Hi RWA,
First of all, all I intended with the previous post was to demystify a little bit of what is widely said about the airbus' flight controls.
I believe your experience is right, at that stage of the flight(Flare),I do too just look outside and use the same "backside feel" that you do.To watch the instruments at that point,and make "Standard Calls" to alert you ,is a PNF duty.In any case,the limits that extract was "talking" about, regard strong crosswinds,that , according to another text from airbus, are x-winds in excess of 20 kt,i.e. pretty close to the aircraft limitation.
Note [Airbus recommended technique]:
During the flare, rudder should be applied as required to align the aircraft with the runway heading. Any tendency to roll downwind should be counteracted by an appropriate input on the sidestick (or control column, as applicable).
With higher crosswind (typically above 15 kt to 20 kt crosswind component), a safe crosswind landing requires:
A crabbed-approach, and
A partial decrab prior to touchdown, using a combination of bank angle and crab angle (achieved by applying cross-controls).
On most Airbus models, this requires touching down with:
Maximum 5 degrees of crab angle, and
Maximum 5 degrees of bank angle.
Cutting to the point, since I don't want to bore you guys with these details,I believe the airbus can be flown just like any other aircraft(At least I have always used these same flying techniques),respecting its published limits.
I believe that the problem resides on what Bubbers44(I couldn't agree more) pointed out in his last post:
Restrictions should be applied by operators and regulators in certain extreme conditions,mainly in critical airports(e.g.:no landing allowed on a short wet rwy with any tailwind).I guess ,IMHO, this was the main factor on the A320's accidents/incidents we've been talking about on this thread.A safety-minded Company policy and strict adherence to it can prevent the accidents, it's not about the aircraft type!
P.S. :sorry for the long post!