was afoot in
form of unstable air so increasing your margins would be a good idea. Similarly,
the clouds on the east side of the mountains with the upslope winds were an
indication of low ceilings and possibly precipitation, so listening to AWOS and
getting a PIREP helped us to anticipate what we would run into.
As I unpacked, I thought it was good to be back home, but, at the same
time, I wondered what Larry and Thomas were planning for dinner that night.
Figure 8. A great bush plane and some camping gear, what else does a guy
need.
I want to acknowledge Chet Leachʼs support in letting me discuss his accident and providing me with his
account of it. My hat is off to Chet. It is a true Aviator who can share their lessons learned with others.
Chet told me that in his EAA chapter they always discuss their accidents and learn from them. Sounds like a
darn good idea to me.