Originally Posted by
Pilot DAR
To assure a mainwheel first landing, you're going to have to reduce the speed. If you contact the ground at a higher speed than necessary, flying it onto the ground, you're most likely not doing that.
.
Most light aircraft can touch down at a higher speed and still be in the landing attitude if less flap is used. This characteristic is most noticeable in high wing Cessna's.
Now if you are a 6000 hr test pilot full flap landings in virtually any conditions are not going to be a problem. However if you are a 100 hr PPL it is IMO reasonable that you should configure the aircraft in a manner that makes it easier to complete the manoever.
I have found that all of my low time students flying Cessna's did better in crosswinds if they restricted the flap to 10 degrees. The more nose up attitude in the flare reduced the chance of an inadvertant nose wheel first touch down while they worked at keeping the aircraft straight in the flare and the slightly higher touchdown speed helped with increased control effectiveness.
But and it is a big but, before you can get good at crosswind landings you have to be good at regular landings.
Finally I would like to clarify what I wrote regarding adding extra speed. I want to be clear that most crosswind landings should be flown at the correct speed for a no wind landing. It is only on very windy or gusty days that extra airspeed should be added on final approach.
There is a discouraging drip, drip, drip of GA landing accident reports and almost every one has a root cause of excessive airspeed on final.