This wasn’t my first attempt at setting down in Packwood, but it was almost as harrowing as the first! This place has been on my list for a while and if at first you don’t succeed at landing in Packwood, try, try again. So I did. Some words of advice for anyone unfamiliar with this strip: don’t try any wheel landings. There are dips in disguise that run the width of the runway and when you hit one of these at 60mph you’ll be sprung into the air like an Olympic gymnast which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when you set back down, if you’re like me, then you’re destined to hit another one of these dips launching you into bronze medal contention at the Packwood Olandpics. Also, anticipate winds that are about as consistent as Larry King’s marriages. They change a lot.
My Tailwind is parallel to Runway 01. Note the windsock is indicating a strong wind at about 090.
A short walk across the runway and you can now see the windsock is indicating a medium wind at about 230.
One thing the windsock didn’t do was indicate wind directly down the runway.
Here’s a shot of Mount St. Helens which can be seen in the distance en route to Packwood from Yakima.
Hi Dorian,
I wanted to talk to someone who flies a W-8 Tailwind as I just bought a Cougar built with Tailwind wings (flaps). I have been flying a Sonerai IIL which I built so I am used to Quick tail draggers but talking to a Tailwind pilot would be nice for flap usage, approach and departure speeds and ect.
I use my flaps only for approaches and landings. I may have used them once or twice for a take-off, but it wasn’t because I needed to clear an obstacle. It would have been more out of curiosity. I have five flap settings and have never flown with full flaps. Again, if I have, then it would have been out of curiosity. Typically when it’s just me in the plane, I use one or two notches of flap to land. One for a cooler day; two for a warmer one. If I’ve got a passenger, then I use three. I fly the pattern and do approaches similarly: ~70mph IAS on a cooler day; ~80mph IAS for a warmer one. When I’m departing, she’s ready to fly (and climb reasonably well) at 65mph IAS and if I stay in ground effect for about five seconds, the ASI reads ~100mph and climb out is (seemingly) effortless. Hope that helps you out. I’m a relatively low-time Tailwind flyer so I’m sure the seasoned pilots over at the yahoo group will have some pearlier words of wisdom! :-)