The proximity of the inner pods to the ground worries me (6deg AOB and they hit?).
8-10 deg is closer to reality, depending on strut compression.
Am I right in thinking that if you follow the FD's to the runway they will offset you, due to the ILS receiver being in the nose?
The airplane will appear to track the upwind sideline of the runway due to the crab angle. The ILS and FD can be followed to touchdown.
Is it OK to land with drift on the dry? (Our flying manual recommends this in wet conditions ... seems a bit agricultural).
NO!!! Not in either case!!! I hope you are misinterpreting "drift" in your manual!
Land with the airplane tracking straight down the runway, regardless of slip/crab angle. The high inertia of the airplane will tend to keep it tracking in the same direction as the touchdown velocity vector, and it will begin to align itself after the main gear are on the ground.
At what point do most people kick out the drift?
I start to add wing down and top rudder at 100' or less, because the visual picture is deceiving farther out. Due to significant wind velocity changes at low altitude, final corrections will usually have to be made until touchdown.
Only with extreme (20+ kt) crosswinds on dry pavement will I "kick out" remaining crab angle. A constant velocity vector is MUCH more important than fuselage alignment with the runway centerline at main gear touchdown.
I don't find when I kick off the drift it generates a lot of associated roll, why is this? (Or maybe I haven't experienced max X-winds).
May be your technique, or the fact that you subconsciously add some opposite aileron when you kick the rudder...
Do people track up wind of the C/L to err on the safe side?
Again, that may appear to be the case because of cockpit position. Land on centerline, though err to the upwind side if at all.