I wanted to fly up to 52F (Doug's home base) this week to look over Grady's paint shop, and give him a deposit for painting my -8 (Got a reservation for May - should be ready for the big fly-in season!). Yesterday the weather moved through, and today was my only other opportunity, so off in to the post-cold-front winds I went!
After climbing out through moderate turbulence below the Houston Class B, I found smooth air and good fuel flows up at 8,500 - along with a 45 knot headwind! The worst part? That was the GOOD wind altitude! Fortunately, with 185 knots TAS, I was seeing at least triple-digit numbers on the groundspeed - with my old Grumman, I would have been passed by the trucks on the higheway below. It took two hours to get up there, and landing in the "canyon" between two rows of hangars was, shall we say "interesting"! I was just glad Doug showed up AFTER I was stopped - would have hated to have anyone see that one....
Of course, the trip home was wonderful! The highest winds had blown themselves down to the Houston area by the time I headed back, but I still had 45 knots of tailwind most of the way. I love seeing 227 knots on the groundspeed! The return was just a shade over an hour - would have been shorter, but Houston Approach gave me the grand tour of the western suburbs....The bumps were even worse than in the morning however, and I was glad for for the five-point harness. Yup, it was THAT nasty! I was also glad the wind was averaging our runway heading, because it was 18 Gusting 31 when I landed. Just kind of hovered to a stop. I don't need to try THAT again anytime soon....
Thanks for the hospitality Doug, and it was great to see Danny King again as well! Great chance to visit with the guys up there however, and I am looking forward to dropping the plane off for paint. But I think I can skip the winds next time....
Paul
After climbing out through moderate turbulence below the Houston Class B, I found smooth air and good fuel flows up at 8,500 - along with a 45 knot headwind! The worst part? That was the GOOD wind altitude! Fortunately, with 185 knots TAS, I was seeing at least triple-digit numbers on the groundspeed - with my old Grumman, I would have been passed by the trucks on the higheway below. It took two hours to get up there, and landing in the "canyon" between two rows of hangars was, shall we say "interesting"! I was just glad Doug showed up AFTER I was stopped - would have hated to have anyone see that one....
Of course, the trip home was wonderful! The highest winds had blown themselves down to the Houston area by the time I headed back, but I still had 45 knots of tailwind most of the way. I love seeing 227 knots on the groundspeed! The return was just a shade over an hour - would have been shorter, but Houston Approach gave me the grand tour of the western suburbs....The bumps were even worse than in the morning however, and I was glad for for the five-point harness. Yup, it was THAT nasty! I was also glad the wind was averaging our runway heading, because it was 18 Gusting 31 when I landed. Just kind of hovered to a stop. I don't need to try THAT again anytime soon....
Thanks for the hospitality Doug, and it was great to see Danny King again as well! Great chance to visit with the guys up there however, and I am looking forward to dropping the plane off for paint. But I think I can skip the winds next time....
Paul
