Stephen Lindberg
Well Known Member
I recently flew my PA-12 in a strong wind and noticed something I thought unusual. I was taxiing for takeoff on runway 26 and was therefore headed 080 on the way to the runway. The wind was reported as 180 to 220 at 18 kts. gusting to 26, and the windsock was consistent with that. Pretty strong for the Pacific NW and that's why I'm asking for help from prairie state pilots because I know this is routine for you. Because of the right quartering tailwind I positioned the stick full forward and to the left, "climb into the wind and dive out of the wind". To my consternation, the airplane took a strong list to the left, enough so that I momentarily wondered if I had biten off more than I could chew. I just had to experiment so I moved the stick, still full forward, fully to the right. And lo! The airplane righted itself and the alarming list went away. My explanation is that raising the upwind aileron (moving the stick to the right) spoiled lift that was somehow being generated by wind flowing retrograde over the right wing. Pure speculation on my part. Does anyone have a better explanation? This calls into question the old rule of thumb mentioned above. BTW, the four TO&Ls were big fun. The wind blew the plastic deck chairs at the FBO across the patio.