Lefthand landing on 27 at TEX in a Mooney Acclaim

After watching the guy land on 27 at TEX in his jet I wondered how doable it would be for a GA guy in a recip. single. So I fired up my Mooney Acclaim, or maybe it's Jan's, I lose track. And started a take off and land flight at TEX with the same winds he experienced in that hugely long clip. I agree, 10-15 knots from 27 is a pretty good indication you wouldn't ever want to do a tailwind landing anywhere you could avoid it!

I soon discovered why he probably landed so hot. The mountains in that canyon seem much closer on the sides than off the end of the runway. He probably had to come in much higher than he wanted to. With my slower speed and ability to turn sharper I could stay lower than he did. But it was still very close on the downwind and turn to base segment!!:eek: I used his comment about keeping the road close on the left and that helped a bunch.

Touching down from such a low and slow final, I was able to turn at the first taxiway. He barely got it stopped before he ran out of runway.

RW Bottom Line? Any low hour pilot who hasn't spent most of his flying time in the mountains needs to forget about landing at TEX if the winds are out of the West! Time spent skiing isn't that important!!:eek::eek:

Michael

Think the wind there maybe is linked to the valley :pilot:

I take your point. Having said that, thankfully most of the time the wind is fairly calm there. That's why 9 in and 27 out is the norm.

I take your point. Having said that, thankfully most of the time the wind is fairly calm there. That's why 9 in and 27 out is the norm.

Michael - And that's probably become "local knowledge" to all who fly in and out of there. You didn't have anyone to share that with you, you had to learn for yourself. But you conquered it! Nice pics to go with the challenge!

Rick :cool:

Michael, I do believe it’s time for the Honda Jet to make an arrival there :cool:

Go for it!! It won't stand out in that crowd, but will fit in better than a Mooney or a Beechcraft.

Give my regards to Mama Sanh and Sue Ling.

And yes, tell me what you think of the left handed downwind to 27!