13th Lesson

Well, Jim had a change of plans with his roofing project (apparently the supplier that had his shingles accidentally sold them to someone else). So, have gave me a call around 1pm, and we were able to go out at our usual time. The winds were strong today - about 14kt out of the south/southeast with gusts to 20kt. This gave us approximately a 7kt crosswind on runway 13 in Forest Lake, and nearly a directy crosswind on runway 09 at Anoka. So, we practiced crosswind takeoffs and landings today. We did a few laps around the pattern at Forest Lake, and then we headed down to Anoka. I did virtually all of the talking with the tower today, and that went pretty well. I was feeling much more comfortable working the tower since I've been there a few times now. We did a few landings on Runway 18, and then Jim asked them if they had time to sequence us for some direct crosswind landings on runway 9. So, we did a couple of landings on runway 9 with a direct crosswind of 14-15kt, which is just about the C172's maximum demonstrated crosswind capability. They went pretty well I thought. Not perfect landings, but I got it on the ground safely each time. Then, we headed back to Forest Lake, and I did a couple more landings there, which both went really well. Jim is happy with my progress, and so am I. Sounds like more take off and landing practice next time, which is on Friday.