Friday, September 01, 2006
I Might Have Been Alone
(3)
Here is another 'airplane story' from the Columbine days: I think this happened during the fall or winter. We were flying back to Columbine from the 'training area' east of Littleton Airport. Ground speed was very low and we were having to correct for a west wind. As we approached Columbine it became obvious that the wind at our altitude was very high from the northwest. We speculated that the wind was so strong that we might be able to actually 'hover.' So we turned into the wind, which was approximately out of 300 degrees, and found ourselves almost motionless. I got the idea of trying to hover over Columbine airport. My passenger agreed. We climbed to about 9000 feet (Columbine traffic pattern altitude was exactly 6500 feet). We eventually arrived over Columbine, but our ground speed was so low that I wondered whether we might be able to achieve a negative ground speed! We flew to about the end of runway 30, then lowered the flaps to 40 degrees. I was flying the airplane, so this was probably not a training session. I 'hung it on the prop' at about 55 knots. The airplane was in an almost continuous 'stall buffet' and the nose would drop from time to time. We slowly drifted backwards the entire length of the Columbine runway. So far as I know, we are the only persons who ever flew a Cherokee 140 backwards.
Who was with me? I don't remember. I might have been alone.
Here is another 'airplane story' from the Columbine days: I think this happened during the fall or winter. We were flying back to Columbine from the 'training area' east of Littleton Airport. Ground speed was very low and we were having to correct for a west wind. As we approached Columbine it became obvious that the wind at our altitude was very high from the northwest. We speculated that the wind was so strong that we might be able to actually 'hover.' So we turned into the wind, which was approximately out of 300 degrees, and found ourselves almost motionless. I got the idea of trying to hover over Columbine airport. My passenger agreed. We climbed to about 9000 feet (Columbine traffic pattern altitude was exactly 6500 feet). We eventually arrived over Columbine, but our ground speed was so low that I wondered whether we might be able to achieve a negative ground speed! We flew to about the end of runway 30, then lowered the flaps to 40 degrees. I was flying the airplane, so this was probably not a training session. I 'hung it on the prop' at about 55 knots. The airplane was in an almost continuous 'stall buffet' and the nose would drop from time to time. We slowly drifted backwards the entire length of the Columbine runway. So far as I know, we are the only persons who ever flew a Cherokee 140 backwards.
Who was with me? I don't remember. I might have been alone.
