“Cessna1452, Lancaster Tower, continue circling the airport. No other traffic in the
pattern. We are holding several aircraft out of the pattern awaiting landing . At the
present time there is indefinite delay due to disabled aircraft on runway 31.” “Roger
1452, is there any possibility of landing on runway 26?” Angela noticed that the location
of the accident was beyond the intersections of runways 26 and 31, leaving the possibility
of making use of runway 26 for landings. She also noticed that there were several
emergency vehicles on runway 26, and they would have to vacate the runway before any
landings were possible. “Cessna1452, and all aircraft on the frequency, this is Lancaster
Tower, please be advised that we are attempting to clear runway 26 of vehicular traffic.”
Angela was aware that a landing on runway 26 with the existing wind from the northwest
would require that she would have to make a cross wind landing. Although this would
not be too difficult, it would entail a certain risk. But Angela had practiced many such
landings with her dad, and she felt confident that she would not have a problem.
“All aircraft holding and awaiting to land at Lancaster Airport, this is Lancaster Tower,
Runway 8, 26 has been cleared of all vehicular traffic and is now open for landings and
take-offs. Runway 13, 31 remains closed until further notice. Existing wind is 350degrees
at 20knots.
A 90 degree cross wind was a bit more than Angela thought it would be. She would be
landing with the wind directly coming from the right side, blowing her to the left. And
with a 20 knot wind, gosh she sure would have her hands full. But she could not stay up
there forever. She had to land sometime. Even landing on runway 8, would have the same
type of cross wind. She knew that she would have to make one more touch and go
landing before she come in for a full stop landing. Oh, well.
“Lancaster Tower, Cessna1452, What’s the wind now?” “Still at 350 degrees at 20
knots.” reported the tower. “Tower, cessna1452, request touch and go landing on
runway26, and please keep me informed on the wind when I’m on final.” “Roger, cleared
for touch and go landing, Runway 26, report turning final.”
This isn’t going to be easy. thought Angela. One little mistake and I’ll wind up like that
Apache. She wondered what was going through her dads mind. What sort of advise
would he give her. But she was on her own now. she had to depend on her own judgment,
dad wasn’t up there with her.
“Cessna 1452 turning final for touch and go landing.” “Cleared for touch and go, wind
350degrees at 18 knots.” came the swift reply. Angela could feel the aircraft drifting to
the left as she tried to line the aircraft on the runway. fighting with the yoke, and not
decreasing her speed as she normally would, for if she decreased the speed of the aircraft
too much, it would contribute more adversely to the effect of the wind. “Wind
350degrees at 18knots,” came from the tower. The wind was having more of an effect
than Angela anticipated. It was all she could do to keep the aircraft aligned with the
runway. Shall I not land, shall I pull up and go around and maybe await for better landing
conditions. No, I’m not going to do that. I’m going to land this darn thing come .....or
high water. What was it her dad once taught her? sure, slip the airplane, compensate
more for the wind. It would be tricky but she had plenty of practice in slipping landings.
Turning the yoke hard to the right into the wind, and giving it hard left rudder, to
compensate for the over adjustment of the ailerons, the aircraft took on a drifting
appearance with the nose of the aircraft pointing to the right but its fuselage directly in
line with the runway. She held this posture until the Cessna was over the boundary of the
runway, then flaring out, easing off the left rudder, aligning the aircraft with both the
rudder and ailerons, but keeping the speed up just a bit, the airplane touched down just at
the left edge, but still on the runway, took one short bounce, then settled down to a
normal landing. She was safety on the ground.
She knew that she could have ended her test just then, and no one would blame her, for
quitting , but she would not be satisfied. Her dad said, make 2 touch and go landings
and then come a full stop landing, and this is what she would do. Increasing the throttle
to take-off speed, the aircraft left the ground , the wind causing it to drift to the left of the
runway, but not for long as Angela adjusted its angle to fly a 260 degree direction until
proper altitude was attained.
Although the speed of the wind had abated somewhat, its direction hadn’t. and Angela
felt there wouldn’t be a problem with her final landing, so as she turned final for her full
stop landing with the tower announcing, “Cessna 1452, cleared to land Runway 26, wind
350degs at 10 knots.” she felt elated, this is it. It wasn’t easy, but maybe it wasn’t meant
to be. Touching down on the runway, with only a slight compensation for the wind,
Angela sent out a whoop and a holler and with a laughingly, “Lancaster Ground control,
Cessna 1452, with you, all finished and going to the barn, and thank you guys for all
your help.” “Congratulations, 1452, and good luck to you.”
Her dad, mom and her friends were waiting for her as she pulled the aircraft into the
hangar. She rushed over to her dad and mom, arms around them with tears starting to
flow from her eyes. Her dad had tears also, as he hugged his daughter and whispered
into her ear, “congratulations honey, I’m so proud of you, especially on your composure
up there.” Then revealing a pair of scissors, he administered to the traditional ceremony
of cutting a piece of her blouse off to show all that his daughter had indeed soloed and
flew an airplane all by herself.
Dad, can I start practicing for my Private license, now. Sure honey, but lets just wait a
week or two, until you get over all this, and have time for all this to sink in. And don’t
forget this is your birthday, and your mom has a big surprise for you later. "Oh, dad."
