Chequered Flag
These crosswinds are a pain aren't they? I don't think I've yet landed in good still air.
Regarding the rudder / wing combination I found this difficult to comprehend at first. My instructor was simply telling me what to do because of the crosswind. I'm the kind of person who needs to know why I'm doing something so we went back to basics.
Approaching the runway, you are on track with the centreline but the the a/c is pointing into wind - i.e. from your point of view you will touch the ground then 'drive' off the runway because the a/c is pointing a few degrees to the left or right.
So the trick is to line up your heading with the runway just before touch down. I'm doing this in the round out as the power is starting to be fully cut back. But this won't work alone as the a/c will then be blown by the wind off the runway. So you need to turn ever so slightly into the wind by dipping the into wind wing which will fly you into the oncoming airmass but keep you (relative to the ground) in the same position - all the while the rudder is keeping you aligned with the centreline.
My fear - and I still have it - is that I will dip a wing so much that it will touch the ground, yet when you get out and watch other pilots doing the approach you will see that in reality the wing is only slightly down and it gives confidence to try it yourself.
Once the wheels touch the ground you can level the wings and simply use the rudder for directional control.
In summary. Just before touching down: Rudder for alignment - obvious and simple visual feedback if this is correct, wing down into wind because you are wanting to fly into the moving airmass - a little more judgement is required but you will know when it is right when you stay in line with the runway.
I hope this helps a little, as I've stated I found this crosswing landing lark quite difficult to begin with but now I understand what I'm trying to acheive it isn't so difficult.
Saying that, after my solo on Sunday I arrived back at LBA and let myself drift to the left of the centre line and the instructor pointed this out. I was probably being lax because the runway is just so wide that I still had ample space, this isn't acceptable though - I MUST always be landing on the centre line in future!
Good luck with your double lesson, you *will* get the hang of this and think of it as great experience to be able to learn to land in crosswinds. It stands you in good stead for the future!