Essential

The continuing evolution of airplane and pilot

- BEN YOUNGER

Strange times we are living in. When writing my last column, I wondered aloud if things could get any worse. (I turn in my column two months prior to publication.) As it turns out, they could—and for entirely different reasons than I imagined.

In January, I moved to New Mexico to shoot a television show. As COVID-19 quarantines began, it was canceled. I stayed put in Albuquerque, deciding to ride out the storm in a place with few cases and far from the now-nightmarish density of my home in New York. As anxiety rose nationwide, including my own, I found a comforting control in focusing on my own fears. Two years ago, my first column for this magazine told the story of losing an airplane to mountain wind shear in Telluride, Colorado. It was time to practice until it felt normal again.

I found a great mountain instructor here by the name of Geoffrey Veneklasen. Having lost that airplane to wind shear two years ago, I have a keen interest in honing my alpine skills. Here in the West, takeoffs from 9,000-foot density altitudes are a common occurrence. Geoffrey showed me a lot. For starters, you learn how to lean your engine properly for best power. Windy takeoffs are dealt with by building speed in ground effect, then climbing at higher than V Y speeds. As usual, knowledge lights the path forward. My fear was all based in ignorance. Now it’s just simple math that tells me when and how. Winds passing over the mountain in excess of 15 knots mean we’re not going. However, 28-knot gusts straight down the runway are no problem.