Learning to fly as I did in the relatively flat Eastern U.S., I never really had to deal much with windy, mountainous terrain until after I earned my instrument rating and started using a personal airplane for transportation. My most memorable encounter involved flogging a Skyhawk north out of Asheville, N.C., at 9000 feet. Improbably, I had a tailwind. All was well until passing Mt. Mitchell, the highest point in North Carolina. While I enjoyed the tail-wind, I did not enjoy the mountain wave it generated.
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