ecky-ecky-ecky-ecky-pikang-zoop-boing...

Got to fly Sunday night. I realized that my x/c with the in-laws would have required a night landing or two, and that, well, my night landings were a little on the rusty side. It's probably been about a year since my last, actually "dark" touchdown, and that was in turbulent conditions (the best kind!). So I logged .7 in the 152 at Tri-state and cycled out 4 touchdowns and 3 full stops. They have 18-36 closed, and 9-27 is restricted because 18-36 crosses it, so I opted to use 4-22 for the evening. It was nice... I had time to burn, so I taxied all the way down to the end of 4 (winds were relatively calm) and made my first takeoff, with a standard left pattern. Tower cleared me for the option, and I touched down a little past the threshold on 4, then with Tower's permission I fast-taxied down to the other end, and took off from 22. That was kind of interesting, because there was a deer in the field just off the taxiway, crossing over to the radar dish. Kind of gave us a scare and I reported it to the Tower, but I've dodged enough deer on runways to know I'd be okay.

22 is interesting, because maybe a thousand feet into it you cross all the regional jet landing spots, and for some reason it feels like the runway drops about 6 inches. That's noticeable in a 152, and it nearly sent me airborne, but I held it down to 60 knots before I let it climb. I don't like ground effect, if you can't tell. I just don't trust it over the venturi physics and the in-flight downwash from the wings. Note: Ground effect occurs when an airplane is within two wingspans' distance from the ground. It essentially allows the plane to fly before it's flying by eliminating downwash drag. Let's you take off prematurely, and I don't trust it.

(Could be ballsy like Chuck Yeager, though... he had a bet with a friend that in ground effect, if the plane is supersonic, you would not be able to force the stick down with any and all the might you could muster... next day, Yeager asked him for the fifty bucks. Balls like churchbells.)

So I took a right pattern then, turned final and played with the power a little. I was high and fast, and I had full flaps in, so I slipped down and cut my power to almost idle. 152s have barndoors for fowler flaps, so when I cut that power, even with the nose nearly 30 degrees down, it still managed to slow down to 50 knots in a heartbeat. 172s always seem a little less responsive to that kind of stunt, but man you can feel it in a fifty. I ended up having to add power in the end, and that put me past the numbers. Bad deal on my part. The landings were all measurably good, but my power control was for a heavier airplane, and I could have hit the sweet spot everytime if I'd just had that in mind.

Ah well, at least I'm current now with my landings. Look out Mork and Mindy!

There, I posted.

dfb