I'm a tad out of touch with the 73 Classic these days but it has a decent limit and I don't ever recall any problem in max crosswind landing off a normal sort of approach - balanced tracking with drift on down to, say, 150ft agl or so for max, and then adjust to crossed controls, tracking the centreline with nil drift for the flare, touchdown, and rollout ?
Hi John - from the 737NG Boeing Flight Crew Training Manual:
(The classic had a similar paragraph.)
Sideslip (Wing Low)
The sideslip crosswind technique aligns the airplane with the extended runway centerline so that main gear touchdown occurs on the runway centerline. The initial phase of the approach to landing is flown using the crab method to correct for drift. Prior to the flare the airplane centerline is aligned on or parallel to the runway centerline. Downwind rudder is used to align the longitudinal axis to the desired track as aileron is used to lower the wing into the wind to prevent drift.
A steady sideslip is established (That's you sorted, Tinny - Boeing agrees with you!
) with opposite rudder and low wing into the wind to hold the desired course.
Touchdown is accomplished with the upwind wheels touching just before the downwind wheels. Overcontrolling the roll axis must be avoided because overbanking could cause the engine nacelle or outboard wing flap to contact the runway. (See Ground Clearance Angles - Normal Landing charts, this chapter.)
Properly coordinated, this maneuver results in nearly fixed rudder and aileron control positions during the final phase of the approach, touchdown, and beginning of the landing roll. However, since turbulence is often associated with crosswinds, it is often difficult to maintain the cross control coordination through the final phase of the approach to touchdown.
If the crew elects to fly the sideslip to touchdown, it may be necessary to add a crab during strong crosswinds.
...
*** Sideslip only (zero crab) landings are not recommended with crosswind components in excess of 17 knots at flaps 15, 20 knots at flaps 30, or 23 knots at flaps 40. This recommendation ensures adequate ground clearance and is based on maintaining adequate control margin.
The only time that I am aware of where an aircraft is travelling in a straight line, with one wing low in a straight line (slip ball to one side) and it is
not sideslipping is when it has asymmetric thrust.