Touch and Goes

[bartmc]

Ive been doing mainly cross country flying and instrument training since I got my ticket Dec 31st of last year. And somehow my landings at my home airport had gotten worse, It sits up on a ridge and the perspective is a little disorienting and it's laid out due to the geography of the area and not because of the prevailing winds, so, there is always a crosswind. I didn't have much going on yesterday, weather was OK about 55 degrees F broken at 12,000 and about a 6-7 direct crosswind. I decided to go do some pattern work because my landings had been consistently long and I wasn't happy with them. The CFI/ATP I bought the plane from was against touch an goes and preached to me about not doing them. I had done some (about 2) touch and goes on a 10,000 ft Rwy at a controlled airport in the Cherokee but not enough to be comfortable with it, and since my landings had been long and my home airport is 3600', I decided that I was going to do full stops and taxi back. I think I got more out of that than any touch and go session I ever did. Mainly because I had time to really study the windsock and mentally prepare for the crosswind landing and I wasn't worried that I'd missed something (flaps, trim, etc...) in a hurry to get the throttle firewalled again. I may do touch and goes a busy airports with long runways but I don't think I'll be doing them again at my short airport where a taxi back adds 2 minutes. What's your take?

 

[bartmc]

 

[JimC]

 

[kamikaze]

 

[bartmc]

 

[Leigh]

 

[JimC]

 

[Mountain Pilot]

 

[Jim_M]

 

[Dave M]