Originally Posted by MaJ. Woody

Hi Paul.
The field I was flying at was unfamiliar to me. It was considerably shorter than what I am used to and it had obstacles. The runway had trees parallel to it but also perpendicular over the approach end of the runway. The runway was boxed in on one side. On my first two flights there I navigated that fine but on the 3rd flight there, a very strong and gusty cross wind developed. My scenario is that I needed to be higher than those trees but slow enough to land and stop on the short runway. The wind was unusual with the Flash literally wobbling with the gear and flaps down. It was the first time in 34 flights that the plane did not feel locked in. I just could not make the runway being too fast on the first two attempts. On the third I slowed her down too much and when turning base...directly into that heavy wind, the Flash dropped a wing and rolled into the ground. This never would have happened at my home field since there is a long runway and the approaches are clear. I have flown the flash in stronger wind than that at my home field and never had a problem. I would have simply carried more airspeed around the pattern and possibly not dropped the landing flaps till on final and powered her in as needed. My technique in such a small area is apparently not that good LOL. I will be more choosy as to the location and conditions I fly moving forward. As Clint Eastwood said...A mans got to know his limitations!