I flew to Lufkin, Texas on Saturday 10th December for the monthly EAA Chapter fly-in.
When I arrived over the airport, the wind was at 90 degrees to the designated (North-South) runway, with gusts causing the windsock to stand out straight. There followed a series of failed approaches to the active runway, the East-West runway being out of service for repairs (it it had been available, landing would have been a snip).
The approach attempts were predictable - I would fly downwind watching the windsock, which would be showing a crosswind of 6-10 knots. "Aha, now's my chance" I would conclude. I would turn base to final...and the darned windsock would be standing out straight, and I couldn't keep the plane straight long enough to get it on the ground. Often the wind dies away close to the ground, but this wasn't the case here - it actually got worse.
Eventually, at the fifth attempt, I managed to get the plane straight long enough to drop it (almost literally) on the runway. This was the worst landing I have ever made in this plane. Embarrassing. The ground crews directed me to park next to Bob Sudderth's plane on the ramp. He had been heard to say "You can do it" to me over the radio on about my third attempt at a landing.
The whole EAA crew and associated pilots were very friendly to me, despite my appalling landing skills display. They serve a fajita lunch for a suggested donation of $5.00 (a bargain) and also have a Young Eagles ride offering (I decided not to volunteer for that deal, since I didn't want to make further embarrassing landings with a passenger, plus my intercom is not working properly).
I left at around 2.30 pm and flew back to Lancaster.