Dispatch Dispatcher; Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 8.9; Flight Crew Total 763; Flight Crew Type 144
Training / Qualification; Situational Awareness; Distraction
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Ground Event / Encounter Ground Strike - Aircraft; Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Aircraft Aircraft Damaged; Flight Crew Regained Aircraft Control; Flight Crew Took Evasive Action; Flight Crew Became Reoriented
Weather; Procedure; Human Factors
I went up with my tailwheel instructor CFI to get current and proficient in the tail dragger after a 5 month absence from flying a conventional gear airplane. On my last landing (which was a 3 point landing dead on center-line) during the roll-out I failed to maintain directional control using left rudder to counteract weathervaning which caused the plane to ground loop. The winds were coming from the west at 280/13 KTS and the airport was landing aircraft on 180. This was a direct crosswind. I have done training before with winds much higher than this. However; after 5 months absence my skill level declined and I was not quick enough to respond to the relative high crosswinds. (However; the Cessna 120 does not have a designated crosswind limit since it was manufactured in the 1940s) In the future; I will retrain with winds more benign than the ones that were present on the day of this incident.Very minor damage occurred to the L wing tip and no bodily injuries occurred. We were very fortunate and I learned a very valuable lesson with regard to my own personal limitations in flying a tailwheel airplane.
A C-120 pilot with his instructor training for recurrency; ground looped the aircraft in a crosswind because he had not flown in a while and reacted inappropriately to the winds.