Flight Training - October 2019 - 16

PREFLIGHT FLIGHT LESSON

BY CARL DWORMAN

ALL WET
A LUSCOMBE TAKES A DIP

WHAT HAPPENED

A crane showed up
and lifted my poor
Luscombe out of
the water by its
propeller.

BACK IN 1983 I WAS VERY PROUD OF MY 62.5

16 FLIGHT TRAINING OCTOBER 2019

DIRECTIONAL CONTROL

PIVOTAL
INFORMATION
Ground ops in
tailwheel aircraft
Because the center of
gravity is located aft
of the main wheels,
tailwheel aircraft such
as Luscombes are less
forgiving of misalignment on landing than
tricycle gear aircraft and
are more unstable on the
ground. Upon landing
in a crosswind, the main
wheels act as a pivot
point and the airplane
has a tendency to weathervane into the wind. To
correct this tendency,
the pilot should apply
ailerons into the wind
and apply opposite rudder, as needed, to keep
the airplane tracking
down the centerline of
the runway.

CARL DWORMAN is a CFI with more than

9,000 hours.

LEFT: ALEX WILLIAMSON; ABOVE: STEVE KARP

hours of perfect landings in my little Luscombe
8A, which I had just reupholstered with dashing
blue and white Cadillac upholstery. Being in the
"normal" airplane category, I even endeavored
and successfully accomplished a few loops in
a remote airspace not far from my home base,
Quonset State Airport, the former naval air station in Rhode Island, with its 8,000-foot-long and
500-foot-wide runways.
Here it was, a bright, sunny, hot, and humid
day, when I invited my good friend John for a
short sightseeing trip during lunch. The Luscombe was tied down securely, John was in the
passenger seat.
"Brakes, left mag, clear prop," and I handpropped the little 65-horsepower engine for
an easy start. I removed the chocks, untied the
airplane, and taxied to Runway 16 for takeoff
noticing a stronger right crosswind than usual.
No matter, we were off and flying in a moment.
What a beautiful day, beautiful blue sky, puffy
white clouds, all stretching over scenic Narragansett Bay.
I turned left after takeoff and decided to
show John a touch and go, setting up for Runway
16. Wind was reported 140 degrees at 15 to 20
miles per hour. Not really a problem since I had

landed in similar situations with as
little as a 300-foot rollout and had no
problem then.
I was not paying that much attention to the right crosswind, and
inadvertently touched down first on
the left main wheel. Big mistake!
The wind pushed the tail to the
left, using the left main wheel as a
pivot point as the airplane heading was
whipped wildly clockwise. The tail was
now low. In an effort to not tip over I
added full power. The little Luscombe
swung to the left and headed across
the width of the runway toward the
high grass. I wanted to take off, but I
continued through the tall grass until
I hit a low, hidden stone wall.
That was the good news. On the
other side of the stone wall was Narragansett Bay. And in we went, John, me,
and my newly upholstered Luscombe.
Ah, I remember the cool ocean water
was so refreshing.
John started to panic as he exited
the airplane and was struggling to
swim. I told him to relax, we were only
in 5 feet of water.
Shortly a crane showed up and
lifted my poor Luscombe out of the
water by its propeller. This was a very
sad sight to behold.
I was truly embarrassed. Not good
publicity for an instrument instructor,
but I figured no one would know, until
I saw the next day's front page in the
Providence Journal-me standing next
to my poor Luscombe dangling by its
propeller.

Flight Training - October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - October 2019