"Frode Berg" wrote in message
...
What do you other guys do in such a situation? Just put son some more
speed
and fly "normal", or do you still keep the numbers?

Your approach sounds typical, though with a little more airspeed than most
people would use (normal final approach as well as your gust correction).

A standard procedure, one I use, is to add half the gust to your approach
speed (in your case, 17G27 means a 10 knot gust, so add 5 knots to your
airspeed...you're flying mph, but 5 knots is close enough to 5 mph for this
purpose ).

Stay on top of things, but don't fight the plane too much. More often than
not, if a gust tips the plane one way, another gust will come along shortly
to put you back where you were. I'll give the plane at least a half-second
to a second before making any large corrective actions, though I will still
make minor adjustments to keep the airplane aligned with the runway, on
centerline.

It's a bit of an art, controlling the plane to keep yourself in the right
place without controlling it so much that you are fighting the airplane the
whole way down. Generally speaking though, the less work you do, and the
more work you let the plane do, the better off you'll be.

In a C172, I use less flaps in a strong headwind. The reason being that
flaps and a headwind both steepen your approach. I like my descent angles
on final to be as "normal" as possible (i.e. same way every time), so in a
headwind, you can either add power or reduce flaps. I prefer reducing flaps
and flying my usual gliding approach.

One note about airspeed on final: if you do find yourself in a similar
situation with passengers, a consideration, assuming no other priorities
conflict (such as a very short runway, for example), you might consider
flying final at a higher airspeed than normal, so as minimize the time spent
on final. A nervous passenger may well be just that much worse in gusty,
bumpy conditions when they've got 50% longer on final to think about it.
Obviously, you wouldn't do this all the way down to the runway, but maybe up
to a half-mile final or so would be okay, IMHO.

Pete