Got a little shakin up today.

Hckey2477

Hckey2477

Well-Known Member
Today I was on final approach with a student of mine. We were coming in for our final landing of the day and there were thunderstorms within 15 miles of the airport. We approached 100' AGL and all of the sudden a huge burst of wind started to toss us around like a rag doll. we immediately lost 15 knots and gained about 100'. the stall warning horn came on and the aircraft began to buffet. I took the controls and went around. We came back for our full stop landing and had no further problems. It shook me up a bit. this was the first time I have experienced such a strong gust. I think the hardest part is staying calm and collected in front of the student. I would like to hear of some of your experiences.

Here is the pirep: SFB UUA /OV SFB /TM 1929 /FL001 /TP SR20 /RM LLWS -15KTS FA 9R
 
If you're on the ground, outside and you feel that, run like hell to get under a roof.


In the air...well, you seem to have made it work.
 
Hckey2477 said:
I think the hardest part is staying calm and collected in front of the student. I would like to hear of some of your experiences.
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I'm lucky in two respects. I'm not a cfi and the first time I experienced this I was alone in the plane. It happens and it scares the fecal out of you the first time. Luckily for me, I was alone at the time. You had a student so you were obligated to to keep it together and look professional during the event. It sounds like you did fine considering. Next time it happens you'll do even better. No harm, no foul in my book. Learn what you can from it and move on as far as I'm concerned.
 
Had a similar situation last week. I was on final going into Monument Valley. The twin otter that landed ahead of me reported a "sinker" on final. I carried about 10 extra knots of speed on final to compensate, about 100AGL I lost nearly 30kts and got the stall warning and had to go around. Anybody familiar with UT25 knows this is not ideal, especially in a full gross Cessna 207.

That being said, you did exactly what you are supposed to do, and obviously your prior training kicked in and you handled the situation. Focus on that instead of the scare. You handled it well, and should draw some experience and confidence from it.
 
I feel ya, I opted to land behind a departing C-130 today and got caught in his prop wash at about 50-feet. Made for a crazy ride in.
 
I about got flipped over @ 300' AGL on an ILS during my IR training...was very frightening. Aerobatics and emergency manuevers training is the best thing I have ever done since I started flying. I suggest it for everyone.
 
Climbing out of Seattle one beautiful afternoon...full airplane, plus a United Capt in the jumpseat...my leg down to Portland. Cleared for takeoff behind a 737-900...at roughly 700ft AGL I couldn't get above his wake, and we got taken for a ride. Lasted for about a minute and a half...after we got the AP on, I had a nice long breather. Having both Captain's tell me that I handled the situation nicely sure made for a nice rest of the flight.
 
Tld said:
I about got flipped over @ 300' AGL on an ILS during my IR training...was very frightening. Aerobatics and emergency manuevers training is the best thing I have ever done since I started flying. I suggest it for everyone.
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I about got flipped over from a KC-10 taking off on a cross runway. Pointing nose down in a 152 is not very fun. Won't make that mistake twice.
 
Funny, I had a similar situation as a result of a strong crosswind and bad tree positioning at the end of a runway. Normally we have a easy 6330 foot runway to land on but it has been closed recently to fix some stuff. We have been using the 2300 foot runway with obstructions on both sides.

Came in to land on 19, turned base and all was well, went to turn final and got rocked. Then the headwind dropped off and we immediately lost 15 knots as a result of the trees blocking the wind.
 
Hckey2477 said:
Yeah we debriefed the situation, it was a great learning experience. Although I wouldn't favor a recurring scenario. :)
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Sounds like you did a great job. You just identified why I'd prefer experienced pilots flying my family around in an airliner than a fresh graduate out of a pilot factory regardless of how well they did on all of their exams.

Things like you experienced can't be set up as part of a training syllabus. A pilot has to grunt out hours and hours of regular flying at an FBO as a CFI or hauling checks, blood and eyeballs before they encounter an experience which will stick with them the rest of their flying career.

Remember the old "99% sheer boredom and 1% sheer terror" saying? Welcome to the club!!!
 
Sounds like it worked.
Good job not forcing it.
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"I think the hardest part is staying calm and collected in front of the student."

In one of my student & wind shear experiences, I wish I could take back writing down the tach and hobbs in front of him. My right hand was shaking pretty bad while I was trying to write, I noticed him take a pause and stare at it.
In the plane on final, I was a cool as a cucumber.
 
You an instructor at DCA?

Good job on dealing with wind shear, I just had my first experience of losing airspeed on final a few weeks ago. Until then I had some airspeed gains, but it makes you alot more nervous when you see that airspeed indicator start coming down.
 
Good on you for making it safely.

My most recent "Oh crap" moment in an airplane was up shooting approaches in IMC when the "area of weather" ATC was telling me about turned out to be an embedded thunderstorm. Being solid IMC and seeing the clouds light up and hearing the radios crackle is a bit of an unnerving experience in a 172.
 
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