Wind on my tail.

Coming back from the practice area on my latest solo flight I was cleared for a straight in approach to 26. I felt a little bit of relief; the wind was light but variable. Throughout the day the active had swung between 08 and 26.  As I entered the zone I was acutely aware that the ATIS was just about to switch over at the top of the hour. I’d delayed getting the ATIS as long as I could to see if the active had switched, but in the end I’d had to make my call to tower “with information November” and hope that if the info had been updated that they’d realise why I was still on the old one.

It is no major hassle to land on 08 as opposed to 26 provided the traffic is light. I just didn’t want to be stuck orbiting while they cleared the right downwind for me. Still 26 it was, a nice long straight in approach, or at least it should have been.

For whatever reason I just couldn’t seemed to get my airspeed trimmed and I didn’t power back nearly soon enough. I was waaaaay too high. Making the call sooner rather than later, I overshot and clawed back up to circuit height.

Straight into a Porter sandwich. I was following behind one and asked to keep it in tight in front of another. Hmmm. Great.

Realising that I still couldn’t even see the Porter I was meant to be following I powered back to 1500rpm with 10 degrees of flaps pretty much as soon as I established on downwind. Even then I had to turn closer behind it than I would have liked.

Conscious that the winds were light and the phrase “caution wake turbulence” still ringing in my ears, I knew I wanted to keep my approach high. Determined to make the best out of the situation I decide to practice an obstacle landing. Keeping  the approach steep and a little higher than usual I crossed the threshold at around 65 knots.

I was landing long

Longer than I have in a long time.

Not dangerously long but a little floatier than I’d like. The touchdown was passable, not perfect but better than they have been for a while (centreline issues again though). I tried to go easy on the brakes. I’ve developed a nasty habit of being a little punchy on them, causing nasty squealing noises and some dicey directional control.

Tower was busy and I was coming up on 33. If I was a little more aggressive on the braking I probably could have made the turn. Knowing that I couldn’t exit onto a runway unless instructed I kept up the gentle braking, resigned to the fact that I was probably taking it all the way to the end.

Sure enough, I eventually got the “exit 33 if able, if not no delay alpha” instruction. Confirming my intent with ATC I realised that I too had joined the “off at Alpha” club that I’d previously teased RTH for being a member of.

On my return Bob confirmed my suspicions that I’d had a tail wind all the way down, hence my shallower approach than I’d like (especially on the first attempt) and my floaty landing.