The Wicked Winds of the West

Heading downwind on a cloudy and windy afternoon at San Carlos (SQL).

I turned final on runway 12 at San Carlos (SQL) high and a bit fast. It was my first approach and landing in over two months. I hadn’t flown since a quick sunset flight with Kaitlyn back on MLK Day on January 17th. Here I was at SQL approaching and landing from the north, something I hadn’t ever done here. Every time I’ve flown in or out of SQL has been off runway 30 from the southwest. Most of the time, unless there’s a storm in the area, SQL and Palo Alto (PAO, only 6 miles away) the common traffic runway is 30 (SQL) or 31 (PAO). So before I even took off, I asked the Tower for a quick overview of the departure route off 12. At the time, I also thought to myself, “I wonder if I should request a take off on 30 instead?” The winds were a bit tricky this afternoon, ranging from 180 degrees to 250 degrees as low as calm and up to gusts of 15 kts. There are three windsocks at the airport and each one showed a different direction. So needless to say, it would be a tricky day for crosswind landings.

It had been raining for nearly a week straight and I was starting to get close to having my currency lapse in the flying club if I didn’t fly before the end of the month. So when I knew the weather would be good enough to get up in the sky this afternoon, I didn’t want to miss my chance. Yet, I had no idea I’d be dealing with the wicked winds of the west when I woke up this morning. And now, here I was, high and fast on final to runway 12 at SQL. I requested a wind check while on final and I believe Tower said “210 at 11kts.” So at this point, I literally had a 90-degree crosswind on final but I could tell that it was shifty and gusty. As I crossed the threshold, I was still high and a bit fast, so much that I glided halfway down the runway before I was able to settle it down. I almost decided to go around, but eventually was able to get it down. And this was the first of a few interesting landings.

Fast and High Always Causes a Glide
My first couple of patterns were a bit wide, since I was trying to visually picked up the lanes in the sky. SQL is located adjacent to a bay slough area and the pattern altitude is only 800 ft, so in an Archer I hit that altitude pretty quickly. Needless to say, I was just a bit rusty today, not having flown in two months, and with the adjustments of the opposite runway and the winds, it took me a few minutes to get my feel back. My second landing and approach were still high and fast and I decided to go around on the second attempt. I simply had problems getting the aircraft to sit down and it didn’t help that at times, I felt like I had a tailwind.

After my second landing and third attempt, I requested a take off on runway 30 from Tower and they gave me the clearance at my discretion, yet after hearing the winds again, I decided to stick with runway 12. Even though the windsock near the departure end of runway 30 indicated a headwind, the Tower said the winds were 180 at 7kts, which would have been an unfavorable tailwind on takeoff from runway 30. Tower responded with a lengthy yet very informative overview of the wind history that afternoon and told me to rest assured that they were keeping an eye on it and switching runways when necessary. They’d changed the runway direction right when I started and changed it again right after I finished my last landing.

This guy in the Mitsubishi knew how to really get it down. His flare made me a bit nervous.

Grading on a Curve
The third landing and fourth attempt was a bit shaky. I landed on the left side of the runway and felt like I landed hard on the left main. As I exited the runway, I asked Tower, “so did that look as bad as it felt?” Given the day, he responded with such an appropriate response, “With a day like today, we’re having to grade on a curve. I’d say it wasn’t bad given these winds.” I responded in a laughing manner with a “thank you for grading me on a curve.” As I confirmed my takeoff clearance for my last takeoff, I added, “I’ll try to make up for it on this one.” Thankfully, I did even though, the feeling on the last landing made me wonder if I had damaged my left main. It sounded and almost felt like the tire had lost air on the touch down. Yet, as I exited the runway, Tower radioed and said, “N9294Q, that was a perfect one to end on.” I always try to end on a good note.