Friday Lunch Flight

Today the weather was very promising for flying, if a bit gusty.

I had invited my friends Nick and Anna for a lunch flight to Jackson.  Neither had ever been in a small plane before.

So we met at the airport at 1:30 and I got the airplane out of the hangar and showed them how I did a pre-flight inspection.

Then we loaded up, taxi'd to the run-up area and then took off to the southwest.

It was kinda bumpy up there at 4,500 feet.  Not terrible but not calm air by any means.  Wind kept pushing us to the right in gusts so i had to keep adjusting left to stay on course.   Also some up and down forces were at work as well, which made it even more fun.

They had fun and described it as a bit of a roller coaster feeling.

Got to Jackson and got a straight in to Runway 25.  With the wind out of 240 at 13-20 it would be gusty but not a ton of crosswind correction to worry about.

So I flew the approach a little bit faster than normal to account for the gust factor.  Of course, the bottom dropped out of the wind gust right during my flare so I did what Juvat would call a passable aircraft carrier landing as a result.  Still good enough that my passengers thought it was a really good landing, but I promised the next one would be better.

We went to the restaurant and had a very nice lunch, burgers for the guys, and a salad for the lady.

Then back in the plane to head back to Pontiac.  Since they actually got back in the plane, the flight out must not have scared them off too much.

Bumpy yet again, but a little better.

Then at Pontiac did the typical 27L downwind entry that was extended for a Falcon jet to pass on long final and then a base turn behind him to Runway 27R.  Pontiac had winds gusting 13-18 right out of 270.

I had promised a nice landing and I delivered - smooth and it felt like I was  holding it off the runway forever with that headwind.  Landed smooth as silk.

I also landed on 27R at the Whiskey taxiway leaving tons of runway to spare. This was thanks to the strong headwind.  I  then got to roll down the runway to Kilo to turn off and park the plane.

A great flight and both my passengers enjoyed themselves immensely.  A little challenging for the gusts and medium chop but it was a most enjoyable flight.

1.5 and 2 landings, one good and one excellent.