The weather was great so we headed up to FDK (Frederick, Md) today. This was my first time there. Previously, I had said that this was a towered airport and it's not. I had always assumed that it was so I had actually not checked to be sure (duh).
FDK is my first airport with more than one runway which was actually tougher than I expected. It is also much busier with both GA (General Aviation) and glider operations. There were always at least 3 other aircraft in the area while I did one go-around and two touch and goes. The go-around was supposed to have been a landing but I was too high coming in on the first approach. The second approach was too low and I realized what caused me to be low. The runway I was using (30) is 75 feet wide while I'm used to 100 feet. It being narrower (which my ground school instructor warned me about) can cause you to drop lower to make it look the same as a wider runway (which means pay attention to what your instruments are telling you as well as your eyeballs). An interesting thing about multiple runways is that it kept confusing me to see the wrong one when I was in the pattern making turns and I wanted to run parallel to the wrong one for a moment. Also, FDK is very close to P40 (Camp David) so you cannot enter that space no matter what which means make sure you know where you are unless you want to experience an intercept from a military aircraft.
Even though I had made notes on airport frequencies and runways I still did not have a good mental picture on approaching to the airport as to the correct runway to use. It would have been better for me to have a picture sitting in front of me when I was about 3 miles out.
We had a bit of crosswind on the return to JYO (Leesburg) but I actually landed pretty well (for a change).
Here's a tidbit, the plane I used yesterday had a stuck dipstick and I couldn't figure out how to check the oil. My instructor showed me a little trick. You can use the control lock (which has just the right bend in it) as a lever to twist the dipstick. It worked like a champ.
1 comment:
Sounds like a good learning experience -- I fly out of a 60'-wide runway, so almost every airport I go to produces the opposite effect and I end up landing long! Husband taught me a trick about getting mentally prepared for the airport you're approaching: (1) Print out the AOPA kneeboard plate for the airport, and have it handy. (2) After calling for the winds as you near the airport, take 5 seconds to draw an arrow of your approach. That helps to establish the expected sight-picture you'll have when you get in the area. When I fly to PHF, the nearest airport to JGG that has multiple runways, I still do this. It even helps frequently with single-runway airports, especially if it's a first-time visit!
Safe flying!
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