x-wind takeoff in B744
Hi Guys
A lot has been said about using aileron for x-wind T/O in a B744
Some guys who have never flown the type seem to have a pretty good idea how to do the trick.
Here some aspects you might consider for your own technique
1. You will need Aileron!
2. Preseting some Aileron into the wind before commencing T/O roll has zero effect on aircraft, because lack of speed But has a nice "mental" effect : you and your other crewmembers have to make some thoughts about where the wind may come down the road.
3. When the aircraft picks up speed, you will see how much is the correct amount and adjust accordingly. Gusts, increasing effectiveness of controls change the required input during the T/O roll constantly. But with a little aileron in your "mind" you dont get cought by suprise. Correcting too late and too much makes it harder than it is.
4. If you start the T/O roll with zero aileron, you will be suprised how easily such a big plane reacts on X-wind. Its a bit tough to recognize how much bank you get, because you sit high, all the windows have different angles and dont help much as a reference to ground and going on instruments doesnt help maintaining centerline either. Its just a wobbly feeling if you dont counteract the x-wind.
5. for liftoff you should have wings pretty much level, you had them during the take-off roll level so why not now? getting blown a bit away from the centerline is not as expensive as getting your plane scratched during rotation. Achieve a nice crab after liftoff.
6. forget all this talk about degrees, how much spoiler deployment you get, and therefore lack of performance, slow rotation. and so on. x-wind take off is not made by numbers, its flown by feeling. The time to react and usable reference is too limited to fly it by numbers. Look out of the window, you just need some aileron thats it, the rest remains the same. If you are interested when the spoilers open, just check CMC, flightcontols page and look on lower EICAS during flightcontrol check or taxi. You will never need such a control column input if you stay within the max x-wind limits for T/O.
Happy fuel flow
Lars