> European Commission has explicitly stated that Service Bulletins, Service Letters, Service Instructions and other similar documents are not mandatory and member states cannot force aircraft owners and pilots to comply with them.
Yes, but….
The afore mentioned documents have a lower standing in the document hierarchy. The approved sections of a flight manual, and in particular it’s limitations (though I’m still asserting that a “demonstrated crosswind value” is not a limitation) are usually referred to in the context of the limitations by which the aircraft must, by law, be operated. There is no “option” for the pilot to choose to follow the mandatory sections of the flight manual – that information is mandatory, as [usually] stated in the TCDS for the aircraft.
If a “service” document is to be mandatory, it is usually raised by the authority to be so by an AD. That then makes it mandatory, as the flight manual is already.
> Neil, my plane must have been there when you arrived. I agree it was rough. Essentially descended through about 4000ft then bang, lots of turbulence.
Yours was the red one then?
We arrived and a PC12 was a few minutes behind us. We left about 3.30, shame we didn’t meet.
No, white and blue Meridian.
> No, white and blue Meridian.
I saw it, and I actually remarked to my wife what a nice aeroplane the Meridian is; yours looked particularly shiny!
I was first in and told there were two other aircraft inbound that day. Both of you had left by rye time I left next morning. Certainly was a turbulent crosswind which made the landing interesting.
It was very windy in the south coast region of England today. I saw 142kts at FL300. However I am sure that is not exceptional; what’s the highest that others have come across?
Personally a tailwind of 80 Knots in FL140
But look at THIS, a Cirrus with a GS of 369 Knots
http://www.groundspeedrecords.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=214&Itemid=2024
Four weeks ago we saw this on a flight from Exeter to Stuttgart. Unfortunately it was mostly crosswind (as can be seen on the large drift angle). Briefly we contemplated asking for 50 degrees to the right for a couple of miles so we could record over 600kt groundspeed, but we discarded the idea as childish…
During my glider training I remember flying backwards in the beloved K13. My favorite part was when my gliding instructor shouted out to me during the final that his stick had disconnected….
I remember one day towing gliders they reported zero ground speed at 160 km/h IAS. A glider normally flies around at 100-110 km/h. On the runway it was about 20 knots and extremely gusty and a mess of rotors on the way up (and down).
