On Mar 25, 8:20*pm, 5Z wrote:
On Friday, March 25, 2011 10:41:58 AM UTC-7, Tim Taylor wrote:
Sad thing is the AOPA site never mention the obvious error that if he
had turned left rather than right he could have used the cross runway
in a smooth 270 degree turn rather than the 360 degree turn required
to go back to the same runway.

I assume you meant 180, then reverse 90 :-)

I would also think that a left turn would make more sense just because the pilot is on the left side of the plane, so can see better in that direction. *I see his first reaction was to push the nose forward, then a few seconds later the turn was started. *During that time, I would be looking to both sides to choose the best direction. *Of course, as a sailplane pilot, I would already have a turn direction chosen...

I got my airplane license after a few hundred hours in the glider. *My first instructor pulled power on me in the practice area early every time. *I always managed to set it up for a survivable landing. *And this in a Grumman AA-1 Lynx, quite the flying brick. *Next had me do most of my dual XC under the hood, and often at 1000' AGL so there would be more turbulence. *He also pulled power on me a few times, but because we were so low, it was usually over an airport, but I didn't know that until I took the hood off.

Of course, given the option to analyze the situation before it happens is a HUGE help for us, which this pilot didn't get! *I've had to think quickly on a few occasions, and although the outcome was always acceptable, I could easily do much better if given a second chance.

-Tom

Actually I meant 360 degrees, 270 degrees right followed by 90 left.
If you look at the video he flew closer to 400 degrees of turns. I
agree with the rest of your points. The left 260 to 270 would have had
better visibility and he would have had the landing site in view the
entire turn.