…why do some pilots (I see it all the time in military pilots of non UK origin) transition way out to the wing down cross contol technique? Uncomfortable for SLF . So kick it off and plant it says I! It appears this is what they did and the gods where just not with them.
Works fine in a Piper Cub and maybe even an ATR 42, but in my opinion, this is definitely NOT the best technique to employ in a 200 tonne aeroplane like a 777 or an A340.
The last minute kick straight is basically turning a stable crabbed approach into a horribly
unstable approach at the very worst moment – a nanosecond (or hopefully only a nanosecond) before touchdown. If you judge is absolutely right, you’re the ace of the base and the pax will think you’re wonderful.
However, the magic word is ‘if’…
If you misjudge it, particularly in a strong crosswind, you end up with, at best, a not very neat touchdown, and at worst, a potential disaster of crossed arms and legs and a very big aeroplane still airborne but with a
lot of momentum heading off in God knows what direction – but usually towards the downwind side of the runway at an increasingly rapid rate because your last minute “kick it off and plant it says I!” has left the aircraft pointing downwind.
In an aeroplane as big as a 777 or an A340, you run out of runway width very,
very quickly, (remembering that your seating position is a very long way away from your main gear, [on the 777, around 100 feet or 30 metres]). If things start gyrating,
you might stil be not too far off the runway centreline. There's no guarantee your MLG is still on (or over) the runway.
I’m definitely in the same camp as
Witraz on this point. Look at the way the 777 autopilot does it –
exactly as
flown it accuses ex-mil non RAF types (that’s me) of doing it.
The 777 manual says that technique shouldn’t be used in crosswinds exceeding 31 knots. Boeing recommends simply flying it on while still crabbed. The enormous momentum of the aircraft sorts it out quite nicely, although obviously most pilots help it along by instinctively kicking it straight after touchdown.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at these landings by Boeing test pilots.
http://www.leathermans.net/content/view/25/39/
http://www.leathermans.net/gallery/m...09c4bf51024a51
Under 31 knots, the wing down, crossed control technique, (as the autopilot does), and aided by the track bar on the PFD, will almost always guarantee the aeroplane will roll on smoothly
and stable – and that last word, in my opinion, is the most important one in the equation in big aeroplanes.