I've had some real fun flying this week. Took my boss up in the Arrow that had a bad landing gear earlier in the week. We had no problems with it, and I had the chance to informally teach him some flying maneuvers and methods. I used my new GPS unit to fly directly to his house, then on to an airfield in Maryland. After that we flew to a practice area and did some slow flight and stalls, steep turns and finished up with some lazy eights (you fly low and zoom climb until you run out of airspeed, then gently let the nose fall through the horizon and keep going). He had a lot of fun, and of course, so did I.

That was Friday. On Saturday I scheduled a new Archer that Dawn just purchased. I wanted to get familiar with this new plane before taking it to Williamsburg Virginia next week, and I wanted some more time getting used to my new GPS unit. I had to be really careful about not over-focusing on any one new thing, and remember to fly the plane. Weather was calling for moderate turbulence due to high winds, but since the guy flying with me was also a pilot, I knew that a few bumps wouldn't get him upset and I decided to go.

I knew something was not quite right the moment I released the brakes to taxi out from the tie down spot. I didn't stop the flight right there because the only symptom was the left toe pedal being really soft (you push the top of the rudder pedal to apply left or right brake). I continued taxiing out to the runway and did the pre-takeoff checklist. When I was cleared to depart, I had a really hard time getting the airplane to turn - that is when I knew I had a brake problem of some sort. Again - I didn't see this as an emergency because I was new to the plane and unfamiliar with how it normally handled. It may just be a quirk I had to figure out. By the time I had this all worked out we were on our way west toward Baltimore.

My GPS worked very well and guided me precisely where I wanted to go. What a really nice navigation tool. We used it to line up and enter into the pattern at Carroll County Airport and I was very aware of winds that were directly off my left wing, a smaller runway in width and length, and very gusty conditions. This would be a challenging landing in a unfamiliar airplane that had brake problems. I told John Dowling, my pilot friend/passenger, that my plans were to stay completely off the brakes for the entire landing. I would do the crosswind landing and touch down in the first third of the runway - or start a go-around maneuver and take off again. I touched down nicely, but immediately noticed a drift to the right side of the runway (later I would surmise that the right brake was beginning to bind). This was not altogether unexpected because of the wind, but I had applied full corrective inputs and the plane felt like it was sliding right - screw this - I'm going around.

Next pass around the field I carried more power and was more aggressive in planting the wheels on the runway. Smoothly but firmly. I still felt the drift, but was able to slow the airplane and taxi off. Since the landing was challenging, I knew the takeoff was to be difficult as well. I moved the GPS to John's side of the plane to reduce my workload and allow me to focus fully on flying the plane. It also gave John a chance to fly and to play with the GPS. The takeoff turned out to be uneventful - we headed back through the bumpy cloud layers for Wilmington once again.

I let John fly all the way home. I took control of the airplane back 12 miles west of Wilmington, and called the tower to announce our arrival. They lined me up with the wind, gusting and from variable directions, for a landing on runway 1. About 2 miles out the winds picked up and shifted to 300 degrees, so they gave me the option of using runway 32 (320 degrees). I took runway 32 and prepared for another challenging landing.  The wind shifted again to around 260 degrees - I continued. I briefed John again that this would be a no-brake landing since I didn't trust that they could be applied evenly.

No sweat - I'm a commercial pilot and I'm really very good at this stuff. Over the airport fence a little fast at 85 knots. The extra speed helps maintain control in crosswinds and gusting conditions. I touched down smoothly on the left main gear first, which is the desired method in a left crosswind, then let the right main gear and then the nose wheel contact the runway. I was tracking right down the centerline when I started to get that `shifting' feeling again. I attributed it to getting familiar with the quirks of a new plane - right up until I slowed to around 40 knots rolling down the runway. I could no longer keep the airplane on the centerline even with full left controls applied. I announced to the tower that I was losing directional control - as a warning to other aircraft and to get him looking at us in the event I need fire rescue assistance. I drifted right of the centerline and finally pivoted around the right wheel and stopped 90 degrees from my landing direction.

Evacuating the airplane we inspected the landing gear to determine what might have happened. The brand new tire had completely burned through and was off the rim. Apparently the right brake had hung up and locked the wheel in place. I did everything right - I know I did. Yet the first person on the scene says "no wonder you blew a tire with that landing!". I was pumped with adrenaline at this point and filled him in to just what a nice landing I had just made. I saved the damned plane in my opinion! He then explained that when I touched down - everyone stopped working and HEARD me land. Well no shit sherlock - I landed with a LOCKED WHEEL AND BURNED OFF A NEW TIRE. That tends to make a little noise, don't ya think? He crawled under the plane and then started to declare that he'd seen brakes lock like this before and burn through tires. My only real concern right now is that my peers at the airport don't get the impression that I did anything wrong. Quite the opposite - I saved the plane. Had I forgotten crosswind technique, rudder control, drift correction, power management, or any one of a number of other things I'd been taught I could have wrecked the plane.

What worries me most is if a resulting accident made me lose confidence when in fact I had done everything right. That happens occasionally, I am sure. The adrenaline was surely pumping this Saturday! Hopefully all this will be resolved by next week and I'll hear no more about it.