In the early 1970s, I took my daughter on a flight from Orange County to Oakland in an American AA-1. A headwind required us to make a fuel stop. I decided Bakersfield would be a good place to refuel, relax and have a bite to eat. The tower cleared me to land on two-mile long Runway 30R, but then asked me to switch to the shorter 30L because a heavy military transport was arriving. “No problem,” I thought. As I landed and rolled down 30L, I saw on my right a huge, dark airplane rolling past on 30R. There was a slight right component to the wind coming from about 330 degrees. Then, suddenly I found my airplane had turned 90 degrees to the right 288
Too Close For Comfort
In the early 1970s, I took my daughter on a flight from Orange County to Oakland in an American AA-1. A headwind required us to make a fuel stop. I decided Bakersfield would be a good place to refuel, relax and have a bite to eat. The tower cleared me to land on two-mile long Runway 30R, but then asked me to switch to the shorter 30L because a heavy military transport was arriving. "No problem," I thought.
Key Takeaways:
- The author experienced a dangerous wake turbulence incident in the 1970s, where his small plane spun 90 degrees after a heavy military transport landed on an adjacent runway.
- This event taught him to actively avoid large airports with heavy traffic, a practice that also offers benefits such as reduced delays and lower operational costs.
- He emphasizes that pilots of smaller aircraft should remain vigilant for wake turbulence, proactively question controllers when in doubt, and not solely rely on air traffic control to prevent such incidents.
Key takeaways sponsored by Aviator Pro | Start Your Training ->
See a mistake? Contact us.
