.. John, I am interested to know exactly how you go about this! Thanks for any help ..
Fireflybob .. not entirely sure to what your question refers .. ?
Acknowledging the vast number of pilots with manipulative skills superior to mine and emphasising that the AFM/FCM/etc guidance is persuasive ..
.. the points which appeared important to me ..
(a) 727/737 (which were the toys with which I was permitted to play) were not comfortable aligning with the runway during the flare (.. crosswinds to around 10 kt were not a problem) .. SuperCub, at the other extreme, one could do anything with .. horses for courses, perhaps ?
(b) one needed to know what bank angles were acceptable cf the wind conditions of the day .. as it turned out I was never put in the position of having a silly situation arise .. max crosswind I can recall in airline operations was around 30-35 kts or so and that never presented any major problems.
(c) I aligned the aircraft with centreline around 50-100 ft for moderate crosswind .. increasing to 100-200 ft (or higher) for strong winds. My aim was to have the aircraft very much under tracking control prior to entering the flare. An uncomfortable feeling with the slipping approach but it worked fine. One point which appeared to catch some folk .. one needed to ease the body angle up a degree or two to allow for the bank during the final part of the approach into the flare .. lest the wee beastie fall from the heavens and smite itself upon the runway. Then it was just a matter of modulating the controls to keep the fuse pointing down the centreline and the aircraft locked to the desired approach angle .. and then likewise fly the craft onto and along the runway until the wind ceased to be a problem. On a few occasions the palms of the hands became a tad humid but that is part and parcel of the game in my view ..
I have a feeling that many pilots are a bit "uncomfortable" in crosswind conditions .. I had the benefit of flying quite a few hundred hours (SuperCub, Callair, and Pawnee) in glider towing ops as a youngster and having to cope with plenty of limiting (and worse) crosswinds on landing following launch (with a glider glued to the tail .. which kept the tug straight). More than once did we chaps have to put the bird down obliquely (or such) to the strip ..
If the conditions are outside the box ...
(a) go someplace else
(b) if (a) is not available, then the situation becomes an emergency. Faced with this, I suspect my technique (considering AFM/FCM guidance) would be
(i) flare normally but minimally
(ii) roll the nose down and bank off simultaneously as the aircraft comes onto the ground to minimise time in the flare and risk of flap/pod strike .. also minimises time available for the wind to get the aircraft moving downwind
(iii) anticipate very sweaty palms ...