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"The Lost Squadron" - photos

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A few years back we we're in Cooperstown NY visiting family and decided to go to the local grass strip and look around. The owner had a 172 that he rented out so we went up..he checked me out and deemed me fit. A few days later loaded the wife and two kids and went sight seeing. Weather snuck in on us and had a real chore getting back to the field, ending up sneaking under the funk and almost had to put the wheels on the road cutting between the hill and the scud. Popped out, called the field on unicom and owner was frantic saying the winds were "horrible" go find a better place to set down Winds were about 15 direct cross?? I fly in New Mexico where if the winds fall below 40-50 people fall over...kinda used to wind. Anyhow...I demonstrated to the poor owner a flawless one wheel cross wing landing, taxied up and he was tieing us down. He was amazed when the kids crawled out laughing and the wife was totally unfazed.
 
jackq said:
A few years back we we're in Cooperstown NY visiting family and decided to go to the local grass strip and look around. The owner had a 172 that he rented out so we went up..he checked me out and deemed me fit. A few days later loaded the wife and two kids and went sight seeing. Weather snuck in on us and had a real chore getting back to the field, ending up sneaking under the funk and almost had to put the wheels on the road cutting between the hill and the scud. Popped out, called the field on unicom and owner was frantic saying the winds were "horrible" go find a better place to set down Winds were about 15 direct cross?? I fly in New Mexico where if the winds fall below 40-50 people fall over...kinda used to wind. Anyhow...I demonstrated to the poor owner a flawless one wheel cross wing landing, taxied up and he was tieing us down. He was amazed when the kids crawled out laughing and the wife was totally unfazed.
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That's been a problem for years Jack, and I'm sorry to say will continue for years to come. Where people are, what I call, fair weather pilots. Their happy to be flying on calm days,(Aren't we all), but when they get caught in a situation like you just described, some of them panic and create their own problems. They were taught, or should have been taught, cross wind landings and emergency procedures when they were initially trained. Problem is, they don't keep their skills honed and after a while are afraid to practice them. They should swallow their pride once in a while and take a check ride with an instructor. But, most won't! I was away from flying for three years due to a heavy work load. And when I was able to start flying again, a took a stiff check ride with an instructor that lasted over three hours. At that time I had over 4300 hrs total time. I am also a flight instructor and have a commercial helicopter rating. I'm not to proud to be re educated.
 
We Scuba Divers say there are Old Divers and there are Bold divers, but there are no Old Bold Divers. I remind myself of that often.
 
I only have about 2000 hours and all private, but have taken off and landed at many small, dirt or other than ideal strips. My instructor was a gal that stands about five foot two but at the time had over 20k hours. Every rating, did aerial photography...taught, did charters...you name it. She was tough but a blast to fly with. I saw her take off with big tough military guys that wanted a private refresher and by the time they got back were humbled to say the least. She stressed short field..soft field..stalls. Mad her mad when she couldn't induce vertigo on me. But those are the main killers of pilots.
 
Not the toughest student I've ever had, but the most interesting, was a Boeing helicopter test pilot. This guy had more hrs in helicopters than Sikorsky I think. Like 6 or 7 thousand. But, he never flew a fixed wing! Can you believe it? Anyone who has flown choppers knows the controls react differently. The pedals, for one thing, work in reverse for torque. Anyway, I was teaching commercial pilots at the time and he wanted a commercial fixed wing license. It was tough getting him to forget the helo habits and get with the fixed wing orientation. But this guy was tough and determined to learn. When he did, after a month of intensive training, it was like flipping a switch in his brain and he became one of the best students I've ever had. We became friends and needless to say, a lot of the knowledge I have on helicopters today, I learned from him.
Oh, I wouldn't say you "ONLY" have 2000 hrs. You can stack up a ton of knowledge in that time. Evidently it has paid off! PJ
 
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