CFOT wrote:

Hammer wrote:The runways are 25 and 07. There’s a dip in the runway towards the west end, so 25 is a predominantly downhill runway.

I think 25 was the first downhill sloping runway I ever landed on. My instructor warned me that I may get some sink approaching the threshold, so I compensated by keeping a little extra power (and airspeed). This worked fine until I flared over the down-sloping runway and floated....all the way....down the runway....about 2 inches off the ground...in 3 point attitude. I finally touched down making the smoothest landing ever...clear down at the end of the runway about where it slopes back up. Needless to say I had to get on the brakes pretty aggressively. My instructor, who had kept his mouth shut for the whole episode, just looked over at me and grinned and gave me a knowing look, content that I had learned a valuable lesson without bending anything.

I still have a lot of respect for that airport. It presents some good challenges to the unsuspecting pilot. I come in there a lot steeper, and slower these days, and wouldn't hesitate to go around if I found myself in that predicament again!

LOTS of folks float down 25. It's somewhat rare to see anyone touch down in the first 1,500 feet.

Another oddity of the field, which makes me want to pull my hair out, is people land on 25 in the evening, staring DIRECTLY into the setting sun on touchdown, because there's a two-knot wind favoring 25. Even folks working the pattern will land on 25 again and again, completely blind for all practical purposes and smoking their brakes on the down hill gradient, rather than land on 07 with an uphill gradient and PERFECT visibility, all because AWOS claims there's a gentile breeze out of the west.

Because I loath landing directly into the sun or smoking my brakes I'll usually try to get people to switch it around, but it seldom happens. There will be confused silence on the radio, then someone with say "winds favor 25" like it was the proclamation of God Almighty. I mentioned it to the larger flight school on the field, and they stared at me with blank incomprehension. I don't think it ever occurred to them that it was possible to disobey AWOS guidance.

Because I loath landing directly into the sun or smoking my brakes I'll usually try to get people to switch it around, but it seldom happens. There will be confused silence on the radio, then someone with say "winds favor 25" like it was the proclamation of God Almighty. I mentioned it to the larger flight school on the field, and they stared at me with blank incomprehension. I don't think it ever occurred to them that it was possible to disobey AWOS guidance.

I moved out of my hangar, and permanently took my airplane away from Carson City Airport because of the very same issue.

There seems to be a constant lemming-like string of three to five trainers in the pattern at any given time spaced out at 45 second intervals, touch and going the same runway over and over and over and over..... And nothing will get them to switch runways or space out differently regardless of what's happening around them.



Gump

At my place I usually land downhill even with a small tail wind. 1000 feet in the grass. If I come in from other direction it is over the highway and I am tired of 911 calls that a plane just crash landed. I am thinking of painting my 182 yellow so at least it will be described as a piper cub.

Tim

When I was a youngin', some time back in the late seventies, my Father and I flew to a fly in at an Airforce base in MD. We were in Dad's 180. When it was time to leave we got in line with the rest of the planes taxing out and started to taxi on this endless taxiway, It must have been 10,000' long. Planes in front of us were getting permission from the tower to do intersection departures. Dad just kept on taxing. We finally got to the end of the runway and took off. I couldn't help but wonder why we taxied all the way to the end when we had a very capable airplane that could take off in just a few hundred feet. When we got home and were pushing the plane back in the hangar, I asked him why we went to the end of the runway. His response stuck with me and has been my practice since I heard these words, "son, would you rather have 10,000 feet of runway in front of you or behind you when you lose an engine on take off." I have used every inch of runway available to me for every take off since that day.

Makes my heart proud.

reading through these stories got me thinking. how many of us actually regularly fly our planes at or near gross? during my training off 1300 ft of grass I was flying the 170 with low fuel solo to full fuel and 3 guys plus about 60 pounds of ground school books. I knew for a fact with no wind that plane could take off at 100 degrees and heavy..... I had done it. I also knew that if I was solo I had a "hot rod" Right now I haven't done that for 5 years and I dont think I would feel comfortable doing it heavy.... I just dont have the practice nor have I been anywhere near gross in a 170 since....

Commercial operation near, at, or over gross reduces sorties necessary to complete the mission. I expect you are correct that recreational operation is generally less heavy. Like MTV has pointed out many times, however, small trainers are generally at or over gross with fuel, instructor, and student.

At gross operation is necessary to get the very different feel of the aircraft. Maneuvering at gross may be necessary on takeoff and landing.

I would say the vast majority of my departures in my personal plane are within 50 lbs of gross weight. I rarely fly solo for fun, more of a social fun flyer.


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Big Atlee tanks here. Full fuel and me is just 225lbs from max gross. Happens often. Throw my wife and her weekend bag in the back and we're at max gross (she's small, but still can't pack light. We're constantly working on that.).

That's about 75% of my flying mission: carrying my wife somewhere she wants to go.

Good mission.