“
we need guidelines... but i guess that comes down to judgement in the end.”
Some authorities make demonstrated values mandatory, similarly any operator can choose to do this; this action provides hard rules on which to base your judgement.
However, if your operator works with ‘demonstrated’ values, then you might wish to read
Safety aspects of aircraft operations in crosswind. This report discusses how reported winds can vary and thus how your judgment should be moderated: – quotes.
“substantial deviations from the reported wind characteristics can occur”, and
“that a reasonable probability does exist, that while wind reports to the pilot do indicate that crosswind is not exceeding 15 Kt, in reality the actual encountered crosswind … can deviate 10 Kt or even more from the reported wind. For even higher reported crosswinds, deviations may increase accordingly.”
Good judgment depends on awareness of the situation which in turn requires knowledge, skills to make the assessment and of course discipline both in thought and action, … which approximates to airmanship (after T Kern), and that would also include considering the further limiting effects of a wet or contaminated runway.
Edit: The recent Airbus Briefing Note on
Landing Techniques - Crosswind Landings, references (via a link) a document titled “Understanding Forecast / ATC / Aircraft Wind Information”. The link is not active; has anyone a copy of this document or is it to be a future BN from Airbus?
See also para VI Understanding Crosswind Landing Limitations