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A radical way of dealing with crosswinds


Orbxtreme

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There is no aircraft in the sky around the Port Moresby Jacksons (AYPY) virtual airport today. No aircraft in the sky but one, a medevac flight.

2000Shrikeoverwater.jpg

The winds blow from 240 degree at 50G60 kts and the runways are oriented 14/32. It is way above the maximum crosswind authorized for any aircraft.

But the Rockwell Shrike Commander’s crew cannot wait until the wind calms down. They must land in the next few minutes in order to save a patient’s life.

 

2001AYPYinsight.jpg

 

As there is no traffic around, the captain has told ATC he intends to do a safe, efficient but non-standard approach.


2002Shrike500Scockpitview.jpg


2003Shrike500Ssideview.jpg

 

Arriving straight across the runways, facing the wind, the crew intends to land the aircraft a few feet short of a hangar. The captain requests that someone opens the hangar doors right away. The captain will terminate the approach in the hangar, protected from the wind.


2004Aircraftlinetohangar.jpg

 

It is safer to arrive facing the wind and immediately enter the hangar, straight ahead. No taxiing with a 60 knots crosswind.

Useless to say, ATC has already refused the request. But the pilot is the only one who decides of the best landing surface, for the safety of the passengers and himself. He proceeds with the approach after having clearly indicated which path will be followed.

 

2005ShrikeoverhousesinAYPY.jpg

 

The main problem for the approach is the low level mechanical turbulence caused by the gusty 60 kts winds.

If ATC wants to file a complaint, now is a good time to take a picture of the aircraft and its registration to support the case.

 

2006ShrikeflybyPortMoresbytower.jpg

 

The actual ground speed of the airplane is around 20 kts.

 

2007ShrikeCommanderatrighangleoverrunway

 

The steady high wind speed is actually safer for the crew than if the winds were 240 at 35G60.


2008Shrike500Sheadingforhangar.jpg

 

Still a bit above the runway and with a 10-20 knots ground speed. The airspeed indicator shows the strength of the wind itself plus the ground speed.


2009Shrikecockpitandhangar.jpg

 


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Floating like a hot air balloon or almost!


2011Shrikedecotepresqueatterri.jpg

 


2012Shrike500Sabouttolandinhangar.jpg

 

As the aircraft touches the ground, it stops almost immediately. It is necessary to apply power to reach the hangar, as you can see with the white trail on the ground behind the aircraft.

In real life, the touch-down would have had to be as soon as the asphalt start since the presence of the hangar lowers the wind speed a bit.


2013Shrike500Saddingpowertohangar.jpg

 

A few seconds after the touch-down, the aircraft is in the hangar, protected from the wind, and both doctor and patient can quickly head out to the hospital.


2014ShrikeCommander500Sinhangar.jpg

 

Once in the hangar, the winds were adjusted to zero, which is kind of logical, unless the opposite wall is missing!


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It was now time to brace for another storm, which was the inquiry that would possibly follow the landing! B)

 

Cheers!

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18 minutes ago, Bermuda425 said:

Not quite sure if this is the right way do it!

 

Certainly not the standard way, I agree! It is done in smaller airports though, where there is no ATC. I witnessed some of those in the Arctic.

 

Just now, Sniper31 said:

Very interesting emergency flight. Nice screenshots and narration to go along with this medevac flight ;) Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do....

In Inukjuak (CYPH) I saw a Twin Otter land on the sand runway, but on its width, not its length. The winds were coming straight from the Hudson Bay at such a speed and with a direct crosswind to the runway, so it was much safer to arrive facing the wind instead of fighting the crosswind. The pilot landed the DHC-6 almost like an helicopter. He had to keep the engines running while on the ground, for safety reasons...The only risk was that just beside the landing path was Environment Canada Upper Air Station with a building container an hydrogen reserve. It could have made a huge fireball.

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1 hour ago, styckx said:

This seems legit. 

 

Source: I got my NTSB certification by playing Grand Theft Auto V

 

:lol:

 

Thanks! Yes it is legit, but it does not mean that ATC likes it! So normally it would have been done in a smaller aerodrome, not at AYPY!

 

1 hour ago, European Mountain Man said:

super shots and what a landing regards EMM

 

Thanks Stewart, glad you  liked. Actually, you would be surprised at how  easy it is. Just set very high winds at 90 degree from a runway of your choice, and make the approach. I assure you you won't kill anyone!

 

45 minutes ago, VH-KDK said:

Thoroughly enjoyable images and narration.

I have learned something today reading your story about the Twin Otter and not realising this actually happens!

Great stuff.:P

On an airport where there is no positive control zone, for example where there is a class E control zone, we've had airplanes arriving at both ends of a runway, facing each other, at the same distance from the threshold. When things go serious, we would encourage pilots talk to each other, announce their intentions, and this facilitated the movements around the airport. So if a pilot would have told us he intended to land on a taxiway perpendicular to a runway, providing he had legitimate reasons to do it (safety reasons, emergency or whatever else), then he would announce his intentions and he was responsible to ensure that the surface he intends to land on what appropriate for his type of aircraft and the actual weather conditions. I never heard of crash caused by that procedure. There might have been, but I never heard of any.

 

When a DHC-4 comes your way, he certainly does not need a typical runway. In Inukjuak, DHC-4s would come in fully loaded with construction material; you would hear them before you could see them, because of the reflection of the sound on Hudson Bay. When they touched the runway, they stopped almost immediately, although they were really loaded!!

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1 hour ago, Orbxtreme said:

When a DHC-4 comes your way, he certainly does not need a typical runway. In Inukjuak, DHC-4s would come in fully loaded with construction material; you would hear them before you could see them, because of the reflection of the sound on Hudson Bay. When they touched the runway, they stopped almost immediately, although they were really loaded!!

I have been to a few airshows where the Caribou has performed and it is always one of the highlights for me.

An amazing aircraft with incredible performance.:)

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11 hours ago, flyingleaf said:

Great shots and a great story. However if I would've been the patient; if not dead, you would've had a heck of a lot of cleaning to do in your aircraft:wacko::D:)

Thanks, glad you liked. As for the cleaning, they say that being a pilot involves accepting risks (but they don't stipulate exactly which kind of risks when you train...).

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What a fantastic work - and screenshot collection, Francois!

On 11.4.2018 at 7:19 PM, Orbxtreme said:

the Rockwell Shrike Commander’s crew cannot wait

This crew was really committed.

 

Now let me know how you will start with this crosswind.

And how you convince ATC to give you permission.

Or just... how you got internet access in the PNG prison to post this post?

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4 hours ago, Stillwater said:

What a fantastic work - and screenshot collection, Francois!

This crew was really committed.

 

Now let me know how you will start with this crosswind.

And how you convince ATC to give you permission.

Or just... how you got internet access in the PNG prison to post this post?

 

The temperature in the prison in kind of warm, but you should see the size of the spiders!:)

 

2 hours ago, Arkanoid said:

I supposed that once disembarked the patient doctors on board your plane went urgently to the control tower to attend the controller.

Even the patient went up the tower to help since the controller was in a worst shape them him...>:D

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