Brunch today was fun and the IAD Air and Space Musuem tour kicked serious butt.
Our docent took us on the "short" tour which ran longer than the "long" tour because we all had so many questions.
A part of the tour was going up to the observation tower with an IAD Air Route Traffic Controller who would show us planes landing and explain what the process was all about. And, of course, most of us were pretty familiar with how this sort of stuff works.
The first plane he pointed out was a United Express plane landing right past our windows. He said "Notice the nose down position as he approaches the runway. It's evident that the pilot is lined up with the runway and is happy with his approach. As he nears touch down, you'll note that he raises the nose as he lands."
As soon as he said this, the plane, now only 25 feet off the runway, shoots back into the air in a missed approach! It was almost as if the controller had set this up.
He thought it might be a deer on the runway as we couldn't see anything else blocking the runway. He got on the walkie-talkie to see what was up and it seems the aircraft received a wind shear warning just prior to touchdown. The winds were blowing at nearly 30 mph diagonally across the active runway at the time.
Anyway, that was our excitement for the afternoon.
It was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We're in the area for a couple more days before we head back to the Left Coast.
Wishing you all safe travels.