Casey Wilson wrote:
snip.

and touchdown... THERE WAS THE GOD
AWFULEST RACKET I HAD EVER HEARD!

Thirty-two years later, I can still hear Bob laughing when I'm on
final
and I get the center-line more than a wheel-span off to either side.

now, that was a great story, well told. thanks

my narrow runway is about 3" wide. or so it seemed to me.

where i got my ppl there are 2 runways, 17/35 r/l and the one on the
west side is big. like bravo big. concrete that goes on, as chris rea
says, "forever" and is very wide. too much crosswind for your i52? not
a problem, just bring her in crosswise.

then there was the runway that we terrified students were allowed: "the
little dirt raod". that's what we called it and by golly, that's just
what it looks like from 1000'. maybe half as long as the real runway
and rather than that pretty greyish/whitish concrete, this path was
paved with asphalt. or whatever's left after asphalt dies. all black
and rough except for the volunteer plants expressing thru the ample
cracks. on paper, it's 50' but i'm suspicious. if ray charles really
wanted to learn to fly, he could have learned take-offs there. the many
potholes formed a kind of brail that you learned to read and about
halfway down there's a huge speed bump that tells you it's time to
by-god rotate or brake like mad. mostly, we would launch off it.

as you tried to line up on the little dirt road you of course had to
especially worry about not wandering into the real runway which is
exactly 17" west or, to the east, the water-runway which they use for
float plane operations and which is also exactly 17" to the other side
and they keep it stocked with sharks.

a big-shot thousands-of-hours pilot explained to me that they allowed
the students to use the little dirt road only because they didn't want
our dirty little carcases interfering with important operations.

i felt better then.

((G))


dan