Originally Posted by
Pace
I once landed a Seneca at double its demonstrated X wind and that made me realise it was no where near the actual limit of the aircraft
Pace
Just because you can do something with an aeroplane doesn't necessarily mean you should. The demonstration x-wind component is like many things in flying a useful guide to pilot decision making.
I once landed a C 172 on a day where it was blowing 35 kts with a 25 kt cross wind component. With the wing way down and full rudder I held some crab right to touchdown and made a relatively uneventfull landing.
However the aircraft almost overturned when I went to turn off the runway. My decision making that day left something to be desired.......
Anyway to answer the question, demonstrated X-wind component means at that wind velocity or less, the aircraft can be landed without requiring more than normal levels of skill or special maneuvering. When dealing with higher x-winds the pilot will need to make a personal assessment of the situation and their skill and currency levels.
The bigger issue IMO is that too many pilots seems to struggle to make an acceptable landing with a cross-wind significantly less than the demonstrated value.