Landing with Nasty Gusts
In the AOPA Pilot article “Maintain Thy Groundspeed,” Barry Schiff analyzes in detail what can go wrong when wind shear is encountered on short final approach. Of course, there is the traditional formula to prevent mishaps: Airspeed is increased by half of the gust factor. But how large is the gust factor? If an ASOS station is based at the airport, it provides that information about gusts. But even that supposedly timely information can prove to be quite wrong when a huge gust randomly occurs. Instead, Barry Schiff recommends that the pilot maintain groundspeed equal to normal approach speed, and argues that this suffices regardless of the speed of the gusts. Recently, we had several opportunities to try out the rule. A particularly nasty case of gusts occurred at Aero Country Airport, the final destination after a trip to New Mexico and back. Winds were given as 20 kts gusting to 29 by a message broadcast from the nearby McKinney Airport. The information is updated e